FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway

The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief

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Thursday 14 February 2008
TURKMENISTAN: WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE, THE RELIGION LAW OR GOVERNMENT
ACTIONS?

Turkmenistan has promised to amend its Religion Law, but work on this has
not started, Forum 18 News Service has found. Shirin Akhmedova, Director of
the state National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, claimed the
process of amending the Law would be "transparent" and would involve
"international experts." However, she said that the views of local people
would be listened to only after Forum 18 specifically asked about this. She
refused to say what parts of the Law are likely to be amended, when a draft
Law may be produced, or if their would be public discussion. She insisted
that the country has a "new government" and denied that religious believers
face any problems in practising their faith. Religious believers have told
Forum 18 that no fundamental changes in religious policy have yet taken
place. Many have stated that restrictions they face include not being able
to: build or open places of worship; publish or import religious
literature; travel abroad (including on the haj pilgrimage to Mecca); share
their beliefs; or – for communities the authorities particularly dislike –
gain legal status.

TURKMENISTAN: WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE, THE RELIGION LAW OR GOVERNMENT
ACTIONS?

By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service <;

Turkmenistan’s government is promising to amend the Religion Law "to bring
it into line with international human rights norms", but a senior official
has admitted that work on this has not yet started. "Concrete work has not
begun, but the process has begun," Shirin Akhmedova, Director of the
government’s National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, told Forum
18 News Service from the capital Ashgabad [Ashgabat] on 13 February. She
claimed the process of amending the Law would be "transparent" and would
involve "international experts." However, she said that the views of local
people would be listened to only after Forum 18 specifically asked about
this.

Forum 18 tried to find out more about the proposed amendments to the
Religion Law from the government’s Gengeshi (Committee) for Religious
Affairs in Ashgabad. However, each time Forum 18 introduced itself on 13
and 14 February the official who answered the phone of its deputy head
Nurmukhamed Gurbanov put the phone down.

Religious believers Forum 18 has spoken to welcome any attempts to improve
the Law. However, they remain sceptical over whether any amendments will be
a genuine improvement, or be a genuine attempt to establish the rule of
law, and whether the authorities will end the tight state control of
religious communities.

Officials often do not know which parts of the published laws are supposed
to govern their actions. Recently-deported Baptist pastor Vyacheslav
Kalataevsky was told by officials that unregistered religious activity,
including people meeting together for worship in homes, is banned. "I asked
them to show me what part of the law bans unregistered worship and they
were unable to do so," Kalataevsky told Forum 18 when he was still in the
country. Throughout Turkmenistan, Protestants, Muslims and people from
other faiths have been stopped by officials from exercising their right to
freedom of thought, conscience and belief (see F18News 21 November 2007
< e_id=1050>).

"What needs to be cleaned up is the Ministry of State Security (MSS)
secret police," one Christian who preferred not to be identified told Forum
18 on 13 February. "They need to stop the house raids, taking of names,
workplaces and addresses. They continually follow and harass believers."
The Christian recounted the case of a friend who was offered a high level
job. When he disclosed – for the safety of the employer – that he was a
Christian, the employer took back the job offer saying it was too risky.
"If the new President, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, is serious we should
start seeing some internal changes that conform with the Constitution’s
guarantees."

However, Akhmedova of the National Institute for Democracy and Human
Rights resolutely denied that religious communities and individuals face
any problems in practising their faith. Told that many religious believers
have told Forum 18 that they cannot freely build or open places of worship,
publish or import religious literature, travel abroad freely for religious
purposes (including on the haj pilgrimage to Mecca), invite foreign
co-religionists, share their beliefs and – for communities the authorities
particularly dislike – gain legal status she declared angrily to Forum 18:
"You have one-sided information. I have worked here for nearly a year and I
have received no complaints from any religious community in all that time."

Asked whether religious communities can freely build places of worship,
Akhmedova responded: "Of course. Look at the mosque that is to be built in
Koneürgench [in the northern Dashhowuz Region]. Places of worship are being
built." When Forum 18 pointed out that this mosque is being built at the
decision of the state, while religious communities themselves cannot
initiate building places of worship, she repeated that Forum 18 had
"one-sided information".

While refusing to distance the authorities from the repression of
religious believers during the rule of former President Saparmurat Niyazov,
who died in December 2006, Akhmedova kept insisting that Turkmenistan has a
"new government". Asked whether this meant that those who suffered under
the Niyazov regime would be compensated – such as Ashgabad’s Seventh-day
Adventist community which saw its church bulldozed by the authorities in
November 1999 without compensation – she said she had never heard of this.

Asked whether Muslims would be compensated for the mosques destroyed in
the last three years or whether the Armenian Apostolic Church would get
compensation and be allowed to get back their century-old church in
Turkmenbashi [Türkmenbashy, formerly Krasnovodsk], partially destroyed in
2005, she again denied all knowledge of such demolitions (see F18News 21
November 2007 < 1050>).

Akhmedova repeated government claims that pilgrims could travel
independently "at their own expense". However, only 188 state-approved
pilgrims were approved to travel on the haj in December 2007, while
Turkmenistan has a quota of 5,000 (see F18News 14 December 2007
< e_id=1062>). Asked why there was
this severe restriction, she claimed: "Dozens of my friends went on the haj
this time making their own arrangements." She declined to give Forum 18 any
names or contact details to verify her claim independently, or say how they
travelled.

Akhmedova told Forum 18 that the Interagency Commission set up last year
to bring Turkmenistan’s laws in the area of human rights into line with
international norms met in Ashgabad on 5 January. "A long list of laws was
approved to be brought into line with international standards," she told
Forum 18. "The Religion Law is one of those. However, there is no hierarchy
of priority, so no individual law will be considered ahead of the others."

Akhmedova said the Interagency Commission will be coordinating specific
proposals to amend the Religion Law, with the help of her agency. "We want
to work with experts from USAID and the OSCE [Organisation for Security and
Co-operation in Europe]," she added. "It will be done better with their
help." She said the text would eventually go to parliament for approval.
Only after questioning from Forum 18 about the involvement of citizens did
she state that local people could present suggestions to the Interagency
Commission or her National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights.

She refused to say what specific elements of the Religion Law are likely
to be amended. She would not give a timetable of when a new draft Law is
likely to be produced, or state if it would be open for public discussion.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in
Warsaw told Forum 18 that it had expressed its readiness to offer
assistance to the Turkmen government through legislative support and other
forms of bilateral consultations. "The ODIHR provides legislative opinion
on draft laws on freedom of religion or belief to OSCE participating States
through its Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief," it told
Forum 18 from Warsaw on 14 February.

The ODIHR’s Director, Ambassador Christian Strohal, has visited
Turkmenistan and offered help on election issues, the rule of law and human
rights. However, his visit coincided with a crackdown on a group of
Protestants by the MSS secret police, the hakim (head) of a district
administration, the head of a collective farm and the local mullah. Two
compulsory public meetings were then held, attended by hakimlik officials,
the collective farm chairman, the MSS secret police, the ordinary police
and the local mullah. At both meetings, Protestant parents were named and
threats were made that electricity, gas and water supplies to their homes
would be cut off, that their children would be expelled from school, and
that they would not be given farm land to cultivate. They were accused of
"conducting criminal activity and political activity against the
government" and the meetings were told that the authorities "would do
whatever it takes to crush and destroy them"(see F18News 25 May 2007
< -3>).

Akhmedova of the National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights put the
phone down before Forum 18 could ask if the Code of Administrative Offences
will also be amended. Article 205 in the Administrative Code punishes
individuals found guilty of violating the Religion Law, such as by holding
unregistered religious worship. She had put down the phone before Forum 18
could ask. However, the Criminal Code is among a number of legal codes
known to be due for review.

Religious believers insist to Forum 18 that no fundamental changes in
religious policy have yet taken place. "The mechanisms that existed before
[under Niyazov] still continue," one believer who asked not to be
identified told Forum 18 on 13 February. "All the limitations remain: if
you have state registration you can rent somewhere to meet for worship, but
you can’t get your own building for worship and you can’t meet in private
homes. Of course the community is pleased to be able to meet. But we dare
not complain about the other restrictions, as even the permission to meet
could be taken away."

The believer stressed that at almost every worship service a state
official is present. "The community doesn’t complain about this. It’s
something you have to live with. In the Soviet Union they were always
there."

The believer added that restrictions on religious literature remain. "You
can bring into the country only a handful of religious books or magazines,
and no more than one of any one title." The believer added that local
communities cannot invite fellow-believers from abroad.

A believer from another community was equally adamant that the state
control mechanism remained in force. "The most important problem is
government control," he told Forum 18 on 14 February. "They say they’re
working on a new Religion Law, but we know who’s controlling all this – the
MSS secret police. From my experience I know that no other agency can take
a decision without them. What would be good would be for the government to
change the situation so that the law would work."

The believer complained not only about the MSS secret police, but of the
religious affairs office in each regional hyakimlik (administration). "One
of the officials is always a mullah, while the other is a normal official,"
he told Forum 18. "They work with the police against religious communities,
especially Jehovah’s Witnesses, but not only them. It would be better if
such offices didn’t exist."

He added that regional religious affairs officials insist on checking all
religious literature received from abroad by post or confiscated from
religious believers. "They told us that we could read our religious books
but were banned from giving them to others."

The believer said that Justice Ministry officials repeatedly reject
registration applications citing "petty mistakes". "They also warn
communities applying for registration that if they are caught violating the
law three times their registration application will be cancelled."

He said that religious communities without state registration cannot meet
openly for worship. "Some communities have to meet in small groups so that
they are not noticed."

Forum 18 knows only of one Protestant church and a branch of it that were
newly registered in 2007. Many mosques, especially Shia mosques, face
registration difficulties, as do Armenian Apostolic, Protestant and
Jehovah’s Witness communities.

Registered communities such as the Russian Orthodox Church are subject to
state interference in their internal life, such as bans on receiving
literature and pressure to isolate them from their fellow believers (see
F18News 19 October 2007
< e_id=1037>). Protestants have
told Forum 18 of numerous unwritten controls on registered communities,
including forced co-operation with the MSS secret police (see F18News 16
February 2006 < 728>). Many
communities are therefore reluctant to apply for state registration (see
F18News 24 May 2006 < 787>).

A religious believer with close ties in the country told Forum 18 from
Moscow on 14 February that he has applied repeatedly in recent years to be
able to visit fellow-believers in Turkmenistan. "I lodge my papers each
time at the embassy saying I want to go there to meet my co-religionists,
but they never even respond." Similarly, an exit ban is maintained against
Turkmen citizens the authorities do not like (see F18News 31 May 2006
< e_id=790>).

Jehovah’s Witnesses told Forum 18 that their attempts to send a delegation
>From the United States to Turkmenistan have also got nowhere, despite a
meeting in June 2007 with the Turkmen ambassador to the United States,
Meret Orazov.

Vyacheslav Kalataevsky, was pastor of a small independent Baptist
congregation in his native city of Turkmenbashi [Türkmenbashy] (formerly
Krasnovodsk), but was forced to leave Turkmenistan in December 2007. He
said that Turkmenistan’s Constitution already guarantees freedom of
conscience. "The Religion Law and the Constitution are fine on paper – the
problem is they are not being carried out."

Kalataevsky complains that he and his fellow-believers have been punished
for peacefully meeting for prayer and worship without state registration.
In his case with deportation, then imprisonment, then deportation again
(see F18News 10 January 2008
< e_id=1069>).

"During raids officers always refer to an order from above," he told Forum
18 from Ukraine, where he is now living. "All we can do is guess where this
order is from."

Kalataevsky insists that harassment of religious believers who wish to
worship peacefully is still going on, regardless of the change in
leadership. He referred to the raid on a Baptist congregation in Balkanabad
(formerly Nebitdag) in December 2007 as one example (see F18News 10 January
2008 < 1069>).

Pastor Kalataevsky also pointed out the rejection of his wish to return to
Turkmenistan to live with his wife and children and to lead his
congregation. He said that at the end of January 2008 his wife Valentina
phoned the Migration Service to ask whether the invitation she had issued
him on 6 December had been approved. "They told her verbally they had
rejected the application but refused to say why and refused to put it in
writing," Kalataevsky told Forum 18. "Of course my religious activity was
the most important reason why I was expelled and not allowed back." He said
he is now thinking of bringing his family to join him in Ukraine. "This is
all that is left to us."

Bayram Ashirgeldyyev – one of two Jehovah’s Witnesses currently serving a
suspended sentence for refusing compulsory military service on grounds of
religious conscience – said that the introduction of a system of
alternative civilian service is the biggest change he would like to see.
"We are ready to help the state by performing an alternative service," he
told Forum 18 from Ashgabad on 14 February, "as long as it is fully
civilian, not military."

Ashirgeldyyev expressed disappointment that neither he nor his fellow
Jehovah’s Witness Begench Shakhmuradov were included in the latest
presidential amnesty, announced on 13 February in honour of Turkmenistan’s
flag day. "Begench and I don’t know why we weren’t included yet again." He
told Forum 18 that the military commissariat is still refusing to give him
the military card and stamp that he needs to be able to take up an offer of
work he has received.

However, another Jehovah’s Witness Ashirgeldy Taganov was included in the
amnesty. He was sentenced in Ashgabad on 18 December 2007 to an 18-month
suspended sentence for refusing military service (see F18News 10 January
2008 < 1069>). (END)

For a personal commentary by a Protestant within Turkmenistan, on the
fiction – despite government claims – of religious freedom in the country,
and how religious communities and the international community should
respond to this, see < 728>.

For more background, see Forum 18’s Turkmenistan religious freedom survey
at < 672>.

More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Turkmenistan
can be found at
< mp;religion=all&country=32>.

A survey of the religious freedom decline in the eastern part of the
Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) area is at
< id=806>, and of religious
intolerance in Central Asia is at
< id=815>.

A printer-friendly map of Turkmenistan is available at
< s/atlas/index.html?Parent=asia&Rootmap=turkme& gt;.
(END)

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