Uzbekistan: Government Authorities are Pressuring Baptists
Uzbekistan: Government Authorities are Pressuring Baptists
Oslo/Frankfurt/Tashkent – Government authorities in Uzbekistan are putting massive pressure on Baptists. Two human rights organisations, the Forum 18 news service from Oslo and the German “International Society for Human Rights” (IGFM/Frankfurt/Main), have brought this to public attention. Both point to the fate of the Baptist Tohar Haydarov (Guliston). The IGFM has even designated him as their “Prisoner of the Month” and appealed for support for his cause. Haydarov was arrested on 18 January in the region of Syrdarya in central Uzbekistan. Authorities accuse him of producing and storing drugs. Substances similar to marihuana were supposedly located in a matchbox found in his coat as well as in a shower garment.
Christians who know him are nevertheless convinced the accusations are fabricated and that the drugs were planted intentionally in his clothes. They believe the Baptist is innocent and is being persecuted solely because of his faith. At the police station, the 28-year-old man was pressured to deny his faith and tortured. Church members reported that when he had to appear before the custody judge, his face was swollen and that he could hardly walk. If convicted, he could be sentenced to prison for up to five years. Baptists from Tashkent who know Tohar Haydarov are convinced of his innocence: “He does not even smoke, let alone use drugs.” Members of his Baptist congregation along with ten neighbours and work colleagues have signed a petition demanding his release, for they regard him as an "innocent and good man”. Haydarov belongs to a Baptist church movement which rejects state registration.
Unregistered Baptists in the city of Almalyk near Tashkent are also under threat of arrest. On 24 January, city police stormed the flat of a church member, Sergey Brislavsky, as he and 18 other Baptists were drinking tea. All present were arrested and taken to the police station. A number of believers were beaten during the arrest. The court physician’s report mentioned bruises on the three Baptists' shoulders and around their necks. During a search of the flat, Bibles, Christian songbooks and CDs were confiscated.
Officially, religious freedom reigns in Uzbekistan. Yet religious groups complain increasingly that their country’s laws on religion stand in opposition to the Constitution. Infractions against human rights and religious freedom therefore occur repeatedly. Eighty-four percent of the country’s 27,7 million residents are Muslims, 15% are non-religious, and approximately 1% are Christians. Thirty-seven congregations with roughly 3.800 members form the Union of Baptist congregations there.
Attacks against Baptists are also happening frequently in the neighbouring country of Kazakhstan. A Baptist woman from the village of Ayteke Bi in the western Kazakh province of Aktobe was recently fined a total of 100 monthly salaries for having received guests who visited a Baptist worship service the next morning. Officials saw in that an “illegal religious fellowship”, It is unclear how the woman is to pay the fine – she has six children and no income of her own. Forum 18 reports on the basis of information from Baptist circles, that the Kazakh religious freedom of the 1990’s has been cut back more-and-more in recent years.
The Kazakh Baptist Union consists of 290 congregations with more than 11.000 members. This Union withdrew from the Baptist World Alliance and the European Baptist Federation in 2006. Yet many pastors and church members are still seeking multi-regional cooperation.
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Christians who know him are nevertheless convinced the accusations are fabricated and that the drugs were planted intentionally in his clothes. They believe the Baptist is innocent and is being persecuted solely because of his faith. At the police station, the 28-year-old man was pressured to deny his faith and tortured. Church members reported that when he had to appear before the custody judge, his face was swollen and that he could hardly walk. If convicted, he could be sentenced to prison for up to five years. Baptists from Tashkent who know Tohar Haydarov are convinced of his innocence: “He does not even smoke, let alone use drugs.” Members of his Baptist congregation along with ten neighbours and work colleagues have signed a petition demanding his release, for they regard him as an "innocent and good man”. Haydarov belongs to a Baptist church movement which rejects state registration.
Unregistered Baptists in the city of Almalyk near Tashkent are also under threat of arrest. On 24 January, city police stormed the flat of a church member, Sergey Brislavsky, as he and 18 other Baptists were drinking tea. All present were arrested and taken to the police station. A number of believers were beaten during the arrest. The court physician’s report mentioned bruises on the three Baptists' shoulders and around their necks. During a search of the flat, Bibles, Christian songbooks and CDs were confiscated.
Officially, religious freedom reigns in Uzbekistan. Yet religious groups complain increasingly that their country’s laws on religion stand in opposition to the Constitution. Infractions against human rights and religious freedom therefore occur repeatedly. Eighty-four percent of the country’s 27,7 million residents are Muslims, 15% are non-religious, and approximately 1% are Christians. Thirty-seven congregations with roughly 3.800 members form the Union of Baptist congregations there.
Attacks against Baptists are also happening frequently in the neighbouring country of Kazakhstan. A Baptist woman from the village of Ayteke Bi in the western Kazakh province of Aktobe was recently fined a total of 100 monthly salaries for having received guests who visited a Baptist worship service the next morning. Officials saw in that an “illegal religious fellowship”, It is unclear how the woman is to pay the fine – she has six children and no income of her own. Forum 18 reports on the basis of information from Baptist circles, that the Kazakh religious freedom of the 1990’s has been cut back more-and-more in recent years.
The Kazakh Baptist Union consists of 290 congregations with more than 11.000 members. This Union withdrew from the Baptist World Alliance and the European Baptist Federation in 2006. Yet many pastors and church members are still seeking multi-regional cooperation.