DUSHANBE, May 3, 2016, Asia-Plus — On May 2, 2016, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) publicly released its 2016 Annual Report, which documents religious freedom conditions in over 30 countries.
The Report recommends that the Secretary of State re-designate 9 countries as “countries of particular concern,” i.e. countries that engage in or tolerate systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
It also recommends adding 8 other countries as CPC”s: Central African Republic, Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria, Tajikistan, and Vietnam. In fact on April 14, the State Department did add Tajikistan.
USCIRF designated 10 countries as Tier 2 nations that have serious religious freedom issues, but which do not rise to the level of CPC”s: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Russia, and Turkey.
The report says the government of Tajikistan suppresses and punishes all religious activity independent of state control, particularly the activities of Muslims, Protestants, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Since 2009, numerous laws that severely restrict religious freedom have been implemented in the country. The government also imprisons individuals on unfounded criminal allegations linked to Islamic religious activity and affiliation. In 2015, a Tajik court banned as “extremist” the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan, an opposition political party that had been legal for 15 years, and 200 of its leaders and members reportedly were imprisoned. Jehovah’s Witnesses have been banned since 2007. Based on these concerns, as it has since 2012, USCIRF again recommends in 2016 that the U.S. government designate Tajikistan a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). Previously, Tajikistan was on USCIRF’s Tier 2 (formerly Watch List) from 2009 to 2011.
The report notes that over 90 percent of Tajikistan’s estimated population of 7.9 million is Muslim, most from the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam; about four percent are Ismaili Shi’a. Of the country’s 150,000 Christians, most are Russian Orthodox, but there are also Protestants and Roman Catholics. In addition, there are small numbers of Baha’is, Hare Krishnas, and Jehovah’s Witnesses, and fewer than 300 Jews.
Tajikistan’s legal environment for religious freedom has reportedly seen a sharp decline since the passage of several highly restrictive laws in 2009. The 2009 religion law sets onerous registration requirements for religious groups; criminalizes unregistered religious activity and private religious education and proselytism; sets strict limits on the number and size of mosques; allows state interference with the appointment of imams; requires official permission for religious organizations to provide religious instruction and communicate with foreign co-religionists; imposes state controls on the content, publication and importation of religious materials; and restricts Muslim prayer to mosques, cemeteries, homes, and shrines.
According to the report, Tajik civil society is subject to increasing official pressure, and Tajik non-governmental organizations are fearful of reporting on religious freedom conditions due to perceived dangers of government backlash.
During 2015, there was in increase in the presidential personality cult, the report says. For example, in December 2015, Tajik lawmakers voted to give President Emomali Rahmon the title “Leader of the Nation” as “the founder of peace and national unity of Tajikistan” and grant him lifelong immunity from prosecution. In January 2016, a leading Muslim scholar reportedly proposed that Rahmon’s wife be recognized as the leader of all Tajik women adherents of Islam.
The report notes that Tajikistan is strategically important for the United States, partly because Tajiks are the second largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, the country’s southern neighbor. Since 2010, the United States has expanded cooperation with Central Asian states, including Tajikistan, to allow it to ship cargo overland via the Northern Distribution Network as U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan continue to withdraw. Tajikistan has given U.S. Special Operations Forces permission to enter the country on a case-by-case basis during counter-terrorism operations.
Created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives. USCIRF”s principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and the Congress. It is funded entirely by the federal government on an annual basis and its staff members are government employees.
