UZBEKISTAN: Bible and Mel Gibson film banned in Karakalpakstan

Nurulla Zhamolov, the senior religious affairs official in Karakalpakstan Region in north-western Uzbekistan has banned the Bible, the Mel Gibson film "The Passion of the Christ", and other religious literature, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. The bans state that the material – which also include a hymn book, a Bible Encyclopaedia, a Bible dictionary, and a children's Bible - is "banned for import, distribution or use in teaching." The material was confiscated during police and NSS secret police raids and it remains unclear what further activity the authorities may undertake following the bans, or how widely they will be used. No officials in the region or the capital Tashkent were willing to discuss the raids and the country's harsh censorship of religious literature, which applies to religious literature of all faiths. The latest known prisoners of conscience studied the works of Said Nursi, a Turkish Muslim theologian whose works are banned.

15 May 2009

TAJIKISTAN: Why are around 93 Muslims being detained?

Some 93 followers of the Jamaat Tabligh Islamic movement are being detained in Tajikistan, Forum 18 News Service has been told. Officials have claimed to Forum 18 that the number is "much smaller than 93", but have refused to state who is being held or why they are being held. Officials claimed to Forum 18 the movement was banned in Tajikistan in 2006, but a Supreme Court official and civil society sources have told Forum 18 that they were unaware of the ban. An independent human rights defender who is familiar with the group's followers in Tajikistan described it to Forum 18 as "peaceful" and said "they tell Muslims how to recognise dangerous Islamic movements (..). This is exactly what Tajikistan needs." One Jamaat Tabligh follower questioned why, if the authorities think the group is harmful, its followers were able to preach openly. He told Forum 18 that "there were no attempts to stop our activity until now. We gathered in various mosques once a week with the invitation and permission of the mosques' imams."

14 May 2009

AZERBAIJAN: Will Presidential Administration explain why it thinks amendments needed?

The Presidential Administration produced controversial amendments limiting freedom of religion or belief, but has not explained why it thought they were needed, or why it proposed amendments violating Azerbaijan's international human rights commitments. Parliamentary deputy Rabiyyat Aslanova told Forum 18 News Service that the amendments are due to be sent to President Ilham Aliyev for signature on 18 May. "We have approved a lot of laws this week, but we may get these amendments to him on Saturday [16 May] if the final version is complete by then," she said. Human rights defenders and religious leaders condemned the secrecy and lack of public discussion which accompanied the amendments. Ilya Zenchenko of the Baptist Union told Forum 18 that he wants the President "to look at our Constitution which guarantees freedom of religion and reject the Law as it violates the Constitution."

14 May 2009

AZERBAIJAN: Religion Law amendments contradict themselves

The latest available text of the amendments to Azerbaijan's Religion Law – approved by Parliament on 8 May - changes it to claim that "legislation on religious liberty consists of the Constitution, International agreements agreed by Azerbaijan, this Law and other relevant legislative documents," Forum 18 News Service notes. However the amendments contradict international human rights standards agreed by Azerbaijan. Examples include making legal status dependent on communities fulfilling highly intrusive requirements, including unspecified doctrinal tests. Officials are also given many reasons for refusing to register or ban organisations, including such formulations as "violating social order or social rules." The amendments do not state whether legislation which breaks international human rights standards such as the amendments are therefore illegal. Religious communities and human rights defenders have condemned the changes. Imam Ilgar Ibrahimoglu, for example, complained that restrictions on selling religious literature and conducting religious education mean that "officials will interpret this as being a ban on activity which is not specifically approved."

12 May 2009

TURKMENISTAN: "I want to know if I can import religious books"

Turkmenistan continues to impose strict censorship on religious literature brought into the country, and copies data from personal computers, Forum 18 News Service has been told. "Which commission decides this?" a Protestant complained, commenting that "they don't have the right to interfere in my own private life." Officials always point to an unspecified "commission" which determines what literature is acceptable. "But who checks the commission which examines the literature?" the Protestant asked. Ethnic Turkmens appear to be more more likely to have material confiscated than ethnic Russians. Frustration has also been expressed to Forum 18 about the impossibility of printing religious literature. No state official has been willing to explain why religious censorship exists, or who is responsible for it. Shirin Akhmedova, Head of the government's National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, claimed to the UN Human Rights Council that freedom of expression exists because of the Constitution. This claim, however, is contradicted by the experience of Turkmenistan's citizens.

11 May 2009

TURKMENISTAN: Old "offences" still used to punish current religious activity

Former prisoner of conscience Shageldy Atakov, is the latest victim of Turkmenistan's use of old "offences" to punish current activity, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Officials under orders from the central authorities are now threatening to confiscate Atakov's property, if he does not pay an enormous sum he is alleged by the authorities to have swindled an individual out of in 1995. "It is all being done because I am a Christian - I don't owe anyone anything," Atakov insisted to Forum 18. His fellow Baptists have repeatedly backed his statements that he is completely innocent of all the alleged offences. Atakov was shown documents in court showing that the latest moves were ordered from the capital Ashgabad. He pledged not to allow the authorities to seize his family's property. "They'll completely empty the house. They don't have the right to do this." Atakov, his wife Artygul Atakova and their children are also on an exit ban list, which the authorities use against people they dislike. No official has been willing to discuss the case with Forum 18.

8 May 2009

TAJIKISTAN: Will Religion Law be revised or not?

Tajikistan's government is making contradictory statements about whether or not the new and restrictive Religion law will be changed, Forum 18 News Service notes. President Emomali Rahmon has stated that the Law "will not be changed" as it is "well-defined and clear". However, Mavlon Mukhtarov, the Deputy Ministry of Culture, has told Forum 18 that the Law is "not a dogma" and may change. "We are at the moment studying the law, and collecting recommendations on possible changes and corrections," he stated. Protests against the Law have continued within Tajikistan, an Islamic Revival Party (IRP) politician observing that it contradicts Tajikistan's Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Muslim, Christian and Baha'i religious communities have complained to Forum 18 that, since 2006, almost no religious organisations have been given state registration, the head of the Culture Ministry's Religious Affairs Department confirming that "only" new non-Muslim religious organisations were denied registration since 2006.

6 May 2009

AZERBAIJAN: Will revised Religion Law ban unregistered worship?

Azerbaijan is apparently rushing restrictive amendments to its Religion Law through parliament, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. "Only the parliamentary deputies have the text, and it will only be published after its adoption," a parliamentary aide told Forum 18. The amendments - which reportedly include a ban on unregistered religious activity - have not been made public, and the full parliament is due to begin consideration of them on Friday 8 May. The refusal to make the text public denies the opportunity for public discussion of the proposals, complains Eldar Zeynalov of the Human Rights Centre of Azerbaijan. "Everything prepared in top secrecy is bad for human rights," he told Forum 18. Parliamentary Deputy Rabiyyat Aslanova, who chairs one of two committees which prepared the draft, told Forum 18 that state registration will be compulsory, but claimed that: "No one will be punished for practicing without registration, as long as they don't preach against the national interest or denigrate the dignity of others." She declined to discuss what this means, and confirmed that religious communities will have to re-register. Religious communities - especially of minority faiths – have struggled to re-register after previous changes.

4 May 2009

NAGORNO-KARABAKH: "They can continue to pray, but not meet together for worship"

A Protestant community, Revival Fire Evangelical Church, has become the first and so far only religious community to be denied legal status by the unrecognised entity of Nagorno-Karabakh, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. It is uncertain what practical impact this will have. Ashot Sargsyan, head of the state Department for Ethnic Minority and Religious Affairs, told Forum 18 that "they can continue to pray, but won't have the right to meet together for worship as before." Asked what would happen if they do meet for worship, he responded: "The police will fine them and if they persist they will face Administrative Court." This was contradicted by Yuri Hairapetyan, the Human Rights Ombudsperson, who claimed that "they will be able to function but simply won't have legal status." Sargsyan claimed that "the church worked against the Constitution and against our laws," but when asked what court decisions had determined this replied that "no court has reviewed this issue."

29 April 2009

UZBEKISTAN: More severe jail sentences for Muslim prisoners of conscience

Uzbekistan has today (29 April) imposed severe jail sentences on nine followers of the Turkish Muslim theologian Said Nursi, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. In the fourth such trial this year, university lecturer Ikrom Merajov was given nine years' imprisonment. Of the other eight prisoners of conscience, Muzaffar Allayorov, Botir Tukhtamurodov, Shuhrat Karimov, Salohiddin Kosimov and Yadgar Juraev were each given six year jail terms. Three - Bobomurod Sanoev, Jamshid Ramazonov and Alisher Jumaev - each received sentences of five and a half years in jail. "The Uzbek government shouldn't fear Muslims who pray regularly, read the Koran regularly and meet in homes regularly," Merajov's brother Ilhom Merajov told Forum 18. Officials have refused to discuss the harsh sentences with Forum 18. The sentences imposed today bring to 25 the number of Nursi-related prisoners of conscience known to have been convicted this year, with sentences totalling nearly 200 years' imprisonment. Further convictions are likely as cases against others continue.

28 April 2009

RUSSIA: The battle with "religious extremism" - a return to past methods?

A turning point in the Russian authorities' drive against "religious extremism" came in 2007, when two previous unsuccessful attempts to ban Islamic literature were finally successful, as this analysis – the second part of a presentation given at a seminar at the Kennan Institute in Washington DC – notes. Also initiated that year was the Federal List of Extremist Materials, which now contains 367 items. Anyone who distributes these works can be fined. Alongside genuinely extremist material are some works Forum 18 News Service has seen which appear to contain no calls to extremism. "The Personality of a Muslim", a popular work among Russian Muslims, was deemed extremist in August 2007 and several distributors of it have since been fined. Indigenous pagans and Jehovah's Witnesses are facing accusations of extremism on the basis of their literature, even though none of it is on the banned list. The appointment of Aleksandr Dvorkin, a prominent "anti-cult" activist, to head the Justice Ministry's Expert Religious Studies Council has alarmed those who hoped officials would curb the widespread use of extremism accusations.

27 April 2009

RUSSIA: How the battle with "religious extremism" began

The formation of Russia's policy towards one particular form of extremism – religious extremism – may have begun hesitantly, Forum 18 News Service notes. But the June 2002 Extremism Law eventually led to a wideranging crackdown on religious literature the authorities deemed "extremist", as this analysis – the first part of a presentation given at a seminar at the Kennan Institute in Washington DC – notes. In late 2002, literature confiscated from a mosque community in an FSB security service and Prosecutor's Office raid led to the first known warning for religious literature under the Law. Yet convictions – often handed down in secret and based on literary analyses of confiscated books – soon mounted. Mainstream Muslim works – such as Russian translations of the writings of Turkish Muslim theologian Said Nursi – were banned outright, even though they contain no calls to commit crimes. A typical expert analysis suggested that Nursi's work – banned by a Moscow court in 2007 – is extremist because its reference to "the sword of strong faith" might lead to "defensive behaviour".