The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief
5 September 2019
TURKMENISTAN: Fourth known 2019 conscientious objector jailing
An Ashgabat court jailed 20-year-old Jehovah's Witness Azat Ashirov for two years on 31 July for refusing compulsory military service on grounds of conscience. He had set out his objections in writing and offered to perform an alternative civilian service. Instead prosecutors claimed he had evaded his obligation fraudulently. Seven Jehovah's Witness conscientious objectors are now jailed, four of them in 2019.
19 August 2019
KAZAKHSTAN: Years of intrusive questioning
A Muslim complains of six years' intrusive police questioning about his faith: "These are my personal beliefs they are asking about." The Interior Minister denied that police questioned Yerlan – most recently on 20 July - because of his faith. The Interior Ministry says 23,000 are on a register of adherents of "destructive religious movements". Rights defender Yevgeny Zhovtis says no such category exists in law.
13 August 2019
KAZAKHSTAN: Officials try to force registration signature withdrawals
Officials harassing founders of religious communities, possibly trying to block applications to exist. In May 2019 police began harassing Oskemen's New Life Church founders as it sought re-registration. Officers visited several late at night, threatening one woman in her late 70s. Aktau's Hare Krishna community has faced similar harassment.
7 August 2019
TAJIKISTAN: Pensioner faces up to 10 years' imprisonment
The criminal trial of 68-year-old Jehovah's Witness Shamil Khakimov in Khujand resumes on 19 August. He faces up to 10 years' imprisonment for "inciting religious hatred", charges he denies. Prosecutors claim materials confiscated from him and others contained "features of extremist activity". The investigation revealed a 2016 state "expert analysis" by three Imams claiming the distribution of a Tajik Bible translation causes "confrontation".
5 August 2019
KAZAKHSTAN: Eight jailed for up to eight years
An Almaty Judge jailed eight Muslims for between five and a half and eight years for participating in a WhatsApp religious discussion group which the NSC secret police claimed promoted "propaganda of terrorism" or "inciting hatred". The men denied the charges. The ninth man is due for trial later as he is suffering serious heart problems.
31 July 2019
KAZAKHSTAN: Nine years' jail for online discussion group?
Eight Muslims face up to nine years' jailing each for participating in a WhatsApp religious discussion group. The NSC secret police initiated the criminal charges of "propaganda of terrorism" or "inciting hatred", which the defendants deny. The verdict is imminent. The case against the ninth – who is suffering serious heart problems – will be heard at a future trial.
23 July 2019
TURKMENISTAN: Conscientious objector jailed for four years
In the third jailing of a conscientious objector in 2019, 19-year-old Jehovah's Witness Bahtiyar Atahanov was jailed for four years. This is the longest jail term known to have been handed to a conscientious objector, because the authorities deemed him a soldier after forcibly conscripting him. Other prisoners of conscience have received far longer jail terms.
19 July 2019
KAZAKHSTAN: 108 administrative prosecutions in January-June 2019 - list
Administrative prosecutions to punish exercising freedom of religion or belief appear to be rising. At least 108 cases were brought between January and June to punish unapproved worship, sharing faith, selling religious literature and items in shops or online, or using "Amen" in mosque worship. In three cases, courts ordered seized religious literature to be destroyed.
11 July 2019
KAZAKHSTAN: Fined for worship, funeral prayer rooms
Bolat Isabayev was fined for leading a home worship meeting on the most sacred day annually for Jehovah's Witnesses. A court fined two ethnic Azeri imams in Zhambyl Region for maintaining funeral prayer rooms without state approval. Police fined or tried to fine up to 20 members of Karaganda's Revival Protestant Church after raiding a birthday party.
5 July 2019
KYRGYZSTAN: "Registration only gives you permission to exist"
Kyrgyzstan has registered over 60 communities, most of them Protestant, since December 2018. But some Jehovah's Witness communities still cannot get state permission to exist, while Ahmadi Muslims remain banned. Amid physical attacks on and burial denials to non-Muslims,"giving registration does not guarantee that people can exercise their freedom of religion and belief".
21 June 2019
KAZAKHSTAN: "We don't have censorship", but three books banned
Kazakhstan has banned three books by authors associated with the banned Tabligh Jamaat Muslim missionary movement. A Prosecutor's Office official claimed to Forum 18 that the three books include calls to "extremism and terrorism", but neither the court nor "expert analyses" backed this. "We don't have censorship, we just check the content of religious publications," another official claimed.
4 June 2019
TAJIKISTAN: Detention extended, no Bible reading allowed
A Khujand court has extended Jehovah's Witness pensioner Shamil Khakimov's pre-trial detention for another month. His "crime", for which he was arrested in February, seems to be that he is thought to lead Khujand's Jehovah's Witness community. Against international human rights standards, he is not allowed to read his Bible.