Two leaders of the Peace Protestant church in Nukus, capital
of the autonomous Karakalpakstan republic in north-western Uzbekistan, were
fined five times the minimum monthly wage in September for their leadership of
the unregistered church, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Nukus city judge
Oibek Tureyev imposed the fines of around 27,300 soms (196 Norwegian kroner, 24
Euros or 28 US dollars) on Khym-Mun Kim and Konstantin Kmit under Article 241
of the code of administrative offences, which punishes "violation of the
law on preaching religious doctrines".
The fines followed a police raid on 24 August on the church's Sunday morning
prayer meeting. Police officers took statements from all the 15 or so church
members present, Khym-Mun Kim told Forum 18 on 30 September in Nukus.
The Peace church's difficulties began in August 2000, when the authorities
stripped the church of registration. "The reason they gave for removing
our registered status was that we had organised a summer camp for children from
poor families," Pastor Kim told Forum 18. "We simply wanted to help
the children to relax in the summer, and to teach them about what is
good." But, he added, the authorities regarded their charitable work as missionary
activity because among the children holidaying at the camp were ethnic Kazakhs,
Uzbeks and Karakalpaks (historically these peoples profess Islam). Uzbekistan's
law on religion bans missionary activity.
Since it lost its registered status the police have raided the Peace church
four times (including the latest incident) and on each occasion the church
leaders were fined (see F18 News 12 March 2003).
Since 2000, the Peace church has tried to register three times, but the
authorities have refused them each time on various pretexts. "I am
convinced that the authorities are deliberately failing to give us registration
because they do not want Christianity to become widespread in
Karakalpakstan," Khym-Mun Kim told Forum 18. "We are law-abiding
citizens and we want to be registered but the authorities are forcing us to
operate illegally." Under the religion law the activity of an unregistered
religious community is forbidden.
"This is not the first time that I have fined the Peace church's
leaders," Judge Tureyev told Forum 18 on 30 September in Nukus. "I
can only repeat to you once again that under Uzbek laws registration is
compulsory." When Forum 18 responded that Uzbekistan was a signatory to
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the
right to meet freely for religious worship and teaching, and that according to
Article 2 of the country's law on religion "if different rules are set out
in an international agreement signed by the Republic of Uzbekistan from those
contained in the Republic of Uzbekistan's law on freedom of conscience and
religious organisations, then the rules of the international agreement will
take precedence", Tureyev replied that he knew nothing about the covenant.
Likewise Nurula Jamolov, the Karakalpakstan Cabinet of Ministers'
representative for religious affairs, knew nothing about the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. "I do not know why the Peace
church is not succeeding in being registered, but according to our laws the
activity of an unregistered religious organisation is forbidden," he told
Forum 18 on 30 September.
Increasing attempts by Central Asian states to restrict religious freedom for
groups that have not been able to attain registration or do not want it have
come under fire from Abdelfattah Amor, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of
religion or belief of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. "Many
States, especially those of Central Asia, have used the compulsory registration
of religious groups and the imposition of specific regulations governing them
to restrict the exercise of freedom of religion or belief, often in violation
of the international standards," Amor warned in his interim report to the
UN General Assembly (A/58/296, 19 August 2003).
He stressed that registration procedures can only be legitimate if they are
specified in law, reasonable, objective and transparent "and,
consequently, if they do not have the aim or the result of creating
discrimination".