30 October 2024

UKRAINE: About 300 criminal cases against conscientious objectors

The number of new criminal cases against conscientious objectors has surged since summer 2024 after the General Prosecutor's Office wrote to local prosecutors. About 300 conscientious objectors now face criminal investigations which could lead – if cases reach court and end in convictions – to a 3 to 5 year jail term. Of the 89 cases related to 86 individuals that have already reached trial (listed in this article), courts handed down 9 jail terms (only one conscientious objector is currently in jail), with 11 suspended sentences. Trials in 66 of the 89 known cases that have reached trial are ongoing.

25 October 2024

UZBEKISTAN: "We look for men in beards as we are searching for terrorists"

From March onwards, Muslim men wearing long beards nationwide have been arrested, had their beards forcibly shaved, and been fined. The fines imposed range between about one month's to just over a week's average wages for those in work. Some Muslim men have told Forum 18 that they have since March kept their beards "trimmed and very thin" to avoid such punishments. Police have claimed shaving beards stops young men being "radicalised".

18 October 2024

UKRAINE: Recruitment offices, military detain, pressure and torture conscientious objectors

On 11 June, Recruitment Office officials tortured Adventist conscientious objector Pavlo Halagan to pressure him to accept mobilisation. "They tied me to the bed with chains and began to physically torture, punch and beat me," he complained. On 1 July, at a military camp, "one commander grabbed me by the neck", Baptist conscientious objector Kiril Berestovoi complained. "He hit me on the head, beat me around the heart." The torture lasted half an hour. Officials use a range of means to persuade men to accept being conscripted into the armed forces, including verbal persuasion, threats of imprisonment or unspecified consequences, arbitrary detention (sometimes for several months), and torture including deprivation of food, of imprisonment or unspecified consequences, and beatings.

8 October 2024

OCCUPIED UKRAINE: Orthodox priest handed 4-year suspended sentence

Officials in Russian-occupied Luhansk Region freed Fr Feognost (Pushkov) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) on 4 October after pre-trial detention he called "107 days of hell". After house searches and examination of his writings and electronic devices, a court convicted him of "large-scale" drug trading after finding a small amount of cannabis. His 4-year suspended sentence - with 3 years of restrictions under probation - came into force after the prosecutor chose not to appeal. On 14 November, Moscow's First Appeal Court hears the appeal by another UOC priest Kostiantyn Maksimov against a 14-year strict-regime jail term on "espionage" charges.

4 October 2024

RUSSIA: Wide-ranging blocking of religious-related websites

Russia blocks: websites, apps and Wikpedia pages related to Jehovah's Witnesses and Muslim sites related to theologian Said Nursi (blocked as "extremist"); a website supporting LGBT+ people in religious communities; religious sites criticising Russia's war against Ukraine, including Christians Against War, and Christianity Today; Ukrainian religious sites, including of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and of religious news sites; social media sites of those opposing the war on religious grounds, such as Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov; and news and NGO sites which include coverage of freedom of religion or belief violations.

3 October 2024

RUSSIA: Internet censorship and freedom of religion or belief

Ever-increasing internet censorship has seen religious websites and materials blocked for: "extremist" content; opposition to Russia's war against Ukraine from a religious perspective; material supporting LGBT+ people in religious communities; Ukraine-based religious websites; social media of prosecuted individuals; and news and NGO sites which include coverage of freedom of religion or belief violations. This also denies local people freedom of expression and the opportunity freely to seek information and views on religious issues. It also has a chilling effect on those considering publishing their views on issues related to religion which the regime dislikes.

23 September 2024

UZBEKISTAN: Former prisoner of conscience rearrested, another given 10 more years jail

In the first half of June, the regime arrested former prisoner of conscience Khayrullo Tursunov and about 100 other Muslim men in Kashkadarya Region. It is not known when he will face criminal trial and on what charges. Also, a Tashkent Region court added 10 years, on apparently fabricated charges, to the existing 11 year prison term of existing prisoner of conscience Fariduddin Abduvokhidov. His father thinks that "the authorities just want my son to end his years in prison".

17 September 2024

UKRAINE: Law banning Ukrainian Orthodox Church about to enter force

Law No. 3894-IX banning the Russian Orthodox Church – Moscow Patriarchate (ROC) and Ukrainian religious organisations affiliated with the ROC comes into force on 23 September. Its main target is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). While addressing real security concerns over the ROC's involvement in Russian aggression, the Law does not comply with legally-binding international standards of freedom of religion or belief, and significantly increases State powers to arbitrarily monitor and restrict religious communities and the expression of religious ideas. Government, public and private actors already see it as a signal to attack UOC communities and believers.