FOR SECOND YEAR, FEW DISTURBANCES AT JEHOVAH'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000362 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2018 TAGS: PHUM KIRF PGOV UZ SUBJECT: FOR SECOND YEAR, FEW DISTURBANCES AT JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES ANNUAL MEMORIAL Classified By: POLOFF R. FITZMAURICE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (C) Summary: On March 24, the Ambassador met with the Jehovah's Witnesses AmCit General Counsel and two of their regional representatives from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The General Counsel reported that, for the second year in a row, there were few reported disruptions of the Jehovah's Witnesses annual memorial services commemorating Jesus' death on March 22. In less positive news, the General Counsel reported that a Jehovah's Witnesses congregant in Samarkand was charged with violating criminal code article 216 ("Organizing an Illegal Religious Organization"),which carries a possible five year prison sentence. He also confirmed a Forum 18 report from March 17 that authorities in Samarkand detained 18 Jehovah's Witnesses after a series of raids on February 19, and that one of those detained, a 17-year old female congregant, was sexually molested by an intoxicated police officer. In addition, several Jehovah's Witnesses regional representatives, including an AmCit based in Saint Petersburg, were denied Uzbek visas to observe the annual memorial services on Jesus' death. We will raise the criminal case and sexual assault in Samarkand in our discussions with government officials in Tashkent, in the hope that they might be able to rein in the excesses of provincial leaders. End summary. AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH AMCIT GENERAL COUNSEL -------------- ¶2. (C) On March 24, the Ambassador met with the Jehovah's Witnesses AmCit General Counsel and two of their regional representatives from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The General Counsel reported that for the second year in a row, there were very few reported disruptions of the Jehovah's Witnesses annual memorial services commemorating Jesus' death on March ¶22. This is in stark contrast to previous years, when scores of Jehovah's Witnesses were detained and harassed. He said that there was only one report of individuals being detained at a memorial service in Qarshi, but added that he was still trying to verify the report. The General Counsel observed the memorial service held by the Jehovah's Witnesses' one registered congregation in Uzbekistan -- in Chirchiq -- which also was attended by three government officials, including the Deputy Mayor of Chirchiq and a representative from the provincial Department of Justice. EMBOFFS OBSERVE MEMORIAL OF JESUS' DEATH IN TASHKENT -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) For the second year in a row, the Embassy organized a team of Emboffs to observe the memorial of Jesus' death in Tashkent. Cultural affairs officer observed a memorial service in Chilanzor district attended by eight Jehovah's Witnesses, poloff observed a memorial in the Yunusobad district of Tashkent attended by about 15 Jehovah's Witnesses, and another poloff observed the memorial in the Sergeli district of Tashkent attended by about 25 Jehovah's Witnesses. There were no disruptions at the three memorial ceremonies attended by Emboffs. ¶4. (C) At the ceremony in Sergeli, a Jehovah's Witness community leader told poloff that the ceremony in his district was last interrupted three years ago, when several congregants were detained by police. He said that the Jehovah's Witnesses held approximately 25 such gatherings in Tashkent alone this year, noting that smaller, discreet meetings were less likely to attract the government's attention. He noted that the Jehovah's Witness congregation in Sergeli had not attempted to register in the past three years after several failed attempts, believing that the authorities had no intention to register them. He also observed that while Jehovah's Witness literature was frequently confiscated or detained by authorities, they still used surreptitious means of importing literature into Uzbekistan, providing poloff with a copy of the latest edition of Watchtower as proof. FOR FIRST TIME, JEHOVAH'S WITNESS CHARGED WITH ARTICLE 216 -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) The General Counsel reported that for the first time, a Jehovah's Witnesses congregant was charged with violating criminal code article 216 ("Illegal Establishment of a Religious Organization.") The congregant, Olim Turayev, was originally charged with article 229 ("Teaching Religion Illegally"),which requires testimony from an alleged "victim" (Note: Several Jehovah's Witnesses congregants have been convicted under article 229, including Samarkand congregant Irfan Hamidov, who was given a two-year sentence in 2007. End note.) According to the General Counsel, as the police were finishing their investigation of Turayev on March 16, they could still not find an alleged victim to testify against him. The General Counsel believed that authorities then decided to charge Turayev with article 216, as it did not require testimony from an alleged victim. The punishment for article 216 is harsher than 229, and carries a prison term of up to five years. He also noted that the article had been primarily used before against alleged Muslim extremists, rather than members of minority religions. Pentecostal Pastor Dmitry Shestakov was also sentenced to four years' imprisonment under article 216 in March 2007. GENERAL COUNSEL CONFIRMS MISTREATMENT OF WITNESSES IN SAMARKAND -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) During the meeting with the Ambassador on March 24, the General Counsel confirmed a Forum 18 report from March 17 that authorities in Samarkand detained 18 Jehovah's Witnesses after a series of raids on February 19. One of those detained, a 17-year old female congregant, was sexually molested by an intoxicated police officer, while another 17-year old was hit repeatedly on the head by authorities and a 14-year old was interrogated alone and threatened with being beaten. The General Counsel added that ten of the individuals detained in February were charged with administrative offenses. The General Counsel also shared with the Ambassador a press release dated March 11 regarding the incident, which will be the basis of a letter writing campaign to President Karimov, he said. The Ambassador suggested that the Jehovah's Witnesses also make a formal complaint with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Religious Affairs Committee. OBSERVERS DENIED VISAS AHEAD OF MEMORIAL -------------- ¶7. (C) According to the General Counsel, the Uzbek Embassy in Almaty on March 17 refused to grant a visa to a Jehovah's Witnesses AmCit regional representative based in Saint Petersburg, who intended to travel to Uzbekistan to observe the memorial of Jesus' death on March 22. The General Counsel said that the Jehovah's Witnesses' registered congregation in Chirchiq had submitted an official invitation on behalf of the AmCit several weeks ago. In addition, the General Counsel said that the Uzbek Embassy in Brussels on March 17 had annulled the visas of two Jehovah's Witnesses from Belgium, allegedly on orders from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after initially granting them visas on March ¶14. GENERAL COUNSEL MEETS WITH RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS CHAIRMAN... -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) After months of wrangling, the Jehovah's Witnesses AmCit General Counsel was granted a meeting with Religious Affairs Committee Chairman Yusupov on March 20. Overall, the General Counsel described the meeting as "positive," and noted that Yusupov said he supported granting visas to the Jehovah's Witnesses observers. Yusupov also reportedly said that he would advocate on their behalf with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, after the meeting, Yusupov's assistant Bekzod Kadirov told the General Counsel that the Religious Affairs Committee would in fact not grant approval for the visas, which in the end were not issued. ...RECEIVES ANOTHER "WARNING" -------------- ¶9. (C) During the meeting, Yusupov reportedly told the General Counsel that the Religious Affairs Committee still received regular complaints from regional authorities that Jehovah's Witnesses were engaged in illegal religious activities. Yusupov allegedly stated that because of the intervention of the Committee, regional officials refrained from prosecuting those individuals (Comment: Despite Yusupov's claims, it would appear that the Committee did not prevent authorities in Samarkand from leveling criminal charges against Turayev. The General Counsel said that he raised Turayev's case with Yusupov, but did not receive a response. End comment.) Yusupov also reportedly told the General Counsel that he had "little time left" to cease the illegal activity of Jehovah's Witnesses in Uzbekistan. The General Counsel was unsure whether Yusupov was referring to the fact that his four-year multiple entry visa was expiring soon on April 20, or whether he was making a veiled threat to deregister the Jehovah's Witnesses last remaining legal congregation in Chirchiq. In the summer of 2007, authorities threatened to deregister the Chirchiq congregation over various infractions, but the General Counsel said that the issue was eventually resolved through discussions with the Tashkent province Department of Justice. COMMENT -------------- ¶10. (C) While it is welcome news that the Jehovah's Witnesses memorial services commemorating Jesus' death on March 22 went ahead with only minimal disturbances for the second year in a row, the continued harassment of Jehovah's Witnesses congregants in Samarkand is a troubling development. We will raise the criminal case against Turiyev and the assault against the three Jehovah's Witnesses minors in our discussions with government officials in Tashkent. Jehovah's Witnesses in Samarkand appear to have a much harder time than in other regions of the countries, demonstrated also by the sentencing of two Samarkand congregants last year on charges of illegally teaching religion. It is possible that authorities are more sensitive regarding religious minority activity in Samarkand than elsewhere because it is the hometown of both President Karimov and Prime Minister Mirziyaev. We also do not rule out that the more negative tone of the General Counsel's meeting with Yusupov, in contrast to his meeting last fall, reflected the government's pique at being listed by the press as a "top 10" human rights offender in 2007. By highlighting our concerns over such incidents with officials in Tashkent, though, we hope to convince them to rein in the excesses of provincial level authorities. NORLAND