Christian threatened with extradition to one of world’s worst violators of religious rights.

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, Oct. 27, 2012 (Morning Star News) – In a case that could
be delayed for months, government officials and rights groups are hoping
Kazakhstan will honor international agreements and decline to extradite a pastor
to his native Uzbekistan, where they believe he would face certain danger.
Pastor Makset Djabbarbergenov sought refuge in Kazakhstan in 2007 after being
charged with holding illegal religious meetings in his house. His wife and three
of his children joined him the following year. (A fourth child was born in
Kazakhstan, and a fifth is expected in April.)
The 32-year-old Djabbarbergenov was arrested on Sept. 5 and ordered held until
an extradition hearing is scheduled. Kazak officials reportedly said they were
acting after the pastor was put on a “wanted” list in Uzbekistan last February
for “a crime he committed in 2007.” A “wanted” poster stated that he was a
follower of Isa Masih (Jesus Christ), and he fled the country that year.
The U.S. Department of State’s Office of Religious Freedom last year designated
Uzbekistan a “Country of Particular Concern,” one of eight countries considered the worst violators of religious freedom.

An official of the Bostandyk District Prosecutor’s Office reportedly said
Djabbarbergenov is wanted for violations of a law prohibiting unregistered
religious meetings and for storing, importing or distributing religious
literature. Both charges carry a maximum term of three years in prison.
The pastor had fled his hometown in Uzbekistan, Symbai, for the capital,
Tashkent, in 2007 after authorities raided his home and detained him for holding
illegal religious meetings. He was also fined in 2001 for holding religious
services, and at that time also his house was raided and Christian books were
confiscated.
In Almaty, the Kazakhstan office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) acknowledged his refugee status in 2008. It said that he “is a
person of concern to UNHCR and should, in particular, be protected from forcible
return to a country where he would face threats to his life or freedom.”
Djabbarbergenov’s sister-in-law was detained by Kazak police in August and held
for two weeks in order to obtain information concerning the pastor’s
whereabouts. Eventually police found the phone number of his wife on his
sister-in-law’s cell phone. Police seized her and then went to the family home
and arrested Djabbarbergenov. They eventually released his sister-in-law.
The pastor has experienced continuing legal difficulties in Kazakhstan. In 2011
the Almaty City Migration Police rejected his appeal for refugee status, stating
that he did not meet eligibility criteria. Several appeals of that order have
also been rejected.
One court decision said that he had not presented sufficient evidence of his
claims that he would be persecuted for his faith were he to return to
Uzbekistan. Previously, in 2008, secret police seized him on the street near his
home in an attempt to expel him. At that time Uzbek authorities claimed to
Kazakh authorities that he was an Islamic fundamentalist and a terrorist.
Kazakhstan has a history of deporting refugees to Uzbekistan, which is ranked
seventh on Christian support organization Open Doors’ World Watch List of the 50
countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. In 2011 Kazakhstan sent
back 28 men Uzbek authorities wanted on anti-state and religion-related charges.
Human rights organizations protested that action. Relatives of the men said they
were peaceful Muslims whom authorities were seeking to punish for their
religious activity.
Representatives of the men complained to the U.N. Committee Against Torture,
arguing that they were at risk of torture if they were returned to Uzbekistan.
On June 1, the U.N. committee ruled that Kazakhstan had violated its commitments
under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment. It found that “the pattern of gross, flagrant or mass
violations of human rights and the significant risk of torture or other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment in Uzbekistan, in particular for individuals
practicing their faith outside of the official framework, has been sufficiently
established.”
It pointed out that at least some of the complainants had already been subjected
to “detention and torture” before they fled to Kazakhstan.
The committee noted that the men were detained as soon as they arrived back in
Uzbekistan, and that some had received prison terms of more than 10 years.
Kazakhstan had told the committee that the government had received “written
guarantees from the General Prosecutor’s Office of Uzbekistan that the
complainants’ rights and freedoms would be respected after the extradition and
that they would not be subjected to torture or ill-treatment.”
The committee noted, however, that Kazakhstan’s acceptance of such assurances
without close monitoring of conditions in Uzbek detention was inadequate. The
Committee Against Torture said the men should be brought back to Kazakhstan and
given compensation. It asked Kazakh authorities to respond to the findings
“within 90 days.”