WRITTEN QUESTION E-2487/03 by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission. Violations of religious freedom in Turkmenistan and protection of Muslim and Russian Orthodox communities.
Date: 2003-07-25
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU relations, Turkmenistan, cooperation agreement (EU), freedom of religious beliefs, religious discrimination

C 88 E/414

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

The international community must also work with the Government to ensure that the new Constitution
enshrines Human Rights for all, including women, and that these are enforced through the judicial system.
The Commission is contributing to the Law and Order trust fund and to the justice sector. This will help
finance judicial reform and ensure that laws are implemented effectively.

(2004/C 88 E/0420)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2486/03

by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission

(25 July 2003)

Subject: Violation of religious freedom in Uzbekistan with respect to Adventists and members of the Asia

Protestant Church

Given that:

(cid:1) five months after a raid on their small congregation in Nukus, capital of Karakalpakstan, an
autonomous republic in north-western Uzbekistan, and more than two months after being fined, a
group of Adventists has been summoned to appear in court in Nukus on 20 July 2003.

(cid:1) the Nukus Prosecutor, Sultan Ibragimov, is refusing to provide any information on the reasons for this

summons.

(cid:1) the official responsible for religious affairs, Nurula Jamalov, has admitted that the material confiscated

from the Adventists during the raid will not be distributed in Uzbekistan.

(cid:1) on 21 June 2003 Nelya Denisova, a member of the Asia Protestant Church, was questioned for four
hours by an official of the National Security Service (formerly KGB). The NSS has forbidden her to
divulge what was said at the interrogation.

(cid:1) the Asia Protestant Church has not yet succeeded in obtaining the registration which would allow it to
operate legally on the grounds that Article 8 of Uzbekistan’s Law on Religion requires pastors to
receive specific religious training.

In view of the excellent economic and trade relations between the European Union and Uzbekistan, will
the Commission state:

(cid:1) whether it is aware of the serious and repeated violations of religious freedom in Uzbekistan and of

the above incidents?

(cid:1) what measures could,

in its view, be taken within this cooperation framework as a serious and

effective means of encouraging Uzbekistan to respect religious freedom?

(2004/C 88 E/0421)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2487/03

by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission

(25 July 2003)

Subject: Violations of religious freedom in Turkmenistan and protection of Muslim and Russian Orthodox

communities

Given that:

(cid:1) on 27 May 2003, an operational group from the Ashgabad city division of the Ministry of the Interior
raided the home of a Hare Krishna female devotee, Gaurabhakta Devi Dasi, whose home was used as a
place of worship.

(cid:1) during the raid, two other devotees, Varshana Prabhu and Mishra Bhagavan Prabhu, were arrested. In
attempting to extract information from Mishra Bhagavan, the police beat him so hard that they drew
blood.

8.4.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 88 E/415

(cid:1) the Turkmenistan authorities are still refusing to allow non-Muslim and non-Russian Orthodox

communities to register.

(cid:1) the Constitution of Turkmenistan upholds the right to privacy in one’s home, which may be restricted
only in exceptional circumstances and on a legal basis, neither of which was the case in the events
which occurred on 27 May.

Will the Commission state:

(cid:1) whether it is aware of the serious and persistent violations of religious freedom in Turkmenistan and

of the above incidents?

(cid:1) what action does it

intend to support or call

for in order to bring pressure to bear on the

Turkmenistan authorities with a view to guaranteeing religious freedom in the country?

(2004/C 88 E/0422)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2543/03

by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission

(30 July 2003)

Subject: Violation of religious freedom in Armenia

Given that:

(cid:1) since the beginning of July one Jehovah’s Witness has been sentenced to one and a half years in a
labour camp and two others have been arrested and are currently being tried because they refuse to
do military service.

(cid:1) this brings the number of Jehovah’s Witnesses convicted for refusing to do military service to 24,

whilst 8 others are awaiting trial.

(cid:1) there are around 7 500 Jehovah’s Witnesses in Armenia and they have been denied the right to

register as a religious organisation.

(cid:1) in December 2002 legislation was passed stipulating that only members of the Armenian Apostolic
Church may join the police. Members of other confessions are to undergo ‘training and educational
work’ designed to make them spontaneously renounce membership of other religious organisations. If
the ‘training and educational work’ prove inadequate, those who are already members of the police
force will be dismissed and anyone who wants to become a police officer will be turned down.

In view of the fact that:

(cid:1) when Armenia joined the Council of Europe in January 2001 it undertook to adopt legislation on
alternatives to military service and at the same time to free conscientious objectors, but so far no such
legislation has been adopted nor have the conscientious objectors been released;

(cid:1) on 13 December 2002 the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance of the Council of
Europe (ECRI) deemed the Armenian authorities’ attitude towards Jehovah’s Witnesses ‘unsatisfactory’.

The European Union has an excellent economic and commercial cooperation relationship with Armenia.

Can the Commission say whether it is aware of the facts outlined above?

What measures, in the context of cooperation relations, might constitute a serious and effective means of
inducing Armenia to respect religious freedom?