Christian churches banned in southern Tajikistan

Three Protestant churches have been banned in Sarband (formerly Kalininabad) district in Tajikistan's southern Khatlon region near the border with Afghanistan, sources in the Central Asian state have told Keston News Service. The churches - a Baptist Church belonging to the Baptist Union, a Baptist church affiliated with the Council of Churches (which rejects registration) and an Evangelical church - faced harassment through the summer and again from the beginning of September. All three have reportedly been unable to hold services for the past two months after being warned that attempting to hold any meetings would result in 'big problems'.

The Sarband Evangelical congregation applied for official registration in the summer, but was refused. The Baptist church belonging to the Baptist Union has also been refused registration. According to sources in several churches, the Security Ministry (formerly the KGB) arrested a number of believers from each of the churches and held them for periods of up to several days. A number of those held were beaten while in custody, in some cases drawing blood. Such detentions took place especially last July, but resumed in September. In the most recent incident, a female member of the Evangelical church was detained in late October for several hours, during which she was insulted and warned that she risked being put in prison if she continued her religious activity. Some believers have identified the prime mover behind the events as Colonel Gadoyev of the local branch of the Security Ministry.

The German-based Friedensstimme mission, which is affiliated with the Council of Churches, reports that during a service on 8 July in Sarband a man was present who identified himself after the service as an officer of the Security Ministry. He ordered two female Baptists who were visiting the congregation from Dushanbe to go to the local Security Ministry office in the town. During a long interrogation they were pressured not to allow the church to meet until it received registration, and they were threatened with arrest and the confiscation of their car. Two female Baptists were detained on 19 August. They have since been freed, though others have been detained for several hours at a time since then.

On 25 October Evangelical leaders wrote to Saidjon Akhmedov, chairman of the government's Committee for Religious Affairs (CRA) in Dushanbe, calling for an investigation into the harassment in Sarband. CRA officials promised to investigate and, if necessary, to send someone to Sarband to see the situation at first hand. However, Akhmedov is ill at present so any visit will have to wait until he returns to work. One source in Tajikistan's Evangelical Church told Keston on 31 October that its members now have to travel to a registered church 15 miles (25 km) away in a different administrative area in order to participate in religious services.

Source: Felix Corley, Keston News Service

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