Human Rights News:
ERITREA - Jehovah's Witnesses in Eritrea
Website: http://www.jw-media.org/ - HRWF (19.07.2007) - Website: http://www.hrwf.org
- Email: info@hrwf.net - Five years after the government of Eritrea closed down
all independent religious groups not operating under the umbrella of the four
government-sanctioned faiths, Jehovah's Witnesses continue to face stiff
opposition. Their worship, even in private homes, is considered to be outside
the recognized religious institutions, making the Witnesses subject to arrest,
torture, and severe pressure to deny their faith.
Summary
Five years after the government of Eritrea closed down all independent religious
groups not operating under the umbrella of the four government-sanctioned
faiths, Jehovah’s Witnesses continue to face stiff opposition. Their worship,
even in private homes, is considered to be outside the recognized religious
institutions, making the Witnesses subject to arrest, torture, and severe
pressure to deny their faith.
As of April 2007, 24 of Jehovah’s Witnesses were still in prison for their
religious beliefs. Some were arrested while attending Christian meetings, others
while they were sharing their faith with others in public, and still others for
conscientious objection to military service. Three imprisoned Witnesses are 60
years old or older. Two women are currently incarcerated.
Tekle Tesfai, an Eritrean by birth but a citizen of the Netherlands, was
arrested and imprisoned on May 27, 2005. He is 73 years old. He is emaciated
from malnutrition, and his health is poor. Tesfai’s relatives are working
through the Dutch Embassy to try to have him released. Jailed members of
Christian religions that have been decreed illegal are required to renounce
their faith before they will be released.
In addition, those who remain politically neutral and will not serve in the
military for religious reasons are jailed in poor conditions. This is the
situation of ten of the Witnesses who are imprisoned. Three of these
conscientious objectors have been in prison for well over 12 years, since 1994.
Their “crime” is taking literally the Biblical directive not to “learn war
anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4, Micah 4:3)
Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot receive more than an 8th grade education in Eritrea.
When students register for high school in 9th grade, they are also required to
register for national service. Upon completing the 11th grade, high school
students are obliged to go to Sawa military camp to complete their 12th-grade
education. The government recently established a school in Sawa, under military
supervision, so that the students can finish the 12th grade while they get the
military training. While there, the students remain separated from their
families for the year. Furthermore, parents are expected to hand over to
authorities any child who has registered for high school but is unable to
complete his education through the 11th grade. If parents do not hand over a
child to the authorities or if they refuse to do so, they are subject to
detention or a fine of 50,000 nakfa ($3,333 U.S.) per child. Recently the
authorities issued a decree that any male student who is more than 18 years old
must leave his studies and report to Assab military camp. Therefore, Jehovah’s
Witnesses do not register for a high school education in order not to compromise
their religiously motivated stand to refrain from participation in military
training or service.
For many years, Jehovah’s Witnesses have attempted to help their Eritrean
brothers through visits and appeals to officials at the U.S. Department of
State, European foreign ministries, and Eritrean embassies, particularly in
Germany, Italy, and the U.S.A. The Witnesses have also made repeated attempts to
send a delegation of Jehovah’s Witnesses to Asmara, without success to date.
Some have described the “siege-like” military atmosphere that Eritrea has
experienced since 1993 and believe that the 1993 national referendum and the
issue of military service are the two principal reasons for the government’s
stance toward Jehovah’s Witnesses. However, Jehovah’s Witnesses are known
internationally for being politically neutral and for their conscientious
objection to military service. Their conviction consistently remains that love
of neighbor is a core tenet of true Christianity.— Matthew 22:37-39; John 13:34,
35; 15:19.
Abuses of religious freedom
In 1994, Eritrea’s president decreed that Jehovah’s Witnesses had revoked their
citizenship by not participating in the national referendum and not
participating in military service. He therefore decreed that Jehovah’s Witnesses
were not allowed to work in any government offices; he revoked their business
licenses and rescinded their identity cards and travel documents. This
mistreatment continues until the present and has created great economic hardship
and, in the case of some, long-term imprisonment. Then in May 2002, the
government closed down all religious groups not part of the recognized Orthodox,
Catholic, Protestant, or Muslim faiths.
Since 1995, approximately 250 families who are Jehovah’s Witnesses have fled
Eritrea and sought asylum outside the country because of the hardships. At least
100 Jehovah’s Witnesses lost their employment because of their religion, and
this has affected more than 300 persons. Thirty-eight Jehovah’s Witnesses were
denied their business licenses. Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot be issued national
identity cards, and thus they cannot purchase land for homes, legalize their
marriages, and receive driver’s licenses, passports, or other travel documents.
At least 37 families have been expelled from their homes. And because of
societal and governmental pressure, Jehovah’s Witnesses have problems renting
homes.
Additionally, since 1998, 31 children who are Jehovah’s Witnesses were expelled
from school because they refused to buy a membership ticket of the political
party called NUEYS (National Union of Eritrean Youths and Students) and refused
to salute the flag.
The national identity card application requires that the applicant identify his
religion. Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot write “Jehovah’s Witnesses” because the
government has banned their religion. If Jehovah’s Witnesses fill in
“Christian,” which correctly characterizes their beliefs since they strive to
live as footstep followers of Jesus Christ, the Eritrean authorities reject the
application. The authorities accept only Orthodox, Catholic, or Protestant
religions as “Christian.”
Another requirement that bars Jehovah’s Witnesses from receiving the national
identity card is the requirement to complete national service. Since the
Witnesses do not train for war, they are denied the identity papers.
Plight of conscientious objectors
The national military service requirement has no regulations or provisions for
conscientious objection. To avoid being arrested by the ever-present MPs who
patrol the streets, most young men who are Jehovah’s Witnesses between the ages
of 18 and 40 are in hiding. If arrested, they are taken to a military camp,
where they are detained, severely beaten, and are forced to undergo various
other forms of torture.
Three of Jehovah’s Witnesses—Paulos Eyassu, Isaac Mogos, and Negede Teklemariam—have
been imprisoned since September 24, 1994. They are in the Sawa prison camp
because of their conscientious objection to military service for religious
reasons. The usual prison term for such a “crime” is three years. They are
denied any visitors, including their families. No charges have been filed
against them and they have never been given a trial. If they had been brought to
trial and convicted, they would have been long-since freed.
They and the other 21 prisoners shown on the last page of this report wish only
to be productive, useful members of their communities, while still having their
Christian beliefs and consciences respected.
The UN Commission on Human Rights issued Resolution 1989/59, on March 8, 1989,
which stated: “The Commission on Human Rights (1) recognizes the right of
everyone to have conscientious objections to military service as a legitimate
exercise of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion as laid
down in article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as
article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; (2)
Appeals to States to enact legislation and to take measures aimed at exemption
from military service on the basis of a genuinely held conscientious objection
to armed service . . .”
Eritrea’s lawful obligations
International and domestic laws already in place relevant to conditions in
Eritrea:
The Eritrean Constitution, adopted in July 1996, guarantees in Article 14 (2):
“No person may be discriminated against on account of . . . religion . . . or
any other factors.” Article 19 (1) states: “Every person shall have the right to
freedom of thought, conscience and belief.” Article 19 (4) guarantees: “Every
person shall have the freedom to practice any religion and to manifest such
practice.” (These quotes are from the draft text of the Constitution.)
UN Resolution 1466 (2003) (adopted by the Security Council at its 4719th meeting on March 14, 2003) states: “The Security Council . . . reiterating the need for both parties [Eritrea and Ethiopia] to fulfil their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, human rights law . . .”
The Eritrea government considers that Jehovah's Witnesses have no rights since they are considered to have renounced their citizenship by not participating in the national referendum nor in national service. However, notice the emphasis on the rights below guaranteed to all without distinction of having citizenship or not.
Eritrea became a member of the United Nations and accepted the obligations contained in its charter on May 28, 1993. The Charter states in Article 1 (3) that one purpose of the United Nations is to promote and encourage “respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.”
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees in Article 1: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” Article 2 states: “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as . . . religion . . . or other status.” And Article 18 states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
In the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (ratified by Eritrea on January 14, 1999), Article 2 guarantees: “Every individual shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognized and guaranteed in the present Charter without distinction of any kind such as . . . religion, . . . or other status.” Article 8 guarantees: “Freedom of conscience, the profession and free practice of religion shall be guaranteed. No one may, subject to law and order, be submitted to measures restricting the exercise of these freedoms.”
The President of Eritrea was among 53 heads of African States who agreed to and adopted the Constitutive Act of the African Union on July 11, 2000. (This Act entered into force on May 26, 2001.) Article 3 states: “The objectives of the Union shall be to . . . 'Encourage international cooperation, taking due account of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; [and] (h) Promote and protect human and peoples' rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other relevant human rights instruments.'”
Conclusion
The foregoing shows that a mechanism is already in place internationally and
domestically for justice in the form of freedom of worship to exist in Eritrea.
Nonetheless, Jehovah's Witness families are still fleeing the country for
asylum; severe torture and extreme brutality are even now being reported.
Of the most egregious long-term infractions Eritrea has yet to answer for is the
incarceration of Paulos Iyasu, Negede Teklemariam, and Isaac Mogos. All three
men are Jehovah's Witnesses who are conscientious objectors to military service.
They were imprisoned in September 1994 and are in the notorious Sawa Prison
Camp. Eyewitnesses and former inmates of the Sawa Camp describe the harsh prison
conditions as those most often associated with a concentration camp. The
confinement of these three men is now four times the maximum sentence outlined
by Eritrean law for refusing to perform military service. The release of these
men is long overdue!
(Name of Prisoner, Age, Gender, Prison, Date of Imprisonment, Reason for Arrest)
Paulos Eyassu, 35, male, Sawa Camp, September 24, 1994, Conscientious objection
Negede Teklemariam, 34, male, Sawa Camp, September 24, 1994, Conscientious objection
Isaac Mogos, 32, male, Sawa Camp, September 24, 1994, Conscientious objection
Aron Abraha, 34, male, Sawa Camp, May 9, 2001, Conscientious objection
Mussie Fessehaye, 36, male, Sawa Camp, June 2003, Conscientious objection
Asmerom Beraki, 52, male, Mai Serwa, January 24, 2004, Religious meeting
Tsegabirhan Berhe, 43, male, Sawa Camp, January 24, 2004, Religious meeting
Yemane Tsegay, 43, male, Mai Serwa, January 24, 2004, Religious meeting
Rebka Ghebretinsaye, 41, female, Mai Serwa, January 24, 2004, Religious meeting
Akberet Ghebremichael, 32, female, Mai Serwa, January 24, 2004, Religious meeting
Ambakom Tsegezab, 32, male, Sawa Camp, February 2004, Conscientious objection
Tekle Kebede, 56, male, Mai Serwa, June 2004, Father of escapee
Hagos Woldemichael, 54, male, Mai Serwa, June 2004, Visited family of escapee
Fesseha Ghebrezadik, 23, male, Sembel Prison Asmara, June 2004, Religious teaching (4-year sentence)
Bemnet Fessehaye, 37, male, Sawa Camp, February 2005, Conscientious objection
Henok Ghebru, 24, male, Sawa Camp, February 2005, Conscientious objection
Worede Kiros, 51, male, Sawa Camp, May 4, 2005, Religious teaching
Tekle Tesfai, 73, male, Sembel Prison Asmara, May 27, 2005, Religious teaching (5-year sentence)
Yonathan Yonas, 22, male, Sawa Camp, November 12, 2005, Religious teaching
Ghebrenigus Habte, 60, male, Mai Serwa, December 12, 2005, Religious teaching
Kibreab Fessehaye, 30, male, Sawa Camp, December 27, 2005, Conscientious objection
Bereket Abraha Oqbagabir, 40, male, Sawa Camp, January 1, 2006, Conscientious objection
Ghebru Birhane, 57, male, Mai Serwa, March 5, 2006, Religious teaching
Tekleab Tesfamichael, 76, male, Mai Serwa, July 4, 2006, Religious teaching
Country Report Prepared by:
Jehovah's Witnesses Office of Public Information
25 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, New York 11201-2483
Fax: (718) 560-5619
SERBIA - Arbitrary legal status denial continue
By Drasko Djenovic
Serbian religious communities are still being denied legal status, Forum
18 News Service has found. Under the controversial 2006 Religion Law, any
"non-traditional" community that previously had legal status lost this unless
they submitted a new registration application by 7 May 2007 lost their legal
status.
Without legal status, it is legally impossible for religious communities to
carry out activities such as running bank accounts, inviting foreign religious
workers to work with them, owning property, paying tax, buying or selling
anything, publishing literature and having employees.
At least five religious communities were refused registration in July -
Baptists, Pentecostals, Old Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses and the Seventh-day
Adventist Reform Movement (which is separate from the Seventh-day Adventist
Church), Forum 18 has learnt. Since the Law came into force, many communities
have complained that they are being arbitrarily denied registration by the
Religion Ministry. The only communities exempted from applying for registration
were the seven so-called "traditional" communities, which the Law gave automatic
legal status to.
These are: the Serbian Orthodox Church; the Catholic Church; the Slovak Lutheran
Church; the Reformed Church; the Evangelical-Christian Church (another Lutheran
Church); and the Islamic and Jewish communities.
The Romanian Orthodox Church in the Banat - under the Serbian Orthodox Church -
later gained "automatic" legal status as did to both the Greek and Latin-rite
Catholic Churches, registered as one church.
Only six of Serbia's so-called "non-traditional" religious communities have been
registered since the Religion Law entered into force over a year
ago: These are: the Seventh-day Adventist Church; the United Methodist Church;
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called the Mormons);
the Evangelical Church of Serbia; the Church of Christ's Love; Christ's
Spiritual Church (UPC).
The status of the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) is still unclear. This is
because the Ministry is demanding proof of how, internally, the church has
designated its leader.
Milan Radulovic was Religion Minister until 15 May 2007, and was responsible for
drafting the Religion Law and its implementation. Although no longer Minister,
having being replaced by Radomir Naumov, Radulovic is still a special consultant
in the Religion Ministry and is still responsible for the registration of
communities. Many in Serbia think that Radulovic is still the person with
effective power in the Religion Ministry, and that new Religion Minister Naumov
has little power over the Ministry's activities.
Questioned in person by Forum 18 on 1 August, Radulovic insisted that "the
problems [caused to religious communities by the state] are caused by people by
themselves interpreting the Law." Confusingly - and contrary to what the new Law
actually says - Radulovic then immediately claimed that "all religious
communities who had legal status before the new Religion Law do not need to
register under this Law. They can continue to work on the basis of the old
regulations, or to work without any registration. If anyone experiences any
problem, our doors are always open to them".
Radulovic still insists that smaller communities could register as Citizens
Associations, despite the strong refutations of his idea by the State
Administration and Local Self Government Ministry. Refusing to address these
legally based refutations, or the problems his attitude has caused religious
communities, Radulovic asked Forum 18 "Why shouldn't people be able to associate
on religious base? That would be even better for the Hare Krisna and similar
communities." Radulovic also insisted to Forum 18 that the Hare Krishna
community is "more philosophical than religious," which the State Administration
Ministry and the community themselves both dispute.
The Religion Ministry is still refusing to answer questions from or provide
registration for communities such as the Hare Krishna community and Seventh-day
Baptists, both of which Radulovic insists should register as Citizens'
Associations. Raduloic declined to answer Forum 18's questions on these cases.
Radulovic's other unsupported statements - for example that communities can
continue to operate on the basis of the old regulations - do not influence the
officials religious communities have contact with. One example is the
Evangelical Protestant Church in Leskovac, a Pentecostal church. On 9 July, the
church received a final decision refusing registration, signed by Religion
Minister Naumov. The church then received a letter from the town council of
Vranje, asking the church to prove it has legal status under the 2006 Religion
Law - which it cannot legally do under the Religion Law drafted by Milan
Radulovic. On 31 July, Stefan Stankovic from the church told Forum 18 that their
lawyer is therefore preparing an appeal to the Supreme Court.
When Radulovic was Religion Minister, the Ministry persistently evaded answering
questions from Forum 18 about how religious communities could resolve the
problems caused them by Radulovic's actions as Minister.
When Forum 18 questioned him in person this month, his only response was to
repeat that religious communities should contact the Religion Ministry if they
have problems.
One problem that non-registered communities face is that they cannot obtain a
tax number, and so cannot legally buy or sell property, run a bank account, or
employ anyone. Forum 18 has tried to find out how non-registered communities can
therefore run their financial affairs legally. Danijel Apostolovic of the
Finance Ministry told Forum 18 on 26 July that this "is a complex question and
it is unclear who can answer this, as religious communities are special."
Branislav Maricic of the Tax Office told Forum 18 the same day that "only
registered entities can obtain a tax number." This is a problem which
communities such as the Seventh-day Adventist Reform movement have long
complained of, and it also affects whether non-registered communities can
receive confiscated property back from the state.
Forum 18 knows of one community which has managed to convince their bank that
their old registration is still valid. But that community is uncertain how long
the bank will continue to accept this. Similarly, another community has
succeeded in buying a building using their old tax code, but it is yet again
unclear whether this will be accepted in other cases.
Radulovic has previously suggested that Seventh-day Adventist Reform movement
can solve the legal status and tax problem by uniting with the Seventh-day
Adventist Church. The Religion Law denies legal status to religious communities
"whose name contains a name or part of the name expressing the identity of a
Church, religious community or religious organization which is already entered
into the Register,"
which is another source of problems for the Adventist Reform movement.
Confronted with these problems, Radulovic merely repeated his previous
suggestion, adding the comment to Forum 18 that "they can unite with the
Seventh-day Adventist Church (which is registered) so that the Adventist Reform
movement has a separate legal entity but is registered as one church as part of
the Adventists." Radulovic was unable to explain how the legal implications of
his suggestion, for example for property ownership, can be reconciled with
Serbian law.
After the Religion Law was passed, Radulovic illegally increased the number of
adult Serbian citizens required for a religious community to be registered, from
the "at least 0.001 percent of adult citizens" (i.e. 75
citizens) the Religion Law specifies to 100 citizens. The Ministry repeatedly
refused to say why it did this. Questioned by Forum 18 on 1 August about this,
Radulovic claimed that, "it is true that according to the 2002 official census
we have about 7.5 million people, but in Kosovo there are between 2 to 2.5
million people. This gives a total of 10 million people who live in Serbia."
Under the Religion Law, if a religious community receives no answer from the
Ministry of Religion within the legal deadline of 60 days, this means it is
automatically recognised. Smaller religious communities, such as the Hare
Krishna community, have frequently complained to Forum 18 that the Religion
Ministry has ignored this part of the Law. Like the Evangelical Protestant
Church in Leskovac, the Jehovah's Witnesses decided to appeal to the Supreme
Court. This was because the Jehovah's Witnesses had neither received a decision
nor registration 60 days after they lodged a registration application with the
Religion Ministry.
Damir Porobic of the Jehovah's Witnesses told Forum 18 on 23 July that the
Supreme Court asked whether the Witnesses had given the Ministry an extra seven
days to reply. This is a common provision of other Serbian laws, and it is
common for courts to ask for this, but it does not apply in the case of the
Religion Law. Their lawyers wrote to the Supreme Court explaining this on 18
May. No reply has been received.
The Baptist Union have launched a case at the Constitutional Court. They have
decided not to apply for registration, but to challenge the Religion Law itself
as they argue that it breaks both the Serbian Constitution and international
law. Serbian president Boris Tadic has himself stated that the Law breaks the
the European Convention on Human Rights and asked the the Law be changed. If the
Supreme Court and Constitutional Court cases fail, appeals will almost certainly
be made to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
The Baptist Constitutional Court case has made no progress as the Court has no
President. The previous postholder was legally obliged to retire and no
successor has been named. Another complicating factor is that a new Serbian
Constitution came into force in November 2006, almost six months after the
Religion Law was passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by the
Serbian President.
The Belgrade Baptist Church has a separate identity from the Baptist Union and
decided to apply for legal status. But not even the Supreme Court has been able
to persuade the Religion Ministry to grant the church legal status. "The Supreme
Court told the Religion Ministry two months ago to legally decide on Belgrade
Baptist Church's application," Dane Vidovic of the church (who is also now
Secretary of the Serbian Baptist Union) told Forum 18 on 23 July.
Whilst their Supreme Court case is continuing, the Jehovah's Witnesses made a
second application for legal status, on 3 May 2007. On 29 June new Religion
Minister Naumov refused the second application, claiming in writing that the
reason was that "Article 4 of the Jehovah's Witness'
Statute is against article 2 of the Religion Law."
Article 4 of the Statutes, to which Minister Naumov objects, outlines the
purpose of the Jehovah's Witnesses, that they are part of a worldwide body, and
then describes a variety of peaceful religious activities, similar to those
carried out by many other religious communities. These include publicly sharing
their beliefs, establishing schools and organising meetings, importing and
publishing literature, establishing congregations, and selecting training and
inviting religious workers. The Article specifically states that sharing beliefs
may only take place with those who wish to hear what the Jehovah's Witnesses
have to say: "benevolently teaching Bible truths to people who are willing to
listen."
Article 2 of the Religion Law states that: "No-one may be subjected to such
compulsion as might endanger their freedom of religious expression, nor may they
be compelled to make statements expressing their religious orientation and
religious convictions or the non-existence thereof. No-one may be disturbed,
discriminated against or privileged because of their religious convictions,
their affiliation or non-affiliation with a religious community, their
participation or non-participation in worship and religious ceremonies and their
use or non-use of guaranteed religious liberties or rights. There is no state
religion."
Religion Minister Naumov did not explain his reasoning behind the alleged
conflict of the Jehovah's Witness Statute with the Law's Article 2, but
Radulovic claimed to Forum 18 that the reason is that, in door-to-door sharing
of their beliefs, "Jehovah's Witnesses do not identify themselves, so people who
do not know who they are and that their magazines are from the Jehovah's
Witnesses." Forum 18 is not aware of any Jehovah's Witness publication in Serbia
which does not clearly identify in Serbian who the publisher is.
Porobic of the Jehovah's Witnesses was present at a meeting with Radulovic on 18
July. He told Forum 18 on 21 July that Radulovic had stated that "we can
continue to work on the basis of the old laws." He also stated that, "if we face
any problem we can always contact the Religion Ministry."
Reiner Scholz of the Jehovah's Witnesses told a public meeting in Belgrade on 12
August that they "up to now do not face practical problems and have been free to
worship and import literature."
In Serbian law, only registered communities have the legal right to apply an
official stamp to documents. However, both Vladimir Majersky of the Brethren
Church in Serbia and Dusan Bera from the Novi Sad Christian Community told Forum
18 on July 26 that the Religion Ministry asked them to apply an official stamp
to their registration applications. Both expressed surprise to the Ministry that
they were being asked to commit a technically illegal action. One Religion
Ministry official commented to Majersky on the way registration applications are
handled in the Ministry that "those who are doing registrations usually have
their own standard."
Serbian religious minorities remain "not optimistic" that they can gain legal
status, as Bera from the Novi Sad Christian Community put it.
The situation may be changed by a proposed Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO)
Law, due to be presented to the National Assembly in Autumn 2007. Former
Religion Minister Radulovic told Forum 18 that "Minister Naumov and I will do
our best to ensure that religious communities can register under this Law as
Citizens Associations." However, current drafts of the proposed NGO Law strictly
forbid religious communities from registering as Citizens Associations.
A Restitution Law governing the return of confiscated property to registered
communities was passed in 2006. Only communities with this legal status can
reclaim their property, and Radulovic did not comment on whether he thought that
Citizen's Associations could reclaim property. Restitution of religious property
confiscated in communist times is also plagued by problems of very slow official
implementation and the difficulty of communities supplying the legal documents
the Law requires.
Source: http://www.forum18.org
TURKMENISTAN - Jehovah's Witness jailed, Baptist family
threatened with deportation
By Geraldine Fagan
Forum 18 (15.08.2007)/ HRWF (15.08.2007) - Website: http://www.hrwf.org - Email:
info@hrwf.net - Jehovah's Witness Suleiman Udaev has been handed down an
18-month sentence for refusing military service on religious grounds, Forum 18
News Service has learnt. Currently detained at the regional prison in Mary
(365km or 230 miles south-east of Ashgabad), the 24-year-old is "OK, healthy -
but it is hard there, of course", his father Annageldy told Forum 18 from the
Turkmen capital on 14 August.
Mary District Court found Suleiman Udaev guilty of evading military service
(Article 219, Part 1 of the Criminal Code) on 7 August. Present at
the trial, Annageldy Udaev told Forum 18 that his son explained to the court
that he rejects military service due to his religious beliefs. "He
said that God forbids the taking up of arms to kill a person and the swearing of
oaths. That we are Jehovah's Witnesses, and we cannot cause harm to another
human being under to God's law." According to Annageldy Udaev, the judge then
suggested that God's law might not be complete, "that He might issue another law
to fight, to serve the motherland, and have forgotten about war." Although
Suleiman replied that "God isn't a person, he decides everything once and for
all and cannot make a mistake by forgetting something," the judge took no notice
of his arguments and sentenced him to one-and-a-half years in prison, his father
confirmed to Forum 18. Annageldy Udaev also said that his son appeared without a
defence lawyer, because he did not believe one would help his case.
Detained since his trial in a 15 square metre (17 square yard) cell with 19
other prisoners, Suleiman Udaev is permitted one visit a month by his mother,
according to his father. She visited him on 13 August but was only able to see
him through a window and speak via a telephone, said Annageldy Udaev, "we can't
give him anything".
Suleiman Udaev's father also told Forum 18 that his son is currently in debt
after being fined the "huge sum" of 1,250,000 Turkmen Manat (1,425 Norwegian
Kroner, 178 Euros or 240 US Dollars at the official bank rate, approximately
2,965 Norwegian Kroner, 370 Euros or 500 US Dollars at the unofficial bazaar
rate) approximately one month ago for preaching. Threatened with the
confiscation of his property, Suleiman borrowed money to pay the fine, according
to his father. He did not know any further details about the fine.
The authorities have not yet made any move to prosecute up to ten other
Jehovah's Witnesses - including Ilya Osipov and Mansur Masharipov - for refusing
military service, Bayram Ashirgeldyyev told Forum 18 from Ashgabad on 14 August.
20-year-old Ashirgeldyyev and a fellow Jehovah's Witness, 27-year-old Aleksandr
Zuyev, were handed down two-year suspended sentences in separate trials in the
Turkmen capital in mid-July. On 23 July, less than a week after being given an
18-month labour camp term for likewise refusing compulsory military service on
grounds of religious conscience, 27-year-old Jehovah's Witness Nuryagdy Gayyrov
had his punishment reduced to a one-year suspended sentence.
Bayram Ashirgeldyyev also told Forum 18 that he has been unable to obtain work
since May 2006, when the local military commission refused to stamp his medical
certificate attesting that he has heart problems. This would have confirmed to
employers that he was exempt from military service and should be engaged in work
taking into account his heart condition. When Ashirgeldyyev obtained the
certificate at the request of the military commission, he told Forum 18, it drew
up its own diagnosis insisting that he is psychiatrically ill, but he refuses to
accept this. Ashirgeldyyev believes that he will be amnestied in a couple of
months, "but then they will find a new charge - I was warned in court that they
would put me away for 11 years." While abiding by the conditions of his
suspended sentence - the 20-year-old cannot travel outside Ashgabad and must be
back each evening by 8pm - he told Forum 18 that this is so far not being
enforced by police.
Jehovah's Witness young men insist they are ready to do alternative non-military
service, but none is offered in Turkmenistan. Forum 18 has
been unable to reach any officials who could explain why those unable to do
military service on grounds of religious conscience cannot be offered
alternative non-military service. The telephone of Aygozel Hezretova, head of
the Legal Information Centre at the Adalat (Justice) Ministry, went unanswered
on 15 August. So did that of Shemshat Atajanova of the presidential National
Institute for Democracy and Human Rights.
Baptist prisoner of conscience Vyacheslav Kalataevsky has not been released,
remaining in a labour camp with harsh conditions. The 49-year-old Ukrainian
citizen is serving a three-year sentence handed down on 14 May 2007 as a
consequence of his religious activity. A fellow Baptist pastor arrested with
Kalataevsky, Russian citizen Yevgeny Potolov was expelled from Turkmenistan in
early July.
Potolov's wife and children have now been threatened with deportation, the
Baptist Council of Churches stated today (15 August). During a 12 August evening
raid on home worship by its congregation in the western port city of
Turkmenbashi, two local officials and the city imam declared the gathering
illegal, demanded identification documents from all present and told Nadezhda
Potolov that they would deport her as she holds a residency permit rather than
Turkmen citizenship. A Visa Department official and two employees of the Foreign
Citizen State Registration Service reportedly arrived soon afterwards, but -
apparently unaware that the congregation is Baptist - they drew up a protocol
referring to "an illegal mob of Jehovah's Witnesses".
Forum 18 has again been unable to reach any officials who were willing to
discuss the case.
The Potolov family moved to Turkmenbashi in 1998. Both Yevgeny Potolov and
Vyacheslav Kalataevsky had their residency permits stripped from them in June
2001 on orders of the local administration chief in punishment for their
religious activity in the city.
The Baptist Council of Churches, to which the two pastors are affiliated,
rejects state registration in all the former Soviet republics where it
operates. It believes that registration leads to unwarranted state interference
in the internal life of congregations and unacceptable restrictions on their
activities. Protestants within Turkmenistan have told Forum 18 of numerous
unwritten controls on registered communities, including forced co-operation with
the MSS secret police. Many communities are therefore reluctant to apply for
registration.
Nasrullah ibn Ibadullah, the former Chief Mufti and Chairman until January 2003
of the Council (Gengeshi) for Religious Affairs has been reappointed to the
Gengeshi. The Altyn Asyr state television channel broadcast him on 13 August
thanking President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov for his pardon and announcing
that he has already been appointed as a "leading specialist" at the Gengeshi.
"With all my strength, day and night, I will serve the Great Almighty Allah, my
motherland, my people and my esteemed president," he stated. Three years into a
22-year sentence - on charges the government refused to make public - he was
freed from prison on 9 August.
The Gengeshi has a key role in monitoring and suppressing Turkmen citizens who
exercise their right to religious freedom. Since Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov
became President in early 2007, raids, fines, public threats, imprisonment and
other violations of freedom of thought, conscience and belief have significantly
increased.
Source: http://www.forum18.org
TURKMENISTAN - Fifth Jehovah's Witness sentenced in three months
by Felix Corley
Forum 18 News Service (13.09.2007) / HRWF (17.09.2007) - Website: http://www.hrwf.org
- Email: info@hrwf.net - Yesterday (12 September), Begench Shakhmuradov became
the fifth Jehovah's Witness to be sentenced in Turkmenistan in the past three
months for refusing to perform compulsory military service on grounds of
religious faith. After several postponements of his trial, he was given a
two-year suspended sentence at Azatlyk District Court in the capital Ashgabad
[Ashgabat]. However, as Shakhmuradov told Forum 18 News Service in the wake of
the trial, he does not yet know the conditions that will be imposed on him.
"They still haven't informed me. But it's likely to include regular reporting to
the police, a ban on leaving the house at night and a requirement to get
permission if I want to leave the city."
Shakhmuradov said he does not agree with the verdict, though he has not yet
decided whether to appeal. "I believe I have the right to freedom of thought and
religion and the court should have respected this," he insisted to Forum 18.
"God gave me these rights and they are also enshrined in Turkmenistan's
Constitution. If the Constitution recognises these rights the law should also
back them up. Before God I can't fulfill laws which go against my conscience."
Turkmenistan does not offer a civilian alternative to compulsory military
service, making young men who cannot serve in the armed forces on grounds of
conscience liable to punishment. All five of the Jehovah's Witness young men
sentenced this year, including Shakhmuradov, were prosecuted under Article 219,
Part 1 of the Criminal Code, which punishes refusal to serve in the armed forces
with a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment.
Shakhmuradov has already served one sentence on the same charges. He was given
one year's imprisonment in February 2005, but was among several Jehovah's
Witnesses freed early from their sentences in April 2005 in the wake of a
presidential decree.
Shakhmuradov was called up for military service again in May 2007 despite
suffering from tuberculosis contracted during his imprisonment.
"I told the court I am of course prepared to do any alternative service,"
Shakhmuradov told Forum 18. "I told the authorities this two years ago when they
first sentenced me. It would be just if a civilian alternative to military
service existed." He said that without such an alternative, other Jehovah's
Witness young men will "certainly" be sentenced.
Forum 18 has been unable to find out from officials why they are not prepared to
consider introducing an alternative civilian service, why five Jehovah's
Witnesses have been sentenced for refusing military service in the past three
months and why the Baptist pastor Vyacheslav Kalataevsky has been imprisoned.
Reached on 13 September at his office at the Gengeshi (Committee) for Religious
Affairs in Ashgabad, deputy chair Nurmukhamed Gurbanov refused to answer any
questions. "I don't answer to you," he told Forum 18. "Your questions don't
appeal to me." Asked again about the recent cases he responded: "No religion is
oppressed here – everyone can practice their faith freely." He then referred
Forum 18 to the Foreign Ministry, although it does not have competence in
internal affairs, before putting the phone down.
Forum 18 was unable to reach Shirin Akhmedova, director of the government's
National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, between 10 and 13 September.
Her secretary told Forum 18 that she was out at meetings. The secretary said
each time that no-one else at the institute was present, even though it is
reputed to have about fifty staff. On other occasions the phone went unanswered.
Meanwhile, fellow Jehovah's Witness Suleiman Udaev was suddenly freed from
imprisonment on 12 September, family members told Forum 18 that evening. His
18-month term of imprisonment for refusing military service on grounds of
religious conscience was commuted to a two-year suspended sentence with
compulsory labour. They told Forum 18 he is back at his home in a village 100 km
(60 miles) from the south-eastern town of Mary. However, they said Udaev must
pay twenty percent of his wages to the state, he will not be able to leave his
home village without permission and other restrictions will be imposed. He is
likely to be assigned to work in the local collective farm.
Udaev, who was sentenced by Mary District Court on 7 August, had been held at
the labour camp in the town. On 13 August his parents filed a complaint against
his sentence to the Supreme Court, which was accepted only when they sent it by
mail. Udaev's family was able to pass on food parcels and medicine to him only
after paying the prison guards.
The three other Jehovah's Witnesses - Aleksandr Zuyev, Bayram Ashirgeldyyev and
Nuryagdy Gayyrov - were given suspended sentences in July.
Meanwhile, Baptist pastor Kalataevsky remains in labour camp in the eastern town
of Seydi. A Baptist leader from the Caspian port city of Turkmenbashi [Türkmenbashy,
formerly Krasnovodsk], he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment on 14 May
for illegally crossing the border six years earlier. His family has insisted to
Forum 18 that the sentence was imposed to punish him for his activity with the
unregistered Baptist congregation in Turkmenbashi. A family visit to him in
labour camp on 14 August was cut to just 40 minutes.
Kalataevsky's wife Valentina said she intends to travel to Seydi for the next
scheduled labour camp visit on 18 September. "We were so upset last time that
the visit was so short," she told Forum 18 from Turkmenbashi on 12 September.
She said she does not know if her husband will be included in the prisoner
amnesty due in October to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The
government has said that more than 9,000 prisoners are due to benefit from the
amnesty this year.
Kalataevsky's family have again written appeals in September to President
Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and other officials asking for his case to be
reviewed. "So far we have had no response to these latest appeals," family
members told Forum 18.
Source: http://www.forum18.org
SOUTH KOREA - State decides to allow alternative service for
conscientious objectors
The Associated Press / International Herald Tribune (18.09.2007) / HRWF Int.
(19.09.2007) – Email: info@hrwf.net – Website: http://www.hrwf.net - South Korea
said Tuesday it has decided to allow conscientious objectors to perform social
service instead of mandatory military stints, and approved a proposal to
drastically shorten the service term for ordinary conscripts.
The moves immediately prompted concerns from many conservatives in South Korea,
who argue they will undermine the country's conscription system aimed at
deterring aggression from communist North Korea.
On Tuesday, the Defense Ministry said it plans hold public hearings and opinion
polls before revising laws governing the military service for conscientious
objectors by the end of next year, and the revision is subject to the
legislature's approval.
The decision — expected to take effect as early as January 2009 if approved —
"is not to recognize the right to refuse the military duty but to permit an
alternative service as part of social service on the premise of public
consensus," the ministry said in a statement.
More than 3,760 young South Korean men, mostly followers of the Jehovah's
Witnesses Christian denomination, have refused to perform military service in
the past five years, and nearly 95 percent of them served more than 17 months in
prison.
The ministry said it plans to require conscientious objectors to reside and work
in special hospitals and care for senior citizens, as well as the disabled,
lepers and mental patients.
The Korea Veterans Association criticized the ministry plan for lowering the
morale of ordinary conscripts, thus posing a threat to the national security.
"Allowing alternative service is a dangerous idea that provides opportunistic
conscription rejectors with a chance to dodge their military service. It will do
harm to national security and stoke social conflicts," the association said in a
statement.
Later Tuesday, the Cabinet approved a proposal by the Defense Ministry to reduce
the compulsory service term for ordinary conscripts by six months by 2014. Under
the current law, all physically fit South Korean men ages 18 to 30 must serve at
least two years in the military.
The proposal is key to the Defense Ministry's push to streamline and modernize
its 680,000-member military, the world's sixth largest, and resolve long-running
complaints by young draftees that they have to stop school or interrupt careers
due to the military service.
The plan has stoked security concerns in South Korea, which is still technically
in a state of war with North Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an
armistice. Some South Koreans worry that the reduced number of boots on the
ground would eventually weaken South Korea's war capability against North Korea.
The new service term would take effect if and after President Roh Moo-hyun signs
it, a ministry official said, on condition of anonymity, citing policy.
HRWF Int'l Analysis
This is an interesting move in the right direction. In fact, it is the
Ministry of Defense, who in the past has always opposed the idea of alternative
service, who today is saying this it is now agreeable to that idea. However,
there is no specific draft law on the table. In its news release the Ministry of
Defense stated that it planned to hold public hearings and opinion polls before
submitting a draft revision to the legislation. Thus there is still a long way
from having a definite draft law being submitted to the National Assembly.
Considering that the problem has been going on for nearly 60 years, we doubt
that there will be a quick fix. There are also elections coming up which may
impact on the problem.
At this time, nobody knows exactly what the law on alternative service will be
and whether it will take into account the specificities of the conscientious
objection of Jehovah's Witnesses.
It is also noteworthy that the statement of the Ministry of Defense comes at a
time when the Government of Korea is obligated to respond to the UN Human Rights
Committee and explain what it is doing to correct the violation of article 18 of
the ICCPR it was found guilty of in the two cases involving Jehovah’s Witnesses
who were conscientious objectors. While it is true that the UN Human Rights
Committee is not a formal court with powers to execute its decisions, it is
powerful enough to incite a country to respect its decisions.
ARMENIA - 82 Religious prisoners of conscience is new record
By Felix Corley
Forum 18 News Service (26.09.2007) / HRWF Int. (28.09.2007) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net
- Email: info@hrwf.net - When Aghan Vartanyan was sentenced to two years'
imprisonment by the court of Yerevan's Shengavit District on 29 August, he
became the 73rd Jehovah's Witness currently serving a prison sentence for
refusing military service on grounds of religious conscience. A further nine
were arrested in August and are in prison awaiting trial, Lyova Markaryan of the
Jehovah's Witnesses told Forum 18 News Service from Yerevan on 24 September.
This brought the total imprisoned to a record 82. Seven of the nine are due to
be tried on 15 October. Another Jehovah's Witness is serving a two year
suspended sentence. Markaryan fears the number of prisoners will only rise as
the autumn call-up begins next month.
Armenia has violated its commitment to the Council of Europe to bring in a fully
civilian alternative to military service. It has also been criticized by the
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) (see F18News 2 May
2007).
Markaryan complained that the most recent prisoner amnesty was not applied to
Jehovah's Witnesses. "Nor are Jehovah's Witnesses released from prison after
serving one third of their imprisonment," he told Forum 18. He said he believes
Jehovah's Witness young men would be ready to do a genuinely civilian
alternative service, though he insisted the decision is up to each individual
member.
"No-one here in Armenia wants to change the system," Vahan Ishkhanian, a
journalist from ArmeniaNow.com who has long followed the cases of imprisoned
conscientious objectors, told Forum 18 on 25 September. "They say we already
have a law that meets European standards. I believe any change depends on the
Council of Europe." He reports that no young men are now doing the alternative
service.
On 23 January 2007, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted
Resolution 1532, which declared: "The Assembly urges the Armenian authorities to
revise the law on alternative service in accordance with the recommendations
made by the Council of Europe experts currently studying this issue and, in the
meantime, to pardon the young conscientious objectors currently serving prison
sentences."
Twenty-two Jehovah's Witnesses have lodged cases at the European Court of Human
Rights in Strasbourg over their prosecution for refusing to serve in the armed
forces or perform military-controlled alternative service. One of those who has
brought his case to Strasbourg, Haik Bukharatyan, was told by a prosecutor:
"People like you should be destroyed. Hitler was right when he tried to
exterminate you!"
Armen Harutyunyan, Armenia's Human Rights Ombudsperson, told Forum 18 there has
been "no progress" towards meeting the country's obligation to introduce a
genuinely civilian alternative service or to reduce the length of time
alternative service lasts. "Alternative service is under the control of the
Defence Ministry - I believe this should not be the case," he told Forum 18 from
Yerevan on 26 September. "Members of various religious groups have complained
about this."
Harutyunyan said that if there is no progress he will include the failure to
introduce a genuine civilian service into his next annual report to parliament.
"Parliament is already informed about this issue and it must amend the law."
But Artur Agabekyan, a parliamentary deputy from the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation party who chairs the parliamentary Defence Committee, rejects
Harutyunyan's assessment. "There is alternative military service and alternative
civilian service," he told Forum 18 from Yerevan on 26 September. "The
alternative civilian service has no connection with the Defence Ministry." He
said the only connection is that conscripts are initially called up through
local military conscription offices.
The Jehovah's Witnesses and the Molokans reject such assertions, insisting that
those conducting the alternative "civilian" service are supervised by the
Military Police under regulations laid down by the Defence Ministry. They are
ordered to wear uniform provided by the military and fed by the military. All
breaches of orders or regulations are dealt with by the Military Prosecutor's
Office.
Order No. 142, issued by the then Deputy Defence Minister Mikael Harutyunyan on
20 December 2004, ordered the Military Commissariat and the Military Police to
ensure that there is weekly military supervision of everyone performing
"civilian" alternative service. Monthly written reports were ordered to be
submitted to the Chief of the General Staff, and the military was ordered to
search for anyone who attempts to evade the "civilian" alternative service. The
Head of the Mobilisation Administration of the General Staff was given the
responsibility of ensuring that Order No. 142 is obeyed (see F18News 22 February
2006).
Agabekyan of the parliamentary Defence Committee rejected this, insisting that
this decree must have been superseded. He promised to find out and tell Forum
18. "Some mistakes were made by the Defence Ministry," he conceded. "They don't
have the right to control alternative civilian service." He maintained that the
Social Care and Health Ministries are in charge of those doing alternative
service.
Forum 18 has been unable to find out why the Defence Ministry controls a service
that is supposed to be civilian. Col. Sedrak Sedrakyan of the Ministry's Legal
Department was not in his office on 25 and 26 September and questions submitted
to Lt Suren Aloyan of the press office early on 25 September had not been
answered by the end of the working day on 26 September.
No one in the administration of President Robert Kocharyan was available to
explain to Forum 18 on 26 September to explain what steps - if any – the
president intends to take to bring Armenia's position into line with its Council
of Europe commitments, which should have been enacted by January 2004. Also
unavailable when Forum 18 called were Justice Minister Kevork Danielyan and
parliamentary speaker Tigran Torosyan.
Despite the current alternative service being under Ministry of Defence control,
Armenian officials have repeated to Forum 18 their insistence that they are
meeting their obligations. "Our law did introduce an alternative service,"
Tigran Samvelyan, who heads the Council of Europe Department at the Foreign
Ministry, told Forum 18 from Yerevan on 25 September. "I can't see any failure
in fulfilling our commitments to the Council of Europe."
Told that the alternative service is under military control, thus violating
Council of Europe requirements and making the alternative service unacceptable
to those whose conscience does not allow them to support the military, Samvelyan
brushed these concerns aside. "The law was adopted by parliament, not the
Foreign Ministry," he maintained. Told that more than 80 Jehovah's Witnesses are
currently in prison for refusing military and alternative service he insisted
this is not his ministry's responsibility.
All but one of the 73 sentenced Jehovah's Witnesses were prosecuted under
Article 327 Part 1 of the Criminal Code, which punishes evasion of the call-up
to military or alternative service. The maximum sentence under this article was
increased to three years' imprisonment in December 2005. The Jehovah's Witness
prisoners are serving sentences of between 18 and 36 months' imprisonment.
Markaryan of the Jehovah's Witnesses complained to Forum 18 that in six recent
cases where sentences were at the lower end of the range, prosecutors
successfully appealed and had the sentences lengthened.
As well as the hundreds of Jehovah's Witness prisoners in recent years, a young
Molokan Pavel Karavanov was freed from prison in summer 2006 after serving a
sentence for refusing military and alternative service on grounds of religious
conscience. Molokans are a Russian Protestant church, established in the 17th
century and known for their pacifism. There are about 4,000 Molokans in Armenia.
A member of Yerevan's Molokan community confirmed to Forum 18 on 25 September
that no Molokan young men are currently imprisoned for refusing military
service. Other religious communities where pacifism has a long tradition - such
as the Seventh-day Adventists and the Pentecostal Churches - confirmed to Forum
18 from Yerevan that their young men are prepared to serve in the Armenian armed
forces.
Ishkhanian, the journalist, reports some flexibility within the armed forces to
meet concerns on grounds of conscience. "Some young men serve within the
military but without handling weapons," he told Forum 18.
Mamikon Kazaryan, bishop of a Pentecostal denomination with links to the Church
led in Russia by Bishop Ivan Fedotov, said that about forty young men in their
congregations across Armenia are now doing military service. "Some of them won't
swear the military oath on grounds of conscience, but are allowed instead to
give their word," he told Forum 18 from Yerevan on 25 September. "In recent
years none of our young men have been punished in relation to their service and
they are treated well."
Source: http://www.forum18.org
TURKMENISTAN - Four prisoners amnestied, one to be deported?
By Felix Corley
Four of the six religious prisoners of conscience in Turkmenistan have been
amnestied, but one of the four - 49-year-old Baptist pastor Vyacheslav
Kalataevsky - remains in police custody as the authorities decide whether to
deport him. "We're worried as there is only a small hope that he will be allowed
to stay here," members of Kalataevsky's family told Forum 18 News Service from
the capital Ashgabad [Ashgabat] on 9 October. "The family and the Church want
him to stay - and he wants to stay." They say the Ukrainian embassy has also
appealed to the Turkmen authorities for Kalataevsky - a Ukrainian citizen - to
be allowed to remain with his family in Turkmenistan.
No officials were immediately available to explain to Forum 18 why two of the
religious prisoners were not amnestied, why Kalataevsky cannot return to his
family and why some of the amnestied prisoners had to swear an oath of loyalty
on the Koran and the Ruhnama (Book of the Soul), the two-volume work attributed
to the late president Saparmurat Niyazov.
Kalataevsky's family report that he was transferred on 8 October from the labour
camp in Seydi to a police holding centre in Arzuv on the north-eastern edge of
Ashgabad. "Thirty men are held in one cell," they told Forum 18. "Mattresses are
given out only at night and in the day the prisoners have to sit or lie on the
cold concrete floor. They are held in unhygienic conditions with no possibility
to wash."
Kalataevsky's wife Valentina and one of their daughters was able to have a
five-minute meeting with him that evening. "It was only with difficulty that
they were able to pass on some bread," family members told Forum 18. "But he was
healthy and strong and holds to God."
Family members report that they asked the authorities if they could bring
Kalataevsky to stay with them in Ashgabad while a decision is taken on his
future. "But they refused. We have been everywhere trying to find out what will
happen to him. The Migration Service told us that his case is being handled by
the Foreign Ministry and the Interior Ministry. But they won't give us any
concrete information."
Kalataevsky leads an independent Baptist congregation in the Caspian Sea port of
Turkmenbashi [Türkmenbashy, formerly Krasnovodsk], the town where he was born.
He was arrested by the Ministry of State Security (MSS) secret police on 12
March. He was found guilty of "illegally crossing the border" and on 14 May was
given a three-year labour camp sentence, which he was sent to serve in Seydi.
The charges related to Kalataevsky's return to Turkmenistan after his summary
deportation in 2001. Dumped with no paperwork or money across the border in
Kazakhstan, he was obliged to return to his family a week later as he had
nowhere to go.
Deported at the same time in 2001 was fellow-Baptist Yevgeny Potolov, a Russian
citizen also from Turkmenbashi. He was arrested earlier this year soon after
Kalataevsky, but was deported from Turkmenistan in early July.
Potolov's family were subsequently threatened with deportation.
Kalataevsky and three of the other religious prisoners were pardoned under the
amnesty announced by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to mark the Muslim
Night of Omnipotence, which this year falls on 9 October. A list of nearly 9,000
prisoners to be freed - all local citizens - was published in local newspapers.
A further 158 foreign citizens whose names were not published were said to be
due for release.
As in previous years at least some of the prisoners being freed were required to
swear the oath of loyalty to the president on a copy of the Ruhnama and the
Koran. "At least some of those being freed were shown on television repenting
and swearing an oath on the Ruhnama and the Koran," Farid Tukhbatullin of the
exiled Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights told Forum 18. Such an oath would
have been unacceptable to all the religious prisoners.
In addition to Kalataevsky, the three other amnestied religious prisoners are
all Jehovah's Witnesses who were serving suspended sentences for refusing
compulsory military service on grounds of religious conscience.
Their names appeared in the government list of amnestied prisoners.
Suleiman Udaev was serving a two-year suspended sentence with compulsory labour,
Aleksandr Zuyev a suspended two-year sentence and Nuryagdy Gayyrov a suspended
one-year sentence.
Not freed under amnesty were Jehovah's Witnesses Bayram Ashirgeldyyev and
Begench Shakhmuradov. Both are serving two-year suspended sentences imposed this
summer. Those serving suspended sentences cannot travel outside Ashgabad without
special permission and must be back home each evening by 8pm. Shakhmuradov,
however, told Forum 18 that in his case the authorities have not specified what
restrictions have been imposed on his activities.
All five Jehovah's Witnesses were found guilty under Article 219, Part 1 of the
Criminal Code, which punishes refusal to serve in the armed forces with a
maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment. Jehovah's Witness young men insist
they are ready to do alternative non-military service, but Turkmenistan offers
no non-combat alternative to those who cannot serve in the military on grounds
of conscience.
Ashirgeldyyev said he had no idea why he and Shakhmuradov were not amnestied
while the three other Jehovah's Witnesses were. "We're regarded as criminals,
but we're not," he insisted to Forum 18 from Ashgabad on 5 October. "It would
have been right if we had been pardoned and would have represented the rule of
law. We were sentenced for no valid reason." He said the "lawlessness" of
repeated prosecutions of those unable to serve in the armed forces on grounds of
religious conscience would continue, despite the amnesty to three of his
fellow-Jehovah's Witnesses. "This illegality will carry on until an alternative
service law is adopted."
Shakhmuradov too said he did not know why he had not been amnestied. "I don't
agree with this, but I won't complain," he told Forum 18 on 5 October. "I have
nothing against the authorities. I took my position as a believer and I continue
to stick to my convictions." He insisted that it was wrong to imprison those who
could not serve in the armed forces because of their religious convictions. He
particularly objected that some - like himself - have been sentenced twice for
the same "offence".
Ashirgeldyyev complained of continuing government moves against other Jehovah's
Witnesses. He cited dismissals from work and the inability of unemployed
Jehovah's Witnesses to get work.
The former Chief Mufti, Nasrullah ibn Ibadullah, who was serving a 22-year
sentence on charges the authorities repeatedly refused to make public, was among
a group of eleven prisoners freed under presidential amnesty in August. After
his release he was assigned to work as a specialist in the government's Gengeshi
(Council) for Religious Affairs).
Visitors to the Gengeshi soon after his release told Forum 18 that Nasrullah
looked weak and appeared to be suffering from swollen ankles.
Source: http://www.forum18.org
TRANSDNIESTER - Car returned but not Christian magazines
By Felix Corley
Nine days after his car and Christian magazines were seized by the State
Security Ministry in his native Transdniester, a breakaway republic in Moldova,
Igor Velikanenko today (17 October) managed to retrieve his car.
"The Ministry just called me this morning and to my surprise said I could have
my car back," he told Forum 18 News Service from Tiraspol, Transdniester's main
city. "But they refused to give back the copies of our Christian magazine they
seized on 8 October, despite the fine I have already paid." Transdniester
officials have refused to explain to Forum 18 what is illegal about offering
Christian magazines to students on the street and why Velikanenko and two
colleagues have faced repeated interrogation.
Velikanenko insists they did nothing wrong. "We just aim to talk to students
about God," he told Forum 18. "We did nothing wrong - we're law-abiding."
Reached on 16 October, the spokesperson for the State Security Ministry, who
gave his name only as Andrei, told Forum 18 that he had no information about the
case. After Forum 18 explained what had happened to Velikanenko, Andrei said he
would seek further information. Reached on 17 October, he responded immediately:
"I can't comment on anything." Asked why Velikanenko's magazines and car were
seized he refused to say. "You can publish what you like," he told Forum 18
before putting the phone down.
Likewise the office of Transdniester's Commissioner for Religious Affairs, Pyotr
Zalozhkov, refused to comment. The secretary, Natalya Verchenko, said Zalozhkov
is away. "I am hearing about the case for the first time from you," she told
Forum 18 on 16 October, despite the fact that the local tiras.ru internet news
agency reported the confiscations on 12 October. "We have no information on this
so I can't tell you anything. Why didn't the people you say were detained come
and talk to us? They should have told us first."
Told that the State Security Ministry was questioning Velikanenko and his
colleagues, Verchenko responded: "The State Security Ministry informs us about a
case if they feel it is necessary."
Velikanenko, who works for the New Life mission, was about to begin distributing
copies of the Protestant magazine Boom with colleagues outside Tiraspol's
Shevchenko University early on 8 October when two men in civilian clothes
pounced on the group. "We didn't even have time to give out one magazine," he
told Forum 18. "They took us over to my car, where they found 800 copies of the
magazine in the boot." He said the two men presented cards identifying them as
State Security officers. "It was all over in three minutes. They must have known
in advance that we would be coming, maybe through intercepted phone calls."
The two men ordered Velikanenko and two colleagues to accompany them to the
Ministry. "We were held from 9 am to 3 pm that Monday and were summoned back for
a further three hours of questioning and threats on the Tuesday and Wednesday,"
he reported. "We were all interrogated individually. I was summoned again on
Friday for yet more questioning."
Velikanenko said that the State Security officers eventually accused him of
bringing the magazines into Transdniester "illegally" from the Moldovan capital
Chisinau. "I told them the Transdniestran customs had been perfectly happy when
I brought them in as I said they were not to be sold but to be given out free of
charge," he told Forum 18. "But they insisted they were illegal because they did
not include the address of the printing house or an indication of how many
copies were printed."
In the hope of resolving the problem Velikanenko said he paid a fine of 1,171.20
Transdniestran Roubles (749 Norwegian Kroner, 97 Euros or 139 US Dollars) to the
Customs Service on 15 October. "They gave me a document confirming that I had
paid the fine for violating Article 360 of Transdniester's Customs Code, which
punishes people for bringing in contraband goods. The document makes clear the
Customs Service was acting on information from the State Security Ministry."
Velikanenko rejects accusations of wrongdoing. "Anyone would think I had
smuggled in illegal cigarettes, alcohol or drugs," he complained. "But the
magazine is only about God and morality. It teaches people about God, and says
they should not take drugs or engage in sex before marriage. It is nothing to do
with politics."
When Velikanenko asked the State Security officer on 17 October when he could
get back the confiscated magazines the officer told him: "You're not going to
get them back. I don't decide on that - we've had an order from higher up."
Transdniester - which rejects the authority of the Moldovan government - has a
restrictive religious policy that makes religious activity outside approved
places of worship difficult. Officials routinely use bureaucratic means to deny
legal status to communities they do not like. Communities functioning without
legal status are at risk of harassment.
Jehovah's Witnesses told Forum 18 that 200 copies of a magazine were seized in
Bendery [Bender] after an individual Jehovah's Witness tried to bring them into
Transdniester from Moldova in early October. "Officials say that without fiscal
registration our communities are not authorised to import literature," Anatolii
Cravciuc told Forum 18 from the Moldovan capital Chisinau on 17 October. "And
when people bring in literature individually it can be seized."
Cravciuc added that among other recent cases, about ten magazines were seized
from two Jehovah's Witnesses preaching on the street in the village of
Krasnogorka on 17 September. "They've not been fined - yet," he added.
Cravciuc reports that only two of their more than 30 congregations in
Transdniester have legal status. "The congregations in Grigoriopol and Bendery
lodged registration applications back in 2005, but there has been no progress.
The religious affairs commissioner keeps saying this is wrong with the
application or that, and without his approval they can't pass them on to the
Justice Ministry. Both cases have been lingering in court with little progress."
The Jehovah's Witnesses have also been unable to enforce a Supreme Court
judgment that religious affairs commissioner Zalozhkov must "accredit" the local
Jehovah's Witness leader, a process the Transdniestran authorities insist is
necessary before leaders can lead a religious organisation. "We won at Tiraspol
court on 4 July and, after Zalozhkov lodged an appeal, won in the Supreme Court
on 16 August. Even a letter from the court executor on 2 October has not been
enough to make him do this."
Verchenko of the Religious Affairs Commissioner's office refused to discuss the
Jehovah's Witnesses' problems with Forum 18 on 17 October.
"These cases are being handled by the courts," she insisted.
After Orthodox leaders objected to the accreditation system in 2006, an official
in Zalozhkov's office vigorously defended the system to Forum 18.
"All religious leaders must be accredited. We need to know who the leader of any
religious organisation is," Tamara Kovalchuk told Forum 18 back in
2006.
Other Protestants and Muslims have also faced problems in the unrecognised
entity. One Protestant told Forum 18 that after a student in Tiraspol joined a
Protestant church in 2006 she was warned that if she continued to associate with
church members her university marks would suffer.
However, a member of the Council of Churches Baptists told Forum 18 on 17
October that threats to demolish their church in Tiraspol issued seven years ago
have now subsided. He added that police occasionally ban young church members
from preaching on the streets, but said that in contrast to earlier years street
libraries generally are able to function.
Religious Affairs Commissioner Zalozhkov tried to have a new Religion Law
introduced in Transdniester in 2004 to replace the 1995 Religion Law, which
remains in force. Widely criticised by politicians and religious communities,
the planned new Law was abandoned.
Source: http://www.forum18.org
TAJIKISTAN - Jehovah's Witnesses banned
By Felix Corley
Forum 18 (18.10.2007)/ HRWF Int. (19.10.2007) – Email: info@hrwf.net – Website:
http://www.hrwf.net - Tajikistan's Jehovah's Witnesses have reacted with concern
to the decision by the Ministry of Culture to strip them of their legal status
and to ban their activity across the entire country. "Our people were summoned
to the Culture Ministry yesterday [17 October] and were handed this document,
although the ban was dated 11 October," Jehovah's Witnesses told Forum 18 on 18
October. "Officials just said we were banned and should stop all our activity.
They didn't say much. It is very serious to ban us across the whole country. We
didn't expect this."
Forum 18 tried to reach Bobodjon Bobokhonov, Tajikistan's Prosecutor General, on
18 October. The official who answered his phone took Forum 18's details. After
consulting her boss she then instructed Forum 18 to call back in 20 minutes.
When Forum 18 called back the man who answered said he could not hear well and
put the phone down. Subsequent calls failed to reach Bobokhonov.
Saidbek Mahmudolloev, the head of the Information Department at the Culture
Ministry's Religious Affairs Department, said the authorities' major discontent
with the Jehovah's Witnesses is the point in their Charter about refusing
service in the armed forces. "There is no alternative service in Tajikistan yet,
so everyone ought to obey Tajik laws," he told Forum 18 from Dushanbe on 18
October. Forum 18 pointed out provisions in international human rights covenants
respecting the right to conduct alternative, non-combat service, to which
Mahmudolloev responded: "Well, they have other violations as well." He
complained that they also propagate their faith in public places, "which
directly contradicts the law". "The ban is final, though they have the right to
complain to a court about the legitimacy of our decision."
Mahbuba Nuriddinova, who chairs the Social Issues Committee of Parliament, told
Forum 18 said she was not informed about the ban. Asked whether an organisation
does not want its members to serve in the armed forces was enough to close it
down, she said everyone ought to respect Tajik laws. Reminded of Tajikistan's
international human rights obligations, she responded: "I don't want to have a
debate with you over the phone. Let the Jehovah's Witnesses write to us and we
can then see what we can do about this situation."
The Jehovah's Witnesses told Forum 18 that they will be writing to President
Emomali Rahmon and Prime Minister Okil Okilov to challenge the ban. They state
that they meet to study the Bible and preach in all countries, regardless of
whether they have legal status or not. "Our people will be watching to see how
aggressively the authorities try to impose this ban. We don't know if the
security police will begin to break up meetings. But the Constitution guarantees
the freedom to meet with others and to share your views."
The Jehovah's Witnesses stress though that lack of legal status will make it
difficult to rent premises for worship, run bank accounts and invite foreigners
for religious purposes.
A lawyer who works with religious organisations told Forum 18 that Prosecutor's
Office and Religious Affairs officials conducted a check-up of every religious
community across Tajikistan over a six-month period earlier in 2007. "Religious
leaders were invited to their local prosecutor's office and had to present lists
of all adult members and all children who attend regularly," the lawyer told
Forum 18 from Dushanbe on 18 October. "They had to produce details of all the
community's activity, as well as documentation on taxes and even certificates of
land use for their places of worship." The lawyer said many mosques were closed
down in the wake of the check-up. It is not known if the ban on the Jehovah's
Witnesses is related to the check-up, and no other faith is known to have faced
problems as a result of the check-up.
Life for religious communities of all faiths in Tajikistan has become steadily
more difficult in recent years. Plans are underway to replace the existing make
the Religion Law with a harsher Law, which has aroused concern among many
faiths. Unapproved mosques were demolished or closed down in the capital
Dushanbe during the summer, while Christian churches and the city's synagogue
are under threat amid redevelopment plans).
The two-page banning order on the Jehovah's Witnesses, of which Forum 18 has
received a copy, was numbered 11/3 and signed by Minister of Culture
Mirzoshorukh Asrori. It notes that the Ministry took the decision on the basis
of an order to ban the community by the Prosecutor General.
The Ministry claimed that the registration of the Jehovah's Witnesses by the
then Religious Affairs Committee in January 1997 had been in violation of the
Article 3 of the Religion Law, though it did not specify why. It said that
Jehovah's Witness activity violated the country's Constitution as well as the
Religion Law.
Article 3 of the 1994 Religion Law then in force speaks of the right of citizens
to profess their faith freely and to bring up their children with the attitude
to religion they deem appropriate, bans the use of force in matters of religion
and restricts religious activity only when it harms national security, health
and morals.
"The religious organisation of Jehovah's Witnesses carried out its activity in
violation of Republic of Tajikistan legislation by distributing in public places
and at the homes of citizens, i.e. among members and followers of other
religions, propagandistic books on their religion, which has become a cause of
discontent on the part of the people," the order declares. "Many complaints have
been received concerning the illegal activity of the religious organisation of
Jehovah's Witnesses by the Religious Affairs Committee of the Government of the
Republic of Tajikistan, the Ministry of Culture, and the law-enforcement
agencies of the country."
Because the Jehovah's Witnesses "regularly committed violations", the order said
they had been warned in writing by the then Religious Affairs Committee in
October 2000. They were also ordered to bring Article 2.2 of their Statute,
which spoke of their practice of spreading their faith, "to bring it into line"
with the law. The order said that for "propagandising in public places and at
the homes of citizens" the Jehovah's Witnesses were banned for three months in
September 2002.
The Ministry ordered that the law-enforcement agencies be informed of the ban.
It appointed Deputy Culture Minister Murodullo Davlyatov - until recently the
head of the Religious Affairs Committee - to oversee the implementation of the
ban.
The Jehovah's Witnesses question why the authorities have suddenly decided to
regard the 1997 registration by the Justice Ministry as "illegal". "How could
there have been a mistake when the Statute was considered by the Justice
Ministry before being approved so long ago?"
The Jehovah's Witnesses say they have about 600 adherents in eight congregations
in Tajikistan. They point out the irony that in early October, a few days before
the ban was approved, their congregation in the town of Tursunzade [Tursunzoda]
west of Dushanbe close to the border with Uzbekistan received approval to use
their newly-built Kingdom Hall. This is the only place of worship the Jehovah's
Witnesses own in the country. In the capital Dushanbe, where most of their
members are based and where they have had registration since 1994, they rent
premises for meetings.
The Jehovah's Witnesses complain that a "sudden change" in April 2007 saw the
authorities beginning to obstruct their shipments of religious literature from
abroad. That month the National Security Committee (NSC) secret police banned
the release of a shipment from customs without giving a reason. An NSC officer
told the Jehovah's Witnesses in May that the shipment would be destroyed. The
Jehovah's Witnesses tried to challenge the ban in court, but have been court up
in successive hearings over which court has jurisdiction. A second shipment
which arrived subsequently was also banned from being released by customs.
Payam Foroughi, Human Dimension Officer of the Organisation for Security and
Co-operation (OSCE) Centre in Dushanbe told Forum 18 on 18 October that "OSCE
member States have committed themselves to non-discrimination on the issue of
Freedom of Thought, Conscience, Religion, or Belief for all within their
territory, without distinction as to race, gender, language or religion." The
OSCE Centre "hopes that the ban on the Jehovah's Witnesses can be amicably
resolved."
Foroughi added that "OSCE participating States, including Tajikistan, can only
benefit from the existence of a diverse representation of religious beliefs,
whether of Islamic, Christian, or other faiths."
The Jehovah's Witnesses note that in neighbouring Uzbekistan almost all their
communities are now illegal, while the last remaining registered community - in
Chirchik near Tashkent - is threatened with removal of its legal status. None of
their communities in Turkmenistan are officially allowed to function because -
like many communities of other faiths - they have not been able to gain legal
status since 1997.
However, of all the former Soviet republics, only in the breakaway republic of
Abkhazia on the Black Sea have the Jehovah's Witnesses specifically been banned.
"We were officially banned in Abkhazia in 1995 and technically that continues,
but the ban isn't really enforced as it used to be," Jehovah's Witnesses told
Forum 18. "Our people are generally not touched now."
Source: http://www.forum18.org
RUSSIA - Conscientious objector guilty
Udmurt court fines Jehovah’s Witness for refusing alternative service
Interfax (24.10.2007)/ HRWF (26.10.2007) - Website: http://www.hrwf.org - Email:
info@hrwf.net - The Lenin regional court of Izhevsk (Udmurt province, RF)
sentenced a member of the "Jehovah's Witnesses" sect to a fine for refusing to
perform alternative civilian service.
As the prosecutor's office of Udmurtiia reported on Wednesday, the convicted
Dmitry Belorybkin had been summoned by the Belokholunitski regional military
commissariat of Kirov province and assigned to perform alternative civilian
service in the city of Izhevsk in the enterprise "Spetsstroe Rossii.
"The worker was assigned in accordance with his specialty in welding to perform
work in the construction of residence and of a railroad station, and in car
repair shops," the prosecutor's office explained the essence of the case.
"Subsequently, having learned that Spetsstroe Rossii is related to the Ministry
of Defense, he refused further performance of civilian service," the report
says.
"The defendant did not acknowledge his guilt and he explained that his religious
faith forbids him to serve in military subdivisions, since he is a member of the
'Jehovah's Witnesses' religious organization. However the prosecutor who
participated in the judicial session managed to prove that Belorybkin refused to
perform the service," the prosecutor's office's statement emphasized.
The court found D. Belorybkin built and set his punishment as a fine of 10,000
rubles.
FRANCE - Justice agrees with movements suspected of
sectarian deviations
Le Monde (23.10.2007)/ HRWF (25.10.2007) - Email: info@hrwf.net - Website:
http://www.hrwf.net - The president of the Inter-ministerial Mission for
Vigilance and Fight against Sectarian Deviations (MIVILUDES), Jean-Michel Roulet,
announced to a gathering of high officials on 17 October that he has been
charged with libel after stating, in a televised report, that the sums collected
by the organization “Tradition, Family and Property” (TFP) could be “used for
anything and everything”. The movement describes itself as a not for profit
Catholic association of laymen. According to the last report of the Mission, it
constitutes a “risk of being a cult characterized by its opaque functioning and
the vagueness of its objectives”. Although they have been the object of
administrative and judicial action, “they have never been convicted”, reminded
their lawyer Gérard Ducrey.
This indictment which is automatic in a libel case constitutes the latest
development in a series of judicial procedures undertaken by movements suspected
of sectarian deviations by public authorities, against state representatives,
elected officials or anti-cult actors. Mr. Roulet is also an “assisted witness”
in a complaint filed by Jehovah’s Wittnesses for libel, after the hearing of the
parliamentary commission of inquiry on cults and minors. Nicolas Jacquette, a
former member of this movement, and author of a testimonial book “Nicolas, 25
years old, a survivor of Jehovah’s Witnesses” (Ed. Balland), is in the same
situation.
In addition, Jean-Pierre Brard, a member of the National Assembly associated
with the French Communist Party, who was accused several times and charged once
for libel towards Jehovah’s Witnesses, is due to appear shortly before the
correctional court of Paris. The vice-president of the study group for cults at
the National Assembly is being sued for calling Jehovah’s Witnesses “absolute
delinquents” (parfaits délinquants). Mr. Brard who is a “usual target” of these
movements remains convinced that “despite all these suits against us, we must
not surrender.”
Weakened credibility
This judicial attack is not by accident. “Jehovah’s Witnesses are increasingly
forced to use all legal means”, says their lawyer, Philippe Goni. “Since 2000,
when the Council of State recognized the movement as an 'association cultuelle'
(1), they have been harassed by anti-cult groups. They have decided to react to
each attack.”
“Due to the continuous attacks, TFP has also decided that this must stop”, added
Attorney Ducrey. And even though, states Attorney Goni, “the image of Jehovah’s
Witnesses remains very negative in public opinion” – the number of acts of
vandalism against their houses of worship are constantly rising, according to
the ministry of the interior -, the latest court decisions have been rather
favorable to them.
So, in July, Catherine Picard, the president of UNADFI (The National Union of
Associations for the Defense of Family and Individuals) (2), was sentenced for
libel against Jehovah’s Witnesses. In an interview she stated that the group was
“structured as a pyramid, like all criminal organizations.”
In March, the judiciary decided in favor of the movement, to whom the city of
Lyon had refused to rent one of its municipal halls. In September, the decision
of a hospital director that had forbidden a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses to
visit a patient was annulled by the Administrative Court of Caen.
According to Mr. Roulet, “the judicial harassment and intimidation constitute
precisely one of the criteria of cult-like tendencies” of a movement. Other
observers think that the multiplication of these court decisions could weaken
the credibility of the anti-cult fight as it is conducted in France.
Stéphanie Le Bars – Le Monde – 23.10.2007
HRWF Footnotes
(1) Official status granted to religious associations by public authorities on
the basis of a number of criteria; the "associations cultuelles" are thereby
entitled to fiscal advantages
(2) Anticult movement financed by public authorities
Chronology
10 January 1996
A parliamentary commission of inquiry listed 172 dangerous groups qualifying as
sects with an estimated 250.000 regular or occasional followers. An observatory
for cults was created.
1998
This observatory was replaced by the InterMinisterial Mission for Fight Against
Cults (MILS), placed under the authority of the Prime Minister, and presided by
Alain Vivien, author of a report on cults in 1982.
2000
The MILS recommended the dissolving of the Church of Scientology.
2002
Mr. Vivien resigned. MILS became MIVILUDES (Interministerial Mission for
Vigilance and Fight against Cults), presided by Jean-Louis Langlais. He was
replaced in 2005 by Jean-Michel Roulet.
FRANCE - A CoE Publication echoes criticisms against
Miviludes by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
HRWF (25.10.2007) – Website: http://www.hrwf.net – Email: info@hrwf.net - In
August 2007, the Council of Europe published a book in the series "Europeans and
their rights" entitled "Freedom of religion in European constitutional and
international case law" (ISBN 978-92-871-5867-3) by Renata Uitz. In the section
"Enquete commissions and sect observatories" (pp 170-178), a specific paragraph
echoes an assessment of Miviludes by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of
Religion or Belief.
“According to its founding instrument, the tasks of Miviludes include the duty
to promote, while respecting fundamental rights, the co-ordination of preventive
and repressive action by the authorities to deal with such behaviour (Article
1.3) and to inform the general public about the risks, and in some cases the
dangers, to which it is exposed by sectarian aberrations (Article 1.5). One of
Miviludes’ controversial attempts to provide information on sects was a guide
issue in January 2005 informing public servants about how to identify and combat
dangerous sects. In one instance which might be regarded as highly problematic
from the freedom of religion perspective, the guide not only informs public
servants about Jehovah’s Witnesses’ conviction in refusing blood transfusion,
but also explains in explicit terms that doctors who provide life-saving blood
transfusion to patients against their consent are not likely to face negative
legal consequences [1][425]. Reflecting on these developments, Asma Jahangir,
the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief warned that the
monitoring activities of the French government have led to the undue limitations
of rights of religious minorities in France, noting (p. 109) that ‘the
government policy may have contributed to a climate of general suspicion and
intolerance towards those communities on the list created by the National
Assembly in 1996, of movements and groups classified as sectes.’[2][426]”
Footnotes:
[1][425] Guide de l’agent public face aux dérives sectaires, p. 95.
[2][426] “Civil and political rights, including the question of religious
intolerance”, Report submitted by Asma Hahangir, Special Rapporteur on freedom
of religion or belief, Addendum 2, Mission to France (18-29 September 2005).
E/CN.4/2006/5/Add.4, 8 March 2006.
FRANCE - A court decision grants a Jehovah’s Witness the right to be visited by a religious minister in a home for elderly people
The report of the national assembly enquiry commission on sects once more
denied any juridical value by a court
Willy Fautré, Human Rights Without Frontiers
HRWF (05.11.2007) - Email: info@hrwf.net - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - On 18
September 2007, the administrative court of Caen ruled that a Jehovah’s Witness
could not be deprived of the visit of a minister of his religion at the home for
elderly people where he is living on the alleged ground that it had been
qualified a sectarian movement by a parliamentary commission.
In 2005, Mr. Michel P., a 78-year old Jehovah’s Witness, was denied the visit of
a religious minister of the congregation of the city of Lisieux by the manager
of the hospital in charge of the local home for elderly people. Mr. P. had asked
to be visited once a week for an hour.
The court decision acknowledges that the manager of the hospital has violated
the right of the plaintiffs – the congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses of Lisieux
and two persons – “to visit Mr. Michel P. and to talk about religious or
spiritual themes with him.” It also says that “a report drafted by an inquiry
commission of the National Assembly considering the Jehovah’s Witness a sect has
no juridical value.”
The hospital has been condemned to pay 500 EUR to the congregation of Jehovah’s
Witnesses of Lisieux.
See the text of the judgment on the website of Coordiap:
http://www.coordiap.com/Document/sectes-liste-noire.pdf
RUSSIA - Conscientious objectors in Eastern Russia: four
Baptists and a Jehovah's Witness chose alternative service
IA Regnum (25.10.2007)/ HRWF (07.11.2007) - Website: http://www.hrwf.org -
Email: info@hrwf.net - In the Altai territory, five draftees will be sent this
autumn, because of their religious belief, to perform alternative civilian
service. Four of them are Baptists and one is a Jehovah's Witness. This was
reported today, 25 October, to a correspondent of IA REGNUM by the military
commissar of the region, Alexander Generalov.
Four residents of the Slavgorod region and one from Khabarovsk region selected
alternative service. One young man will work as an orderly in the Berdsk rest
home for veterans of labor, and a second as a stoker for an industrial hearth in
the Baturin nursing home for the elderly and invalids in Smolensk province. A
third is assigned to work as a mason in construction directorate No. 806 in the
Udmurt republic.
Yet another alternative service worker will be a reindeer herdsman in the "Odugen"
municipal enterprise in the republic of Tyva where five other draftees also
work, only as hunters. "In Altai territory many young people wish to perform
alternative civilian service, but when they learn that it is necessary to serve
longer and they still have to work far from home, they decline. And in the end
there remain only those draftees whose faith will not permit them to bear arms,"
Generalov emphasized.
According to the military commissar, the term for alternative civilian service
in 2007 is 31.5 months. For those who serve in the armed forces, this term
equals 27 months and for citizens who have higher education it is 21 months.
Beginning in January 2008 the term for alternative service will be reduced to 21
months and for service in the armed forces, to 18 months.
As IA REGNUM reported previously, it is expected that for the autumn the plan
for the draft in Altai territory will remain unchanged and will amount to 2,500
persons. Among the innovations of this draft campaign, thirty Altai conscripts
will serve in the presidential regiment.