Turkmenistan--Christian Persecution in Turkmenistan

Asia: Turkmenistan Country Report Last Updated: June 2003 Code: A-3 (Click here for a code description.)
	(Click here for a list of ICC articles on Turkmenistan.) List of Articles Last Updated: June 1, 2003

Religious Atmosphere: 76% of this country's people are Sunni Muslim and Islamization is increasing. 18.2% of the population is non-religious. 5.7% is Christian and is decreasing by 1.2%.

Extremist Groups:

• No extremist groups have been cited for incidences of persecution in this country.

Government:

• A law passed in 1997 requires religious organizations to register with the government. A minimum of 500 members are required to register effectively blocking any religious group from being legal beside Orthodox and Sunni Muslim groups.
        
• There is no law addressing proselytizing.
          
• Government permission is required to hold a mass meeting.

Recent Actions:

• June 13, 2003 - Eleven officials raided a Baptist prayer meeting being held in a private home in Turkmenabad. All of the believers were taken to the police station for questioning. Yeldash Roziev was fined 500,000 manats (94 USD) for holding the meeting in his home. Roziev and another church member were also threatened with imprisonment or expulsion from the country if they did not cease their Christian activities. Other believers from the church, all deaf-mutes, were fined 250,000 manats. (Forum-18 News)
     
• June 10, 2003 - A Christian teacher reported that authorities tried to pressure her into resigning from her position as a kindergarten teacher. Guzelya Syraeva, one of the Christians questioned in Abadan on May 31 during a police raid (see below), says authorities are trying to have her fired for supposedly preaching the Gospel to the children in her care, a charge which she denies. (Forum-18 News)
     
• June 4, 2003 - Nuri Berdiev, Nabat Niyazova, Guzelya Syraeva, Lyudmila Galkina and Akgulya Niyazova were fined 250,000 manats (47 USD) under Administrative Code 205 which punished religious activity by unregistered groups (see May 31, 2003 below). However, no Protestant churches have been allowed to register with the government. (Forum-18 News)
      
• May 31, 2003 - Five Christian believers in Abadan (formerly Bezmein) were warned not to meet together again after authorities raided a religious meeting at the apartment of Nuri Berdiev and his wife, Nabat Niyazova. The five adults present were questioned by members of the hyakimlik (town administration). They were also called back for further questioning on June 2, when some prisoners were paraded in front of them and beaten, possibly as a warning to the Christians. (Forum-18 News)
     

• May 11, 2003 - A Christian worship service was raided in the town of Balkanabad when 10-12 police burst into a private apartment and ordered the Christians to leave the building. All of the Christians, including children, were physically ejected from the building and taken to police headquarters for questioning. A senior police chief was quoted as saying, "What's the point in talking to them, they should be put in a bus and shot!" (Forum-18 News)
     
• May 11, 2003 - Five law enforcement officers raided a Baptist church service in the city of Turkmenbashi. The Baptists, who were meeting in a private apartment, were told they had broken Article 205 of the administrative code, which punishes the "violation of the law on religion." Officers searched the apartment and took down information about those in attendance. They were reportedly very angry about the presence of many children. Under Turkmenistan's laws, there is no ban on unregistered religious communities. However, the administrative commission of the city was expected to fine each person 250,000 manats (50 USD), the average monthly wage. (Forum-18 News)
     
• Ongoing – Turkmen authorities are seeking to deport all Christians who are not citizens of Turkmenistan. This includes foreign nationals who have formal residence and work permits. The government is effectively seeking to rid the country of all religious minorities.
      
• May 2002 - Eight Christians from the village of Deinau were called into the local police station and ordered to renounce their faith after postal workers found a Christian magazine addressed to one of them. Three of the believers resolutely refused to renounce their faith and were thus expelled from the village. Murad Djumanazarov, Jamilya Boltaeva and Nurmurad (last name unknown) are now on the run as authorities attempt to track them down and arrest them. (Keston)
      
• February 10, 2002 - Six Protestant Christians fellowshipping in a private home in Ashgabad were detained by police for unregistered church activity. Four of the six were released after questioning but two others were detained overnight. The Christians were fined from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 manats each and the home owner was threatened with the confiscation of her home. (Keston)
     
• January 8, 2002 - Christian prisoner Shagildy Atakov was unexpectedly released from prison before completing his 4-year sentence. Atakov was then able to reunite with his wife and five children. He is reported to be doing well. (Compass)
      
• November 15, 2001 – More than 40 Christians worshipping at the private home of a church member were detained by police. Five were held overnight because they did not possess the proper identification documents. The following day the members of the Ashgabad Word of Life church along with visiting Pastor Vladimir Shamrai, his wife, and Pastor Leonid Malko were fined up to one and a half million manats (more than two months wages). Most of the fines have not yet been paid off and the Christians wonder where they will get the necessary funds. Pastor Shamrai, his wife and Pastor Malko were then deported to Moscow, despite possessing the appropriate visas to stay in Turkmenistan. The church has been forced to operate illegally since the government refuses to register any Protestant churches. (Keston)
          
• July 21, 2001 – 5 officers of the KNB (former KGB) raided a Baptist church in Balkanabad at 5:00 PM on July 7 during a service, as reported by Keston Institute. The officers copied the names, addresses and places of work for all present and cautioned them not to meet again under threat of confiscation of the church building. "Don’t go to a judge," the officers told them. "There will be no result."
       
• August 15, 2001 – Ten officials from the police, district administration, and National Security Committee (KNB, secret police) raided a prayer meeting of 20 members of the Greater Grace Protestant Church, in the Kopetdag district of Ashgabad.  They were taken to the Second Police Department of Kopetdag district, and interrogated for five hours.  This is the second time officials have detained church members while praying in a private flat.  The KNB (secret police) told Keston News Service in Bishkek: “If you want to defend these good-for-nothings, then come to Ashgabad.  We’re not going to speak to anyone at Oxford or at Bishkek.”
      
• May 15, 2001 – An unconfirmed report released by Keston Institute indicates that Baptist Christian Dmitri Melnichenko was tortured by the Turkmen authorities for failing to appear for military service. Melnichenko was reportedly beaten with a truncheon on various parts of his body and received electric shock. The next day he was escorted to his military unit.
               
• April 9, 2001 – A Russian Christian was arrested and beaten by police on the charge of not having obtained the proper visa to enter the country. Evgeniy Samsonov is affiliated with the Word of Life Church based in Upsala, Sweden. It is believed that authorities are trying to make Mr. Samsonov sign a document identifying himself as a "person who acts against President Niyazov of Turkmenistan."
            
• March 2, 2001 – Authorities broke the seals on a Baptist church which had been closed since February 17, 2001 and confiscated all of the property. The church in Ashgabat was the last Baptist Union Church in the country. It was denied re-registration in 1997.
            

• February 4, 2001 – Shigaldy Atakov’s wife was allowed to visit him in Seydy prison labor camp. He told her he would probably not live out his 4-year sentence as he is in poor health due to continuous beatings. In December he had been admitted to the prison’s sick bay for heart trouble and he is currently suffering from jaundice. Mr. Atakov was offered amnesty in December of 2000 but refused because of the stipulations involved. All those being released agreed to swear an oath of allegiance to the President and recite the Muslim creed from the Quran.
           
• January 4, 2001 – A court ruled that the church building of a Pentecostal Church in Ashgabad must be confiscated without compensation. The church, which is operated out of the pastor’s home, failed to receive official status during the re-registration of religious institutions in 1997. Since then the pastor, Viktor Makrousov, has been fined numerous times for conducting religious services in his home. Pastor Makrousov has filed an appeal to the court’s decision. Another hearing is scheduled to take place.
            
• December 2000 – Three of the Turkmen Christians arrested in November (see below) were forced to sign documents surrendering their homes as a "gift" to President Saparmurat Niyazov. Pastor Shokhrat Piriyev and his family were forced out of their home in Bagyr village near Ashgabad on December 9. Batir Nurov was thrown out of his home on December 19 and Umit Koshkarov was evicted on December 20. All three men have wives and small children. The other Christian arrested in November, Babamurat Gaebov, lives with his parents.   Pastor Shokhrat, Batir, Babamurat, and Umit have all fled the country.
           
• November 22-24, 2000 -- Batir Nurov, Babamurat Gaebov, Shokhrat Piriyv and Umit Koshkarov, along with American citizen Linda Buckley, were involved in a car accident when two of their tires blew out. Upon returning to the scene the next day, the four Turkmen Christians were arrested for possessing Christian literature and videos. All four reported being beaten, suffocated, and tortured with electric shock during 3 days of police interrogations. No prison terms were handed down, but the men were heavily fined. Police also confiscated all of the men’s official identity papers and told them to leave Ashgabad and return to their towns of official residency. Linda Buckley was also interrogated and accused of spying but later returned to Almaty, Kazakhstan where she is currently living.
             
• March 13, 2000 – Two Christian families, the Senkins and the Shulgins, were deported. Mrs. Artygul Atakova, the wife of Shigaldy Atakov (see August 4, 1999 below), had been staying with the Shulgins since her husband’s arrest. Since their deportation she was forced to move in with Muslim relatives and she and her five children remain under house arrest.
          
• March 12, 2000 – Anatoli Belyayev and his wife were deported from Turkmenistan to Russia. Mr. Belyayev was a leader in the Baptist church in Ashgabad.
           
• February 23, 2000 – A Protestant worship service was raided and Christian literature was confiscated in Bezmein. The worshippers were warned not to meet again or they would face criminal charges.
              
• February 3, 2000 – A Baptist pastor and his colleague were taken to police headquarters in Turkmenabad. Pastor Rahim Tashov was warned that if he continues to allow Christian gatherings at his home, he will be imprisoned. Pastor Tashov is also being refused the return of his passport.
             
• January 2000 – Two Christian teachers were fired from their jobs.
               
• December 22-24, 1999 – A Russian couple and a Ukrainian couple were deported to their respective countries. Both were actively involved in the Baptist church in Ashgabad.
             
• November 1, 1999 – Government officials denied permission for Christians to start a Bible Society. Although 800 people sponsored the application for registration, the government said the sponsors were invalid because they were already members of other religious organizations. Turkmenistan remains the only former Soviet Republic to lack a Bible Society or Bible bookstore.
            
• October 31, 1999 – After attempting to legally register his church, Pastor Tashov was arrested again. This time he was held in prison for almost 2 weeks. He was also fined one month’s salary for holding an illegal meeting.
             
• October 24, 1999 -- KNB (National Security Committee) officers raided a church service. Pastor Rahim Tashov was arrested and beaten.
            
• August 4, 1999 — Shigaldy Atakov a member of the Evangelical Baptist Church in Turkmenbashi was arrested on trumped up swindling charges after he converted to Christianity. He was convicted and received a sentence of two years in a labor camp. Later, because it was felt that his sentence was too lenient, he was retried and handed down a new sentence of four years in prison and a fine of the equivalent to $12,000 or approximately 4000 months wages. While incarcerated, he was severely beaten and even went temporarily blind at one point due to the beating.
              
• June 9, 1999 — Three National Security Committee agents and a police officer raided the home of Evangelical Baptist pastor Vladimir Chernov confiscating a large amount of evangelical Christian literature and the identification cards of five church members. The government claimed that no reason is needed to "inspect" homes that are used for church purposes. Chernov’s church in Ashgubat undergoes almost continual harassment from security police because of its inability to register.
               
• February/March, 1999 — The owners of homes used for Pentecostal and Baptist services in Dashkhovuz and Ashgubat were heavily fined for allowing unregistered religious meetings to be held there.

Prisoners: ICC is not aware of any Christian prisoners being held at this time.

Suggested Actions You Might Take:

• Pray for the Christians of Turkmenistan that they may be protected from harm and that the Christian message may be heard and received by all.
            
• Write a respectful letter to one or more of the government officials listed below. Express your continuing concern for the safety and well-being of the Christian community in Turkmenistan. Request information about what steps the government is taking to ensure their protection and freedom to practice their faith as laid out in the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights documents.
            

• Contact the elected national officials (Senators, Congressman etc.) for your area as well as the U.S. State Department and express concern for the well being of the Christians in Turkmenistan asking them to make an inquiry into their status.
              
• Please keep us informed of any replies or results you may receive! Contact ICC by email at icc@persecution.org.

POSTED:  June 30, 2003

ICC Articles on Turkmenistan:

• June 1, 2003 - Prayer - Bangladesh, Colombia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan
• October 2000 - CONCERN - Recent News of Persecution Around the Globe