Jehovah’s Witnesses

Jehovah’s Witnesses in Turkmenistan
January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2004

Abuses of Religious Freedom

Religious Persecution

Jehovah’s Witnesses are still deprived of freedom of association and peaceful assembly, even in their own homes in Turkmenistan. Police and national security officers interrupt small religious gatherings while they are being conducted in private homes; they detain all in attendance, verbally abuse them, and at times brutally beat the detainees. Afterward those present are given heavy fines, with the owner of the home subjected to an even heavier fine. Some Witnesses were dismissed from their employment. Witness children were publicly humiliated in schools. Exit visas have been denied when Witnesses tried to attend a religious convention in Tajikistan. Detailed accounts follow.

On March 9, 2004, at 12:30 p.m., one policeman in uniform and two policemen in civilian clothes knocked at the door of Olga Vladislavovna Fedorina, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ashgabat. Her husband refused to open, but the police kept knocking for 20 minutes, demanding that the door be opened for the district police officer. At 1:00 p.m. Fedorina went out in order to pick up her youngest daughter from kindergarden, but outside a plainclothes policeman stopped her, demanded her passport, and called the other policemen by radio. Then the police burst into the apartment and confiscated all her religious literature: one Bible, six books, and a few magazines. Fedorina was taken to the police station and forced to write an explanatory statement dictated by the police. Additionally, the district police officer sexually harassed her. Afterward, Fedorina filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office, providing the OSCE office in Ashgabat with a copy.

On March 18, 2004, at 5:30 p.m. two persons, presenting themselves as representatives of the Niyazovsk District Court, came to the apartment of Suren Gasparyan, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ashgabat. They demanded that Gasparyan immediately pay a fine of 250,000 manats about $50 (US) that he had allegedly left unpaid in 2001. Gasparyan explained that he had paid all fines as required. (From 2000 to 2004, he had been arrested some 10 times and paid a total of approximately $200 (US)  in fines imposed simply because he engaged in religious activity.) Nevertheless, the representatives of the court swore at him and said that they had an order from the city administration stating that Gasparyan must pay this fine. They said that if he did not pay it, his property would be confiscated. Gasparyan had no choice but to borrow money to pay the fine to the court representatives.

In early August 2004, two men in civilian clothes accompanied by a higher police officer came to the apartment of Adalat Charyyeva (a female Jehovah’s Witnesses) in Turkmenabat. They harshly asked her questions, such as: “Since you are a Turkmen, why do you need this religion?” They demanded that Adalat give them her Bible and other publications of Jehovah’s Witnesses. They threatened her with deportation ‘to where Christians are living.’ The men also demanded that she present herself at the 2nd Police Department with her passport, but she refused to go.

On August 16, 2004, the same three unidentified men (two men in civilian clothes accompanied by a higher police officer) threatened another woman in Turkmenabat who is studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. They forced her to sign a statement that if she continues her (Bible) study she would be dismissed from her job.

On August 18, 2004, the chief of the 6th Police Department, Mr. Khemra, forced Meredgul Khaydarova (a female Jehovah’s Witness living in the Khodzhambasky District of the Chärjew [Chardzhou] Region) into a car and took her to the Khyakimlik (local administration). Meredgul was interrogated there for five hours by a commission of five persons. During the interrogation she was threatened, put under heavy psychological pressure, and verbally humiliated. She was forced to make a written statement that she would not share her religious beliefs with others.

On September 5, 2004, in Turkmenabat, Gulkamar Dzhumayeva and Gulsherin Babakuliyeva (two female Jehovah’s Witnesses) were arrested while sharing in private religious discussions with fellow citizens. An officer of the National Security Ministry (MNB, former KGB) who lives nearby arrested them. He called the district police officer, Mr. Sakhatov, and about noon the Witnesses were taken to the police station of the Gagarin microrayon. By using threats, shouts, and verbal humiliation, the police forced the women to make written statements. At 3 p.m. they were transferred to the 2nd Police Department and were required to produce their passports.

At 11 p.m., the inebriated deputy of the second prosecutor (who was simply referred to as bashlyk [meaning master or chief]) called Gulsherin Babakuliyeva into his office. As soon as Babakuliyeva entered his office, he started to sexually harass her. When she tried to break free, he responded by violently hitting her head eight times with his palm. Then he freed her and boasted that as a Muslim he is not used to women refusing him and that he likes to have sex with any woman whether she wants it or not. Then another man (calling himself a “prosecutor”) threatened to do whatever he wanted with her (which she understood as a threat to rape her), and then he threatened to dress her with a girdle of a suicide bomber [shakhid], saying that she was a terrorist. This so-called prosecutorpushed Babakuliyeva violently into his car but the officer on duty dissuaded him from carrying out his threats. During all this time there was another police officer present in the room, but instead of interfering with this disgraceful conduct, he calmly continued playing cards at a computer. He also undersigned the protocol of arrest.

At midnight, Dzhumayeva and Babakuliyeva were finally allowed to sleep on chairs at the police station. All this time they were not allowed to phone their homes; they were given nothing to eat, and they were not allowed to go to the washroom unescorted. Dzhumayeva has three children who were without any information as to their mother’s whereabouts for all those hours.

The next day, at 10:40 a.m., Dzhumayeva and Babakuliyeva were transferred to the Khyakimlik [local administration], and without waiting for the chief, the District Police Officer Sakhatov released them to their homes, although giving them a summons to appear at the Khyakimlik on September 7 at 8:30 a.m. No subsequent details are known.

On September 6, 2004, Rodion Aleksandrovich Rogov (one of Jehovah’s Witnesses who lives in the city of Turkmenbashi) was visited by a district police officer who came to his apartment at noon and seized his personal Bible and publications of the Watchtower Society, promising to return them within two days. The district police officer returned after five days, and noticing that Rogov had another Bible, he seized that one too and this time ordered him to appear at the Khyakimlik [local administration]. On September 12, 2004, Rogov presented himself at the Khyakimlik and was put under pressure. None of his literature was ever returned.

On September 8, 2004, Gulzhemal Allagulyyeva, a female Jehovah’s Witness living in the Khodzhambaskiy District of the Chärjew [Chardzhou] Region, was interrogated by a commission of the Khyakimlik of the Khodzhambaskiy District, which included the following persons: Seidnepes Khaltyazhev (chairman of the commission), Rovshan Meredov, and Shasenem Khudayberdyyeva. Additionally, a KNB (National Security Committee, formerly KGB) officer, Mr. Serdar, and officers of the 6th Police Department, Mr. Khemra and Khozhakul Khuddyyev, were also present. Allagulyyeva was forced to make a written statement that she would not share her religious beliefs with others and she was fined 1,250,000 manat (approximatly $235 US).

On September 9, 2004, at about 8 a.m., while sharing in religious discussions with others, Suren Gasparyan and Smbat Safaryan were arrested by an officer of the 6th Department of the National Security Ministry, which is responsible for dealing with organized crime and terrorism. They were taken to the 6th Department at the Annau Square and then (since they are from Ashgabat) they were transferred to the 6th Department at Zhitnikov Street. As usual, they were pressured, verbally abused, and humiliated. The officers shot a gun, aiming at a door, despite the fact that Safaryan is in his 70’s. Afterward Gasparyan and Safaryan were required to make written statements. They were released at 1:30 p.m. and required to return the next day with photographs of themselves.

On September 21, 2004, at 4:35 p.m. two policemen (one of them was inebriated) forced Aygul Erimmatovna Eshimova and Leyli Muradovna Orayeva, both female Jehovah’s Witnesses living in the city of Dashhowuz, into a car and took them to the police station. At the station their bags and all personal belongings therein were confiscated and a degrading personal inspection was carried out including use of abominable expressions. They were forced to sign statements written by the police that they would not share their religious beliefs with others.

On September 29, 2004, at 7 p.m. Altyn Dolanbayevna Dzhorayeva, a female Jehovah’s Witness living in the city of Seydi, and her three children were visiting a fellow believer (Babakuly Orazbayevich Yakubov) in the Khodzhakenepsi village of the Farabskiy District. Three other fellow believers (Shukurzhan Yeldashovna Khatamova, Rozyzhan Charyyev, and Oguldurdy Altybayeva) were also present. Suddenly, four policemen burst into the apartment without permission and without producing any personal identification documents. Deputy Police Chief Akhmetzhan Alymov and Serdar Khuseynov searched the apartment for religious literature. They kicked the furniture, opened the sofa, and confiscated any religious literature they could find. Altyn Dzhorayeva along with her children (8 years, 6 years, and 7 months old) were taken to the police station. She was interrogated there by Police Chief Khemrayev in a verbally abusive manner. As a result of threats and intimidation, her children were forced to utter the Oath as well as verses to Turkmenbashi [President Niyazov]. The children cried while doing this. They were all released home at 11:30 p.m.

Additionally, on October 13, 2004, Babakuly Yakubov and Shukurzhan Khatamova were summoned to the comission of the Khyakimlik and fined for 2,500,000 manats ($470 US). The commission was made up of eight persons and they conducted themselves extremely impudently. The chairman of the commission, Kh.G. Berdyyev, also gave an order to Khyakimlik officer Abdull Charyyev to arrange for Babakuly Yakubov to be dismissed from his work.

On October 19, 2004, the officers of the Azatlykskiy District Khyakimlik forcibly took Vladimir Rodionov from school to the Khyakimlik. Vladimir is a minor son of Tatyana Rodionova, a female Jehovah’s Witness living in Ashgabat. Without any notice to his mother, Vladimir was intensively interrogated. He was threatened in an attempt to obtain information about the addresses of his mother’s fellow believers. He was forced to sign a statement that he would not attend meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses together with his mother.

Evictions From Home

On November 12, 2004, Bilbil Kulyyeva, a mother of four, was forcibly evicted from the hostel at 58 William Street (bldg. 2, room 36), Ashgabat, where she and her children were living. The eviction took place on the decision made by the Department for Religious Affairs of the Ashgabat City Khyakimlik and an officer of this department, “Capitan” Atageldi, on the basis of Bilbil Kulyyeva’s being one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Her fellow believers helped her to find another place to live for the time being.

Employment Discrimination

On March 10, 2004, Aleksandr Anatolyevich Zorin, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ashgabat, was called to the Council for Religious Affairs and was interviewed by seven persons, one of them a mullah. During a heated discussion, Zorin was pressured to abandon his “disgraceful religion,” otherwise the Council would contact his workplace and get him dismissed. This actually took place the following day.

In the evening of March 12, Zorin was informed about his dismissal from work. He learned that there had been a letter from the Council to his workplace, stating that Zorin was a terrible man and a sectarian. Because of Zorin the whole team that he was working with faced dismissal. Therefore, Zorin had no choice but to agree to his dismissal. Although being an exemplary worker, Zorin was thus left unemployed facing a very difficult task to find another job as the main breadwinner for his unemployed wife and six-month-old baby.

Imprisonments for Conscientious Objection to Military Service

Mansur Masharipov and Vepa Tuvakov

Currently Mansur Masharipov and Vepa Tuvakov remain imprisoned in Turkmenistan because of their conscientious objection to military service for religious reasons. The conditions and treatment of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the labor colonies are inhuman.

Despite the televised announcement by President Saparmurat Niyazov that all imprisoned conscientious objectors should be released, Mansur Masharipov (born in 1984) and Vepa Tuvakov (born in 1986) were sentenced respectively on May 28 and June 3, 2004, to 18 months in prison because of their conscientious objection to military service. They are both baptized Jehovah’s Witnesses. They had been invited for only an interview by the authorities but were immediately taken into custody and put into pretrial detention. After the trials, they were transferred to the Seydi colony.

On July 19, 2004, the general counsel of Jehovah’s Witnesses wrote to President Niyazov, requesting the release of Masharipov and Tuvakov. The letter expressed appreciation for the release from prison of six Jehovah’s Witnesses but expressed outrage at the torture and mistreatment the Witnesses suffered while in prison.

On October 4, 2004, a written statement on the human rights situation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Turkmenistan was distributed to those attending the OSCE HDIM in Warsaw. The statement concluded with an appeal for the release of Mansur Masharipov and Vepa Tuvakov.

Seven Jehovah’s Witnesses Released From Prison During 2004

Kurban Bagdatovich Zakirov

Kurban Bagdatovich Zakirov was imprisoned on April 23, 1999, and was sentenced to one year in a minimum-security corrective labor colony (ITKOR) on May 25, 1999, for conscientious objection to military service. In December 1999, Zakirov was granted a pardon but was not released because he refused to give the required oath of allegiance on the Koran. In the spring of 2000, when he had completed his sentence, he was still not released but was transferred to another unit because once again he could not violate his conscience by giving the required oath of allegiance, on the Koran, to the President and the State. When it was time for Zakirov's release, one officer, in the presence of others, ripped off his own shoulder straps and said that Zakirov had attacked him. Immediately charges were drawn up against Zakirov, and he was sentenced again on the charge of assaulting the security service. The court sentenced him to eight years in a high-security corrective labor colony (ITKSR) in the city of Chärjew.

Afterward, Zakirov was transferred to the maximum-security prison in Turkmenbashi, where his health deteriorated. Conditions in the maximum-security prison in Turkmenbashi are horrible. It is known as a place from which prisoners rarely are released in good health. Many die. The cells are plain concrete rooms with one window—without glass or any cover—that is open all year long. In the wintertime the cells are freezing, and in summertime they are extremely hot. The food consists of some kind of slime made of sprat (herring) and macaroni.

The prisoners in this particular institution are normally allowed one visitor every six months. Zakirov was denied this fundamental right. Even his legal guardian was denied entry. She was told that Zakirov was under a “special note” and that no visitors were allowed. She was sent from one officer to another and finally sent away without having seen Zakirov or receiving any information about him.

In January 2003, Zakirov was badly beaten by the prison guards and then confined with known homosexual rapists (in the prison-language called harem). Once a prisoner is confined there and labeled as belonging to the harem, it is impossible to change his status in the prison community. Those labeled this way are regarded as the very lowest class among the prisoners and are commonly treated like animals and as having a loathsome disease. Those who knew Zakirov before prison say that this, together with other “treatment,” has had a tremendous impact, ruining his mental and emotional balance.

Kurban Zakirov was released on June 12, 2004. Although he survived physically, his mental and emotional balance has been ruined and his personality has been distorted. There are valid reasons for believing that while in prison he was forcibly administered some sort of psychotropic drugs. His arms are covered all over by needle marks from injections, and his behavior has become odd. After his release he was placed in a mental hospital, but currently he is at home. The doctors examining him after his release confirmed that he had been injected, and this was obviously not done for therapeutic reasons. At one time Zakirov was classified as an “enemy of the People” and his portrait was publicly displayed in the prison as if he were an especially dangerous person, as though the authorities decided to do away with him in another way. This is a well-known practice in Turkmenistan prisons.

Babadzhanov, Matveyev, Mitogorov, Nasyrov, and Satlykov

Rinat Babadzhanov, Shohrat Mitogorov, Ruslan Nasyrov, and Rozymamed Satlykov (all Jehovah’s Witnesses) were imprisoned in May 2003 for conscientious objection to military service. They were serving their year-and-a-half prison sentences in the minimum-security corrective labor colony in Seydi. On December 4, 2003, conscientious objector Aleksandr Matveyev (also one of Jehovah’s Witnesses) was sentenced to two years in prison at the Seydi colony. These five young men, some of them not yet baptized as Jehovah’s Witnesses, were kept under constant pressure to renounce their faith and to give the oath of allegiance on the Koran to the President and State.

On April 14, 2004, they were again pressured to give the oath and, after their refusal, Matveyev and Nasyrov were seriously beaten. Satlykov was returned to isolation, and Matveyev was confined to isolation. During their imprisonment, beatings were regularly administered. Matveyev and Nasyrov were often in very bad shape after the beatings and isolation. Because of the lack of sufficient food and proper clothing, their health deteriorated; they suffered from anemia and malnutrition. At the end they were also separated from each other.

On June 11, 2004, Rinat Babadzhanov, Aleksandr Matveyev, Shohrat Mitogorov, Ruslan Nasyrov, and Rozymamed Satlykov were all released because of a general amnesty for conscientious objectors, which was announced on national television by President Niyazov of Turkmenistan. They are now at home and are recovering.

Nikolai Shelekhov

Nikolai Shelekhov was sentenced on July 2, 2002, by the District Court of Ashgabat to a year and a half in prison for conscientious objection to military service. This took place only six months after his release from a prison colony where he had spent one year for the same “offense” of conscientious objection.

Nikolai Shelekhov was released on January 2, 2004, after completing his second prison sentence for conscientious objection to military service.