Documents

Statements

Statement issued by the Public Affairs and Religious Liberty department
Seventh-day Adventist Church world headquarters
December 19, 2001

The ongoing situation of religious oppression in the country of Turkmenistan is of such a serious nature that the Seventh-day Adventist Church must protest in the strongest possible terms.

Over the past several years, we have received reports of the Turkmen government carrying out a systematic program of repressive acts against religious minorities. This has included arbitrary detention and imprisonment, exile and deportation, the destruction of houses of worship, the confiscation of personal property, the imposition of punitive fines, the loss of employment, mental and physical abuse, and other violations of religious freedom and human rights.

Of particular concern is the increasingly vindictive persecution of individual citizens. Following the demolition of churches and other houses of worship, the government of Turkmenistan is now targeting protestant Christians in particular, and has arrested, fined, imprisoned and subjected to physical abuse members of the Baptist, Pentecostal, and Adventist churches.

Specifically we cite the recent media reports regarding the actions of the Turkmen police in the city of Turkmenabad on November 16 when a lawful Adventist religious meeting in a private apartment was forcibly broken up. Six participants at the religious service were detained and their identity documents confiscated. In addition the legal title documents of the apartment were taken by the police. All religious books and audio-visual materials were seized.

We also draw attention to the reported continued harassment and imprisonment of Baptists and Pentecostals, and most recently the jail terms and fines imposed on members of the Word of Life church following a police raid on November 15.

The above-referenced actions represent violations of fundamental human rights that are in direct conflict with the established international norms, and are yet further evidence of the Turkmenistan state's hostility to religious minorities. Repeated incidents of apparent state-sponsored or condoned vilification of protestant Christians in the national media, the use of physical intimidation and judicial sanctions against minority believers, and the escalating attacks by state agencies against innocent church members, are an affront to the basic principles of human dignity.

Consequently, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and its 25 million worldwide community call upon the Turkmenistan government to cease all oppressive actions against religious minorities, to free all prisoners of conscience, and to fully conform to the international standards of religious freedom. The Church appeals to all those of good will to stand together against such multiple injustices and the ongoing religious persecution in Turkmenistan.

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Media inquiries:

Viola Hughes
Phone: 301-680-6683
Fax: 301-680-6695
E-mail: HughesV@gc.adventist.org