Religious freedom in Kyrgystan

by Feòrag

Kyrgyzstan: Authorities are painting all non-traditional Islamic and non-Orthodox Christian groups as totalitarian sects...using deceptions, silent methods and obtrusive propaganda in order to attract new members, and have a blacklist which includes peaceful religions such as Seventh-Day Adventism and the Ba'hai faith.

Official and casual opponents accuse the churches of using deceitful methods to attract young people through the so-called "incentive system". Representatives of the Muslim clergy claim the Protestant communities pay $50 each month to those who attend their religious gatherings. Protestant leaders deny such accusations. But in deference to them, many church leaders require children to bring parental consent when they attend mass. For adults as well as children, the dangers of attending church can be powerfully discouraging. My mother-in-law is trying to attract my wife to attend [mass], says Vyacheslav Salimov of Osh. I am very concerned about it. I am Muslim and my wife is Orthodox Christian and we don’t have any problems in our relations on the basis of religion. However, I am against her visiting these religious masses of the new sect.

In a rare recorded case of religious persecution, more than 100 people reportedly laid siege to the house of two Protestant brothers in Suzak village on December 31, 2000. The crowd demanded that the brothers and their families give up the new religion. In the meantime, the crowd was ready to burn their house with gasoline, which was kept in small containers by people in the crowd. Police were able to defuse the situation peacefully, and produce an official report.

PROTESTANTS IN KYRGYZSTAN FACE HOSTILE RECEPTION - EurasiaNet Human Rights, 8th December 2003.