Will Uzbekistan Church Lose its Building and Right to Worship?

ICC Note

Christians under attack in Uzbekistan.

By Jeremy Reynalds

August 30, 2007 UZBEKISTAN (ANS) — Members of Grace Presbyterian Church in Uzbekistan ’s capital of Tashkent fear the authorities are trying to strip it of its state registration and its ability to conduct any religious activity at all.

Forum 18 News Service reported that Protestants speaking on condition of anonymity also told the news service that they also fear the seizure of their church building.

Uzbekistan is in Central Asia, north of Afghanistan .

Forum 18 reported that the church has initiated a time of prayer and fasting in response to the new pressures.

Grace Church – which is led by Pastor Felix Li – bought a former movie theater in Tashkent ‘s Khamza District in April 1999 from the city department of the State Property Committee. However, on July 24 the same department filed a suit at the city’s Economic Court to have the sale annulled. Local

Protestants described the move to Forum 18 as “illegal.”

Then on Aug.13, Justice Ministry officials paid an unexpected visit to the church to inspect its financial records and whether officials believe church activity in general is complying with the Church’s statute. The inspection was led by Akbarhon Nabiraev, head of a department within the Justice Ministry’s Administration for Social and Religious Organizations.

“The aim of the check-up was to strip the church of its registration,” one Protestant told Forum 18 from Tashkent following the visit.

Forum 18 reported that the official who answered Nabiraev’s telephone at the Justice Ministry on Aug. 30 said he would be out of the office until Sept. 3. A senior consultant in the same department Umid Shadiev, who was also involved in the inspection, declined to speak to Forum 18. However, another official who would not give his name said that the investigation of the church’s activity is still ongoing.

Forum 18 reported that the official insisted to the news service that unannounced inspections on religious organizations are carried out in accordance with the law. He stressed that if violations of the law or what he called “inadequacies” are found, a religious organization can be liquidated by a court.

“In this case, the investigation is proceeding and if any violations are found the organization will be given time to respond,” he told Forum 18. “It is possible violations will not be found. At the moment it is still registered and can still function.” He would not say what had prompted the decision to check up on Grace Church.

An official who answered the telephone on Aug. 30 at the government’s Religious Affairs Committee, and who refused to give his name, told Forum 18 that Committee Chairman Artyk Yusupov was in a meeting. However, the official said the Committee would not answer any questions about Grace Church.

The case over the ownership of the church’s building is due to be heard at Tashkent ‘s Economic Court on the morning of Sept. 5, a court official told Forum 18. He said, “Two earlier hearings were scheduled but were postponed when the respondent failed to turn up.”

Forum 18 has been unable to find out what complaints the city department of the State Property Committee has against the original purchase of the former movie theater back in 1999, and why it has decided to act eight years later. The telephone of Irina Zorina, the legal specialist at the department, went unanswered when Forum 18 called.

Grace Church has been facing mounting pressure from the authorities and from local people. One Protestant speculated to Forum 18 that the protests from local residents had been stirred up by nearby resident Salimbai Abduvaliev, a former wrestler and current head of Uzbekistan ‘s wrestling federation and a rich man reputed to have links with gangsters. His elder brother, Ortik Abduvaliev, a retired police officer, is president over a local city district.

Meanwhile, sources told Forum 18 that “wanted” posters have gone up across Uzbekistan as police hunt for Makset Djabbarbergenov, a Pentecostal from Nukus in the north-western region of Karakalpakstan. Protestants who preferred not to be identified for fear of reprisals told Forum 18 that Djabbarbergenov went into hiding to avoid arrest on criminal charges to punish him for his religious activity.

Djabbarbergenov – whose wife Forum 18 reported is eight months’ pregnant with their third child – faced criminal charges earlier this year. The charges were filed following a Jan. 15 police raid on a Protestant-owned private home in Nukus. However, these were later downgraded to charges under the Code of Administrative Offences. Another Pentecostal detained during the raid, Salavat Serikbayev, was given a two-year suspended sentence in May and forced to pay 20 per cent of his wages to the state.

Forum 18 reported that on the morning of Aug. 9, about 30 police officers and prosecutor’s office officials raided Djabbarbergenov’s Nukus home. “They illegally burst into his home with video-cameras,” one Protestant said.

Armed with a warrant from the city prosecutor, they searched the house and seized a computer, fax machine, scanner and printer, as well as about 200 copies of various Christian books. Protestants insisted to Forum 18 that the books had been imported legally into Uzbekistan . In addition, Christian videotapes and CD’s were seized, as well as money and Djabbarbergenov’s passport.

Protestant sources insisted to Forum 18 that the search was illegal as at that time, no criminal case had been launched against Djabbarbergenov. The raid was led by the deputy city police chief.

An Aug. 9 document authorizing the raid, of which Forum 18 received the text, noted that it was taking place in the framework of a government-ordered “anti-terror” operation. It reported that “illegal” religious activity was taking place in Djabbarbergenov’s home. The document also noted that Djabbarbergenov refused to sign the document.

After the raid, a criminal case was filed under Article 216-2, which punishes “violation of the laws on religious organizations,” and Article 229-2, which punishes “violation of the procedure for teaching religion.” For those found guilty, both articles call for a sentence of up to three years imprisonment.

Religious activity is particularly difficult in Karakalpakstan. Forum 18 reported that regional authorities have banned the activity of all non-Muslim and non-Orthodox religious communities by denying them official registration. Under Uzbekistan ’s harsh laws on religion – and contrary to the country’s international human rights commitments – all unregistered religious activity is illegal and punishable under the Criminal and Administrative Codes. Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Hare Krishna devotees have faced particular persecution in Karakalpakstan. Protestant students in the regional capital of Nukus have long been singled out for pressure.

Among other recent harassment cases of religious minorities, Forum 18 reported that a criminal case was launched against Baptist leader Nikolai Zulfikarov after his church in a small town in Namangan Region was raided on July 29 and Aug. 5. If the case goes to trial and he is found guilty under Article 216 of the Criminal Code, which punishes what it calls “illegal organization of a social or religious organization,” he could face five years’ imprisonment.

Pressure is also mounting on Jehovah’s Witnesses, Forum 18 reported, whose last registered congregation in Uzbekistan faces being stripped of legal status.