Apr 25, 2023
This op-ed was originally published by The Diplomat on April 25, 2023.
By USCIRF Chair Nury Turkel & Commissioner Eric Ueland
The visit of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief provides a unique opportunity for increased engagement and the potential for positive reform.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Nazila Ghanea, completed her first official country visit last week, to Tajikistan. This visit comes nearly two years after her predecessor cancelled a planned trip to the country after the government failed to extend an official invitation. Ghanea’s visit is a fresh opportunity for Tajikistan to address its many shortcomings on protecting the fundamental right of freedom of religion or belief. Since 2012, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate Tajikistan as a “Country of Particular Concern” or CPC, for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. The State Department has designated it as a CPC since 2016, most recently in November 2022.
In 2009, religious freedom in Tajikistan declined sharply after the government’s adoption of several highly restrictive laws. Religious groups suddenly had to undergo a more burdensome and intrusive registration process that, if denied, rendered their religious activities illegal and meant great personal risk of fines or even prison. Even more shocking for families was a ban on children participating in any organized religious activities such as prayers or education. Today, the government continues to control and surveil all religious activity, including publishing or selling religious literature, wearing religious clothing, and other outward expressions of devotion. It also represses religious freedom in the guise of “extremism” charges leveled at individuals for the nonviolent practice of their faith. For example, last July Imam Muzaffar Davlatmirov was detained, hastily charged, and then convicted in a secret trial for “public calls for extremist activity” after he held funeral prayers for protesters killed by the government. He was sentenced to five years in prison. Similarly, authorities have imprisoned Jehovah’s Witness Shamil Khakimov since 2019 on spurious charges of “inciting religious hatred.”
Over the past decade, Tajikistan’s repression of religion has most widely affected the majority Sunni Muslim population. In the past year, however, the government has newly cracked down on the Ismaili Shi’a Muslim minority, closing religious schools and bookshops and enforcing bans on private prayer meetings. In addition, the country’s small Christian population finds it difficult to register their communities and so are forced to worship in secret. The UN Special Rapporteur’s visit to the country offers an opportunity to better understand the conditions facing religious communities in Tajikistan.
Engagement with the UN Special Rapporteur and other international actors has played a key role in advancing freedom of religion or belief elsewhere in the region. For example, in 2017, Uzbekistan welcomed the visit of then Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed, whose recommendations to improve the country’s religious freedom landscape led the Uzbek government to adopt a “road map” for reform. Uzbekistan largely ended police raids on religious minorities, consulted with international experts to revise its own problematic religion law, and eased some restrictions on religious groups’ ability to practice and express their beliefs. Although Uzbekistan continues to severely violate religious freedom—most notably by imprisoning Muslims for “unauthorized” religious activities—leading to USCIRF’s continued recommendation for its inclusion on the State Department’s Special Watch List (SWL), its government has nonetheless made perceptible progress that will hopefully continue.
Similarly, since 2019 Kazakhstan has engaged with the United States on these issues through the U.S.-Kazakhstan Religious Freedom Working Group, a forum for discussions on its restrictive legislation, religious prisoners of conscience, and the targeting of individuals who do not adhere to “traditional” religions or state-sanctioned Islam. Most recently, the working group provided extensive feedback on amendments to the country’s 2011 religion law that contributed to some modest changes. USCIRF continues to encourage the government of Kazakhstan to adopt additional amendments with the wide-ranging changes necessary to comply with international human rights standards. While Kazakhstan continues to engage in conversations with international actors, including USCIRF, its reforms to date remain insufficient for USCIRF to discontinue recommending its inclusion on the SWL as well.
Ample room remains for Central Asian countries to reform their respective spaces for freedom of religion or belief, and engagement on these key issues is an important first step. Tajikistan’s willingness to host the Special Rapporteur offers the government a unique opportunity to receive recommendations from an independent expert, reassess its practices, and bring its policies in line with international human rights standards. Doing so would be in the government’s self-interest and would benefit those who simply seek to worship freely and without fear in Tajikistan.
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing
Transnational Repression of Freedom of Religion or Belief
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
10:30 AM -12:00 PM ET
Virtual
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) hosted a hearing that examined transnational repression on the basis of religion, belief, or advocacy for religious freedom and how the United State can respond accordingly.
Government efforts to restrict freedom of religion or belief do not stop at national borders. In recent years, a concerning trend of governments harassing, intimidating, and even attempting to kidnap and deport religious minority citizens or religious freedom advocates who reside abroad has increased. Some of these attempts have occurred on U.S. soil. While country-specific approaches to this repression exist, the coalescence of a U.S. policy on transnational repression is an ongoing process. The stakes of this policy are high not only for those targeted for transnational repression, but also for countries that value freedom of religion or belief as a norm and practice. Authoritarianism is no longer contained to authoritarian states as new technologies, interlinked societies, and globalized economies connect people more than ever before.
Witnesses documented the use of repressive tactics by governments around the world to restrict religious freedom outside their borders and provided policy recommendations to the U.S. government on countering these threats.
Opening Remarks
Panel I
Panel II
Submitted for the Record
Statement by Falun Dafa Info Center
This hearing is open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the public, and the media. Members of the media should register online and can email [email protected] for any questions or to schedule an interview. The video recording of the hearing will be posted on the Commission website. For any additional questions, please email Veronica McCarthy at [email protected] or (202) 355-8026.
Additional Name(s): Nahale Shahidi Yazdi
Gender: Female
Current Location: Kerman Prison
Perpetrator: Iran
Religion or Belief: Bahá`í
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Date of Detainment: March/28/2023
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment
Reason for Persecution: Education Rights Religious Activity Religious Belief
Nature of Charges: Unknown
Nahaleh Shahidi is detained on a religious basis.
On March 28, 2023, security forces arrested Shahidi, a Baha’i citizen and child rights activist, while she was traveling from Karaj to Kerman and took her to an undisclosed location. The reasons for her arrest and her detained location were unknown.
In April 2023, it was reported that Shahidi was transferred from a Ministry of Intelligence detention facility to Kerman Prison.
Shahidi was previously imprisoned for activities related to her religious identity.
In March 2011, Shahidi was arrested and then sentenced by the Revolutionary Court of Kerman to two years in prison and one year of suspended imprisonment to prison for “civil and children’s rights activities, such as holding literacy sources for children.”
Photo attributed to Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
USCIRF Country Update: Religious Freedom Conditions in Iran September 2023
HRANA English, Tweet, April 27, 2023
Iran Human Rights Monitor, Tweet, April 3, 2023
"Baha’i Citizen Nahaleh Shahidi Yazdi Arrested" Iran Press Watch
“Baha’i Citizen Nahaleh Shahidi Yazdi Arrested” Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
"Nahaleh Shahidi" Baha’i International Community