Religious Prisoner Profile: Rashid Turibayev (Uzbekistan)

Pastor in Uzbekistan Sentenced to Fifteen Years Hard Labor for Leading "Illegal" Church Services and Fabricated Charges of Drug Distribution
Case Profile

RASHID TURIBAYEV HAS BEEN RELEASED!

Pastor Rashid Turibayev, the twenty-two-year-old leader of an indigenous Protestant congregation, was sentenced by authorities to two years hard labor for the charge of leading "illegal" church services. Officials arrested him in October 1997 in the city of Nukus in Karakalpakstan. In addition to the hard labor, reports reveal that authorities also sentenced Pastor Turibayev to internal exile, in a small village with no electricity, gas, or running water, in order to isolate him from contact with family, friends, and other Christian believers. Furthermore, authorities told him that his case would be dropped if he ceased conducting ministry among people of Muslim background.

In late December 1996, Full Gospel Church leaders protested Pastor Turibayev's case when they found that Uzbek authorities were holding him in a psychiatric hospital, without explanation.

Most recently, on June 9, 1999, Pastor Turibayev was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in strict regime detention allegedly for drug distribution. In addition, officials have stated that they plan to confiscate his home, his computer, and a new camera. Pastor Turibayev has a wife and a toddler-aged son. Members of the church insist that the police planted drugs on Pastor Turibayev (and on three other Christians arrested with him). It is well-known by human rights organizations that authorities in Uzbekistan routinely have planted drugs on those individuals whose activities they dislike. Previously, this "investigative" method was used only against Muslim religious believers in the Faragano Valley. Now, however, it appears that the authorities are using this technique to silence other peaceful minority religious believers.

Pastor Turibayev led the Karakalpak Full Gospel Church. This denomination, along with many others, has had tremendous difficulty in registering their churches with the authorities. Uzbek officials rejected their application for registration, a government requirement, and accused church members of being "continuously involved in religious-missionary activity among the peoples of Karakalpakstan." The officials also claimed that "the documents presented lacked documentation verifying the members' baptism." Authorities have harassed churches by levying fines on pastors and church members, rejecting registration applications for seemingly insignificant reasons, and threatening pastors for various ministry activities.

The Uzbek government recently passed a law which severely restricts religious freedom.

In May 1998, the Uzbek government passed a law which requires that all religious groups register in order to carry out religious activities. In order to register, a group must have 100 members. (Under the previous law, the minimum number for registration was ten. The higher number will make small churches outside of urban areas illegal.) Furthermore, the new law prohibits any acitivities which could lead to the conversion of an individual from one faith to another, any activities which involve minors, "forcing" people to donate money to an organization, or teaching religious doctrine without permission. The punishment for each of these "criminal acts" ranges from three to five years imprisonment. The risk has increased considerably now that most leaders of small Christian churches could be arrested and sentenced to prison.

Source:  : Information supplied by Compass Direct News Service, Keston News Service, and other sources.

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