Forum 18 News Summary: Kyrgyzstan; Macedonia; Uzbekistan
24 August 2006
KYRGYZSTAN: IMAM'S KILLING SEEN AS ATTACK ON INDEPENDENT ISLAM
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=835
Muslims in both Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan see the killing of an imam, by the Kyrgyz NSS secret police, as an attack on Islam that is independent of the state, Forum 18 News Service has been told. Mohammadrafiq Kamalov was imam of one of the largest mosques in south Kyrgyzstan, and was killed by the NSS in circumstances that remain unclear. "My brother was certainly not a terrorist," Sadykjan Kamalov, former mufti of Kyrgyzstan, told Forum 18. "He was a very influential theologian and had enormous authority among the people of south Kyrgyzstan. I can't yet say exactly what happened. People say that officials from Uzbekistan's National Security Service secret police were taking part in an operation led by Kyrgyzstan's NSS secret police when the tragedy occurred. But so far at least there is no clear proof of this." Mohammadrafiq Kamalov had been accused of membership of Hizb-ut-Tahrir, but he had denied this.
25 August 2006
MACEDONIA: RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES STILL FACE BUILDING PROBLEMS
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=836
Baptists, Serbian Orthodox, Adventists, Muslims and Jehovah's Witnesses have all told Forum 18 News Service of problems they have faced from the authorities in obtaining permission for building projects in Macedonia. Some religious minorities however, such as Catholics and Jews, have not experienced any problems in obtaining building permission. Methodists are pursuing the alternative approach of reclaiming confiscated property. A particular problem facing the Serbian Orthodox is that, without state registration, they do not even have the right to apply for building permission. Other religious minorities do have the right to apply for permission, even if some - such as Baptists - have told Forum 18 that they doubt that it may ever be granted. Under Macedonia's discriminatory approach, the Serbian Orthodox Church has been told that it will "never" be registered. Building problems faced by some religious communities in the country are long-standing.
21 August 2006
UZBEKISTAN: MASSIVE FINES AND JAIL PROPOSED FOR SHARING BELIEFS
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=833
Uzbekistan intends to impose massive fines and jail people - and the leaders of their religious communities - for sharing their beliefs outside places of worship, Forum 18 News Service has been told. The proposals were made to a meeting of leaders of registered religious communities, in the capital Tashkent, by the state Religious Affairs Committee. For a first "offence," Forum 18 was told, it is intended to impose a fine of between 200 and 600 times the minimum monthly salary. The second time this "offence" is committed, it is intended to jail the offender and the leader of their religious community for between 3 and 8 years. This proposals are the latest harshening of penalties for peaceful religious activity and, like for example the ban on unregistered religious activity, directly break the international human rights standards Uzbekistan is formally committed to. The country has also - in the latest use of deportation against religious believers - deported a Baptist to Russia who was born and grew up in Tashkent, Forum 18 has learnt.
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