The website “Gundogar” reports that on Tuesday, 15 August, the U.S. State Department presented its annual report devoted to freedom of religion to the U.S. Congress.
“International Religious Freedom Report for 2016” gives an overview of the situation pertaining to freedom of religion in almost 200 countries.
Since 2014, Turkmenistan has been designated as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 for having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom.
In March the government approved a new Law on Religious Organizations and Religious Freedom in which it requires all religious organizations, including those already registered under the previous law on religion, to re-register with the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) to operate legally, a process involving the concurrence of the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of National Security (MNB), the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and other government agencies.
Moreover, the new law also states the grounds for dissolution of a religious organization include “activities that violate the rights, freedoms, and lawful interests of citizens” or “harm their health and morale.”
The report also highlights numerous arrests of Jehovah’s Witnesses and persecution of other religious groups. In particular, law enforcement authorities in Dashoguz had stopped men under the age of 50 with beards and forced them to shave the beards off.
According to U.S. government estimates, the country is 89 percent Muslim (mostly Sunni), 9 percent Orthodox Christian, and 2 percent other. According to recent estimates, 200-250 Jews live in the country.
Alongside Turkmenistan, the black list includes Iran, China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Burma, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Eritrea, Vietnam, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria and Central African Republic.