In Uzbekistan, Baptists
are systematically persecuted, beaten, victims of raids and illegal
Bible seizures by police officers - several members of community have been
heavily fined just for praying together.
In the Central Asian country,
any activity by unregistered religious groups, like praying, is
“illegal”.
Baptists in Samarkand told the Forum 18 news
agency that on 15 August about 20 police officers raided a private home
during a celebration.
People were struck, threatened, videotaped against
their will; Bibles were even torn from the hands of children.
Police
eventually took down everyone’s name, and seized the passport of
Veniamin Nemirov, the owner of the house. Forum 18 reported that
police detained, summoned and intimidated some of the same people a few
days later.
On 17 August, one Vladimir Abramov was beaten because he
refused to sign a statement.
During the raid, police seized Bibles, hymnbooks and
other religious literature.
The Religious Affairs Committee refused to
return them, saying that only registered religious groups can use them.
Since Baptists in Samarkand are not a recognised group, the material is
“illegal”.
On 21 September, a judge imposed heavy fines (the
equivalent of 7 to 11 months of wages) on five Baptists (Veniamin
Nemirov, Vladimir Abramov, Alisher Abdullaev, Mikhail Lyubivy and Lyubov
Lyubivaya) for taking part in an unauthorised religious service and for
“teaching religious beliefs without specialised religious education and
without permission from the central organ of a [registered] religious
organisation".
The convictions were upheld on 14 October by the
Appeal Court in Samarkand. Theoretically, the decision means that
teaching one’s religion to one’s children is illegal.
The five Baptists are not taking the decision lying
down. They told the court that Article 29 of the Uzbek constitution
guarantees “freedom of thought, speech and convictions.”
They also
complained about the beating they received and the intimidation they had
to endure.
The authorities, for their part, have denied all the
allegations and have refused any investigation into the claims made by
the Baptists.
SIC: AN/INT'L