DUSHANBE, May 2, 2013, Asia-Plus – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) issued its 2013 annual report on April 30.
The report highlights the state of religious freedom abroad during 2012 and identifies governments that are the most egregious violators of this fundamental freedom. USCIRF’s 2013 Annual Report includes more countries than ever before — 29 specifically are addressed and at least 22 additional countries are discussed in thematic sections.
The report has listed Tajikistan together with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan among the worst countries in terms of religious freedom.
According to the report, prison terms for attending unapproved religious gatherings in Tajikistan were among the restrictions cited.
The report notes that Tajikistan’s restrictions on religious freedom remained in place during the reporting period, and systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief continue.
The government suppresses and punishes all religious activity independent of state control, and imprisons individuals on unproven criminal allegations linked to religious activity or affiliation.
These restrictions and abuses primarily affect the country’s majority Muslim community, but also target minority communities, particularly Protestants and Jehovah’s Witnesses, the report said. The Jehovah’s Witnesses community has been banned since 2007. In recent years, the Tajik government has reportedly destroyed a synagogue, a church, and three mosques, and it has closed down hundreds of unregistered mosques.
Based on these systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, USCIRF again recommends in 2013 that Tajikistan be designated a country of particular concern (CPC). USCIRF first recommended that Tajikistan be designated a CPC in 2012. Previously, Tajikistan had been on USCIRF’s Watch List since 2009.
The government’s recent actions against peaceful religious practice are based on an expansion, over the past four years, of repressive laws limiting religious freedom. The 2009 religion law establishes onerous and intrusive registration requirements for religious groups; criminalizes unregistered religious activity as well as private religious education and proselytism; sets strict limits on the number and size of mosques; allows government interference with the appointment of imams; requires official permission for religious organizations to provide religious instruction and communicate with foreign co-religionists; and imposes state controls on the publication and import of religious literature.
In 2011 and 2012, administrative and penal code amendments set new penalties, including large fines and prison terms, for religion-related charges. In addition, a 2011 law on parental responsibility banned minors from any organized religious activity except in official religious institutions. Women are not allowed to wear headscarves in educational institutions, and men are not permitted to wear beards in public buildings.
The report says Tajikistan is strategically important for the United States due to its long and porous border with Afghanistan and the key role of ethnic Tajiks in that country. The U.S. government should designate the country a CPC and engage the Tajik government about the importance of enacting specific religious freedom reforms. In doing so, the U.S. government should press Tajik officials and work with civil society to bring relevant laws into conformity with international commitments. The U.S. embassy should monitor the trials of those charged solely because of religious belief or peaceful practice and advocate for the release of such prisoners. The United States also should work with the international community to provide training for judges and prosecutors in civil law and human rights standards. U.S. officials should criticize publicly violations by the Tajik government of its international and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) human rights commitments.
USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission, the first of its kind in the world that monitors the universal right to freedom of religion or belief abroad. USCIRF reviews the facts and circumstances of religious freedom violations and makes policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the Congressional leadership of both political parties.
