Tag Archives: Country: Turkmenistan

OneNewsNow.com: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomes the Obama administration’s release of the Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, and the Commission is urging the U.S. government to increase action to promote freedom of religion or belief. Burma, Eritrea, China, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Uzbekistan are eight “countries of particular concern,” but USCIRF spokesperson Elizabeth Cassidy says her group thinks the list is incomplete . . .

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released its 2011 Annual Report and recommended that the Secretary of State name the following nations “countries of particular concern” or CPCs: Burma, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

Persecution Blog: “The head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Turkmenistan announced in a speech on Feb. 2 that the government ban on religious literature for the Orthodox Church has been lifted, according to Forum 18 News. No other church group in the country has the same freedom. Religious publishing is allowed only with government approval, and very little is allowed.”

Doug Bandow writing at The Center for Vision & Values: “There is more than enough bad news to fill the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s latest annual report. Worst of all were the conditions in 13 ‘countries of particular concern.’”

Hannah Cummings reports at Baptist Press: “Several countries in the Organization for Security and Co-operation have violated religious liberty commitments set forth by the organization, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.”

Forum 18: “More than two years after the Turkmen government announced that the current restrictive Religion Law will be revised, work on a draft text has not even begun, Shemshat Atajanova, a head of department at the government’s National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, admitted to Forum 18 News.”

Forum 18: “Turkmenistan continues to raid Protestants meeting for worship in different parts of the country, Forum 18 News Service has learnt . . . ‘We were told it is illegal to meet without state registration. But we told them we have already applied for registration and are waiting for a response.’”