IRFN (Apr. 30-May 7): China condemns USCIRF report as "a malicious attack"

May 8, 2008

1. Kazakhstan: New Restrictions Proposed on Religious Communities
2. Zimbabwe: Anglicans Allege Police Interference in Church Affairs
3. Vietnamese: Police Confiscate Property from "Banned" Buddhist Community
4. Turkey: State Requires Alevis to Take Part in Muslim Religious Classes
5. Uganda: Government Decides Not to Remove Religion Classes from School Curricula

Feature:

On Thursday, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) presented its annual report, with the recommendation that Burma, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam be listed as "Countries of Particular Concern" (countries which are especially restrictive of religious freedom).  A secondary "Watch List" (countries which restrict religious freedom but are somewhat less oppressive) included Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, and Nigeria.  The report can be read in full here.

On Friday, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life followed with a report specific to the situation in China, entitled "Religion in China on the Eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics".

On Tuesday, China issued a statement which condemned the USCIRF report as "a malicious attack" and a "gross interference in China's internal affairs".


1. Kazakhstan: New Restrictions Proposed on Religious Communities

KAZAKHSTAN - As Kazakhstan's government revises a proposal for a new religion law, human rights activists and members of religious communities fear that it will place further limits on religious freedom in the country. The law would place serious restrictions on whatever the state deems to be "unapproved" religious activity, banning missionaries that are not accredited by the state and barring smaller religious communities from owning property or publishing literature, Forum 18 reports on April 30.  Kazakhstan's Prime Minister, Karim Masimov, has lent his support to the proposal, calling it a "timely and necessary" revision to the country's current law on religions.

2. Zimbabwe: Anglicans Allege Police Interference in Church Affairs

HARARE - An Anglican bishop in Harare, Zimbabwe, has alleged that local police have taken sides in an intra-church dispute, using force to intimidate Anglicans who have chosen the "wrong" side in the disagreement.  The bishop, Sebastian Bakare, points to a recent example in which riot police dispersed 3,200 women who were honoring the Virgin Mary at a church in the Harare suburb of Mbare. On May 1, The Zimbabwe Independent quoted the Bishop as saying that church services were frequently disrupted by police, who claimed they were acting on "orders from above".

3. Vietnamese: Police Confiscate Property from "Banned" Buddhist Community

HO CHI MINH CITY - Police in the southern Vietnamese province of Lam Dong have confiscated a building belonging to the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, intending to use it for their own use when the country hosts the Buddhist feast of Vedak (the birthday of the Buddha) later this month, reports AsiaNews on May 5.  Police have also detained two monks associated with the community, accusing them of belonging to an "illegal organization" and "disturbing the public order".  The detentions are not unusual for the community: since the Unified Buddhist Church was banned in 1981 after refusing to submit to the Vietnamese communist party, its leaders have been arrested several times.

4. Turkey: State Requires Alevis to Take Part in Muslim Religious Classes

ISTANBUL - Turkey's Alevis continue to face problems as a minority religion in the country, Reuters reports on May 6, citing the fact that Alevis are still forced to take part in compulsory religion classes - for Muslims.  Classes include instructions on how to pray in a mosque, and emphasize the importance of fasting during Ramadan and taking part in the hajj.  Though an Alevi mother recently won a victory in the Turkish Court of Appeals which would have forced the government to re-design its religious education program, the government has appealed the decision, saying that the classes are protected by the constitution.

5. Uganda: Government Decides Not to Remove Religion Classes from School Curricula

KAMPALA - Following a controversial suggestion that religion classes be removed from the curricula of all Ugandan schools, New Vision reports on May 7 that the government emphasized that the matter had been brought up in cabinet meetings but ultimately rejected.  Initial reports alleged that Uganda's cabinet had circulated a memo stating that religious education should be "left to home and the churches" and had voiced concern that religious schools tended to recruit head teachers from within their faith.  Uganda's government provides aid to a variety of schools, including those founded by religious entities.