23 décembre 2006 Relevé dans le rapport parlementaire : Tant dans la présentation de Didier Leschi que dans ses réponses aux questions, les phrases mentionnant le fait qu’il n’a pas eu connaissance de dysfonctionnement du service public hospitalier ont été supprimées. les corrections. Et comme par hasard apparaît dans les annexes (pages 237-238 des annexes du rapport) la lettre de Xavier Bertrand du 24 Novembre (avec annotation personnelle) en réponse à une demande de Georges Fenech (datée postérieurement à toutes les auditions), qui déplore les infiltrations jéhovistes et considère qu’elles constituent en effet un trouble à l’ordre public. Curieux, Curieux… Rapport parlementaire 2006 “L’enfance volée”AnnexesAuditions
20 décembre 2006 Libération Les élus au secours des mineurs Les parlementaires estiment qu’en refusant la transfusion sanguine, les témoins de Jéhovah créent un trouble à l’ordre public, et le ministre de la Santé les soutient. «De tels faits me semblent de nature à justifier le refus de reconnaissance de ce mouvement comme association cultuelle», a-t-il écrit, fin novembre, au président de la commission parlementaire.
20 décembre 2006 Libération «Apporter des preuves avant de stigmatiser» Raphaël Liogier, sociologue, critique les méthodes pour lutter contre les dérives sectaires
20 décembre 2006 NOUVELOBS.COM RAPPORT SUR LES SECTES Les réactions
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Rapport parlementaire
Le rapport parlementaire est paru mardi 19 décembre.
Passons sur l’aspect dramatisation du phénomène sectaire.
Saluons le «flair» de nos chers députés qui ont “découvert”, avec grand renfort de médias, 18 enfants (4 non scolarisés) dans une communauté. Ce sont les seuls faits, les seules images, mais cela a suffi pour habiller convenablement leur rapport.
1 – le rapport met en cause tous ceux qui n’ont pas caressé la commission dans le sens du poil.
Les représentants de l’éducation nationale ont dépeints les enfants Témoins de Jéhovah comme des élèves « modèles ». L’éducation nationale est coupable de laxisme.
Le représentant du bureau des cultes a rappelé que l’administration applique les décisions du Conseil d’Etat. Les pouvoirs publics font preuve de “négligence” voire de “complaisance”.
2 – de nouveau des accusations sans l’ombre d’une preuve.
« 45.000 enfants chez les Témoins de Jéhovah sont en danger ».
Mais la commission est restée muette sur son incapacité à apporter un seul cas concret, une seule preuve.
Son seul fondement : le « témoignage » de deux ex-adeptes qui règlent leurs comptes avec « la secte », l’un d’eux oubliant au passage que ce ne sont pas les Témoins de Jéhovah qui condamnent l’homosexualité, mais la Bible.
3 – le pêle-mèle.
« Les députés ont aussi sommé Bercy de s’expliquer sur les 45 millions d’euros de redressement fiscal auxquels les Témoins de Jéhovah ont été condamnés. » A votre avis, ça concerne les enfants ?
4 – les 50 propositions.
A priori, difficile d’établir un lien entre nombre de ces propositions et le « travail » de la commission. Sauf à penser que tout cela était cousu de fil blanc. Depuis le début de cette commission – choix des membres – choix des audités – orientation des questions et des auditions – l’objectif était clair : faire interdire les Témoins de Jéhovah.
Mesdames et Messieurs les députés, ça n’est pas gagné !
Four foreign nationals still held in Azerbaijan, one “deported”
BAKU, Azerbaijan—Five days after the December 24 police raid of a Jehovah’s Witness religious meeting, four of the foreign nationals who were illegally detained are still held and have not been presented with any protocol or official charges. The detainees have been deprived not only of their liberty but also of access to justice—attempts to reach the authorities and reconcile the situation are met with claims that no one is available because of the holiday season. The four remain effectively under arrest, and merely for the reason that they were attending a religious service of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Sunday’s raid disrupted a religious service of an officially registered religious organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses, which approximately 200 persons were attending. The police officers broke down the door to the auditorium and escorted all those in attendance out of the building. In the same building there are also offices and living quarters. Without producing any court order, the police also forced their way into these areas and began carrying out a search and seizure. Six foreign nationals were among those forcibly put on a bus and taken to a police station.
Georgian citizen Manuchar Tsimintia was detained while carrying out his professional duties as a lawyer, although he was not even in attendance at the religious event. He has since been released. On December 28, 2006, Giorgi Gogichashvili, a visiting minister, was “released” when friends bought him a train ticket to return to Georgia. However, his passport was not returned to him until he crossed the border into Georgia; he was, in effect, deported. The remaining four foreign nationals have been held for five days, and there is little prospect of their release over the holiday season.
Back in 1999, referring to an incident in which foreign nationals were deported from Azerbaijan on religious grounds, then-president Heydar Aliyev is reported to have stated publicly that “our Constitution guarantees freedom of conscience and religion, and all rights will be defended . . . These events will not be repeated.” (Translated from newspaper Azadlyg, of November 10, 1999.)
Media Contact: Matthew Kelly, telephone +7 812 432 9550
Police raid targets Jehovah’s Witnesses in Azerbaijan
BAKU, Azerbaijan—Over 200 persons were gathered together for peaceful discussion of Bible topics Sunday morning, December 24, when armed policemen arrived along with television crews and local officials to bring the meeting to a halt. The police broke down the door of the rented facility and detained those in attendance. At least two attendees were beaten. Most were taken by bus to Police Department #34. Nationwide television reports subsequently portrayed Jehovah’s Witnesses as dangerous antigovernment agents and international spies, banned throughout Europe.
The police did not produce a search warrant and refused to allow anyone to accompany them as they forced their way into other rooms in the building, since Jehovah’s Witnesses have been renting space there on a regular basis. The search continued until 7:00 p.m. The police seized the contribution box with its contents, legal documents, several computers used for translating the Bible and Bible literature, and a large quantity of Bible literature. The officials who were present appeared to be orchestrating the raid.
Azerbaijani detainees were released at approximately 5:00 p.m. on December 24, 2006. On December 26 one of the detainees, a lawyer from neighboring Georgia who legally supported the local Witnesses, was released with apologies for his unlawful detention. The remaining five detainees include a citizen of the Netherlands, a British citizen, a Georgian and two Russian nationals, who are still being held.
The police department carried out a similar unlawful raid on an Azeri-language meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the same location on June 12, 2005, also arriving with television crews and giving the raid widespread publicity on local television.
Media Contact: Matthew Kelly, telephone +7 812 432 9550
Por el derecho a la objeción de conciencia.
Presentación para la Comisión de Derechos Humanos de las Naciones Unidas en su 61° sesión, Ginebra, 14 de marzo – 22 de abril 2005
Abraham Gebreyesus Mehreteab, se dirigió en la 61° sesión de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos de parte de la Internacional de Resistentes a la Guerra.
A continuación documentamos su declaración.
Sr. Presidente.
Represento la voz de la Internacional de Resistentes a la Guerra.
La cual, realiza investigaciones sobre la objeción de conciencia al servicio militar en muchos países. El año pasado, realizamos un informe preliminar en torno a los/as objetores/as y desertores/as en Eritrea.
En Eritrea, el derecho a la objeción de conciencia no es reconocida por ley en el presente gobierno. Algunos miembros de grupos religiosos, tal como los Testigos de Jehová, llevan detenidos más de 10 años debido a sus convicciones de rehusar el hecho de servir en el ejército. Y nunca han tenido una audiencia ante la corte de justicia. Detenciones arbitrarias, tortura, despliegue en primera fila, trabajo forzado -todos sin ninguna audiencia- han sido formas comunes de castigar a desertores/as y objetores/as.
Una forma común de castigo militar, es la de amarrar a víctimas y acostarlos en el sol por días a veces hasta por semanas. Más aún, familiares de desertores/as son amenazados/as para presionar a sus hijos/as a ir a sus unidades militares.
A pesar de que es difícil saber el número exacto, en el ejército son miles los que evaden el servicio militar y declaran su objeción de conciencia por varios mecanismos. Objetan concientemente, desertan o huyen de la dictadura militar -Muchos desertores/as están pidiendo asilo político en otros países-.
Pedimos a la Comisión de Derecho Humanos, tomar nota de las continuas violaciones en contra de objetores/as de conciencia y que se tomen medidas que sean necesarias para asegurar que los/as objetores/as de conciencia y desertores/as obtengan protección y asilo de acuerdo a la Convención de Ginebra en el estatus de refugiados.
También pedimos al Relator Especial de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos sobre la Libertad de Religión o de Creencias, investigar la situación de objetores/as de conciencia y otros/as miembros/as del ejército, particularmente en Eritrea.
Y, pedimos que el gobierno de Eritrea se conforme con la Resolución de la Comisión 1998/77: y en particular que:
1. Libere inmediatamente a todo/a objetor/ar de conciencia;
2. Reconozca el derecho a negarse al servicio militar por motivos de conciencia, incluyendo profundas convicciones, tales como, motivos religiosos, éticos, humanitarios o motivos similares;
3. Introducir un servicio alternativo compatible con el razonamiento de la objeción de conciencia.
Muchas gracias
Abraham Gebreyesus Mehreteab
Abraham Gebreyesus Mehreteab, es un activista en la Iniciativa Antimilitarista de Eritrea, con base en Alemania, y representa a la Internacional de Resistentes a la Guerra en la Comisión de Derechos Humanos.
Dérives sectaires, pour le directeur de l’Observatoire du religieux il faut “apporter des preuves avant de stigmatiser”
Libération
Raphaël Liogier, sociologue, professeur à l’IEP d’Aix-en-Provence, directeur de l’Observatoire du religieux et auteur d’ Une laïcité «légitime», la France et ses religions d’Etat. Selon lui, les méthodes utilisées pour lutter contre les dérives sectaires en France sont «arbitraires» et inefficaces.
Les auteurs du rapport parlementaires s’inquiètent du sort des enfants dont les parents appartiennent à un mouvement considéré comme secte. Qu’en pensez-vous ? Il n’y a pas de secte qui soit a priori dangereuse en France. Toutes les études sociologiques ont prouvé qu’il n’y a pas plus de dérives dans ces groupes-là que dans d’autres groupes qui ne sont pas religieux. Et les parlementaires ou la mission interministérielle n’ont mené aucune enquête sérieuse pour démontrer le contraire. S’ils recensent 40 000 enfants parmi les témoins de Jéhovah, ils en concluent que 40 000 enfants sont en danger. Or, s’il y avait un vrai problème, on observerait des cas de maltraitance, de sous-éducation, etc. On aurait des remontées via les assistantes sociales ou l’Education nationale. Je ne dis pas que cela ne peut pas arriver, mais, quand ils existent, ce sont des cas particuliers qui n’ont rien à voir avec le fonctionnement général de la secte.
Dans ce cas, pourquoi lancer une mission pour étudier l’influence des sectes sur les mineurs ? Parce que les sectes représentent le bouc émissaire idéal. On les imagine tentaculaires, incontrôlables. Après avoir tenté sans succès de les coincer sur leurs finances, on tente maintenant de dire que leurs enfants sont manipulés, car c’est un sujet ultrasensible d’un point de vue émotionnel.
Comment repérer les dérives ? En cessant d’être dans le vague, en réagissant de façon plus rationnelle. Il faut être vigilant sur les associations qui pourraient vraiment dériver, comme celles avec un projet fondé sur le racisme ou bien celles qui concentrent le pouvoir sur une seule personne et dont les adeptes sont dans un abandon total à leur chef. Pour les repérer, il faut des enquêtes scientifiques et sociologiques. Il faut apporter des preuves avant de stigmatiser, et cesser de s’appuyer sur des dénonciations tous azimuts, sans enquêtes à charge et à décharge. Sinon, on plonge dans l’arbitraire, on aboutit à des mesures discriminatoires, et on crée des problèmes de liberté publique plus importants que ceux qu’ils sont censés résoudre.
Más ecuatorianos se convierten en Testigos de Jehová
Carla Maldonado. Corresponsal en Italia
Los italianos aprendieron castellano para hablar de Dios con los latinos. Y se reúnen tres veces a la semana en un edificio recién estrenado, de varios pisos, en Milán.
La sala de oración está llena de gente y todos están vestidos como para ir a una fiesta: los hombres en traje y corbata, mientras las mujeres llevan falda o vestido. Hasta los niños lucen elegantes.
Se saludan con afecto y se sientan. Abren un pequeño libro azul y empiezan a orar y cantar. Al frente, en una tarima, dos voluntarias hacen un acto de teatro. Muestran cómo divulgar la palabra del Dios de casa en casa.
Son los Testigos de Jehová, cada vez más populares entre los inmigrantes latinos católicos. En 1995 había solo 17 en Milán, hoy son 1 750. Pero, ¿ por qué los latinos se alejan de la iglesia, en la capital del mundo católico?
“Se dan cuenta de que la palabra de Dios influye en su vida. Practican los principios bíblicos y obtienen resultados”, dice a este Diario el portavoz de los Testigos de Jehová, Luciano Adario.
Daniel Balditarra, sacerdote profesor de religión y filosofía de la Universidad Católica de Milán, cree que pocos padres interpretan la religiosidad latinoamericana. “No hay una buena atención a los inmigrantes en Italia. Falta lo humano, de compañía y solidaridad. Los Testigos visitan las casas y los inmigrantes en condiciones de marginalidad se van con esta secta”.
En su soledad se refugian en la religión, piden “milagros” para superar sus problemas y sentirse integrados. “El catolicismo no da respuestas concretas. Predican una cosa y hacen otra. Hablan de paz y bendicen las armas de las naciones en guerra. Creen más en los gobiernos porque se mezclan con la política”.
Esto según el ecuatoriano y ex católico Leopoldo Acosta, mediador cultural y profesor de español en Turín. Así como Acosta, la familia salvadoreña Madrid Trejo, cansada de golpear la puerta de los sacerdotes italianos y de recibir portazos, se pasaron a las filas de los Testigos.
“Queríamos una explicación más coherente sobre por qué los buenos van al paraíso y los malos al infierno.
Eramos practicantes pero en la iglesia nadie ni siquiera nos saluda”, sostienen a coro Jorge y Guadalupe Trejo.
Los “convertidos” también dan un giro de 80 grados en su vida personal. Los testigos no se emborrachan, no tienen relaciones prematrimoniales, no conviven, no tienen amantes, no fuman y se ayudan entre ellos.
La familia milagreña Ibana se cambió a esta religión al llegar a Italia. Ricardo, el padre, y Grace, la madre, convivían hace 12 años. Hace dos años empezaron a estudiar la Biblia y se casaron. “Nos ha dado mucha felicidad conocer a Dios. Practicamos los principios valiosos de la Biblia, tenemos una conducta moral que nos ayuda”, dice Ricardo.
Mientras Grace recita la Biblia, agrega, “fuimos a otras religiones, vengo de una familia católica. No nos enseñaron la palabra de Dios. Los Testigos sí y dejamos de ser idólatras”.
La peruana Rocío Sánchez se bautizó en 1997 en Milán. Cuando aterrizó en Italia el ambiente le pareció liberal e inmoral. “Los inmigrantes se comportaban como los italianos y eso me dio asco. No tenían respeto por los demás ni por ellos”, señala.
Pero vivir solo para la oración puede resultar cansado y quitar mucho tiempo. Aun así ellos pelean contra el reloj y asisten a las reuniones semanales. Y tampoco tienen ningún problema para hacer donaciones voluntarias.
TURKMENISTAN: After Niyazov, what hope for religious freedom?
By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service
Following today’s (21 December) death of Turkmenistan’s dictator, Saparmurat Niyazov, victims of his policies have told Forum 18 News Service that, in the words of an exiled Protestant, “the transition leaders have already praised Niyazov and his policies and vowed to continue them.” The country’s Foreign Minister and other officials refused to comment to Forum 18. Exiled human rights activist Farid Tukhbatullin, of the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights, noted that hostility to religious freedom was a “personal instruction” of Niyazov. But “this does not mean though that his subordinates were merely implementing his will,” he said. “Almost all of them shared his views on this entirely.” He pointed out that “the overwhelming majority of officials of the police and secret police have a vested interest in preserving the current situation, under which they enjoy unlimited rights.” It is unclear whether Niyazov’s invented Ruhnama religion will continue to be state-imposed.
In the wake of the death of Turkmenistan’s veteran dictator, President Saparmurat Niyazov, this morning (21 December), observers and victims of his anti-religious freedom policy have told Forum 18 News Service that although it was the late president who personally instituted the policy, it has wide support among the country’s leaders. Such observers fear this policy could continue. “The transition leaders have already praised Niyazov and his policies and vowed to continue them,” one Protestant who had to flee Turkmenistan to escape persecution told Forum 18 on 21 December. “If the government is only going to continue the same policy I don’t think there will be many chances, including in the area of democracy and religious freedom.”
Most observers are holding off from immediate predictions as to whether Turkmenistan will continue its autocratic, isolationist course. “The whole country is in mourning,” one analyst told Forum 18 from the capital Ashgabad [Ashgabat] on 21 December. “I believe it is too early to predict what will happen. A junta will come to power, but in a milder form. I don’t think believers will face serious pressure – officials will all be engaged in intrigues about power and gas.”
Forum 18 reached Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov by telephone on 21 December, but he declined to speak about the country’s future course. Officials at the Registration Department of the Justice Ministry also declined to comment, as did the official who answered the phone of Murad Karriyev, deputy head of the government’s Gengeshi (Committee) for Religious Affairs.
Although harassment of religious communities has eased in the past year or so, between 1997 and 2003 no religious communities apart from some state-approved Muslim and Russian Orthodox communities were allowed to function. Police raids and harsh punishments on those conducting religious activity without state permission were the norm. But the structure of state control – including complete control of Islam from the inside and control on all other faiths from outside – remains.
The exiled Protestant believes the anti religious policy came from the president. “He instituted this policy because he was afraid of any movement in society.”
The Protestant said that religious believers in Turkmenistan want the authorities to provide all the rights to religious freedom set out in the country’s Constitution and in international agreements. “We want the government to guarantee that registration will not be used as a restriction on religious freedom,” the Protestant insisted, echoing long-standing complaints from religious leaders within Turkmenistan that the government’s insistence that religious communities must register and thereby submit themselves to burdensome and intrusive state scrutiny (see a commentary by a Protestant within Turkmenistan at http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=728).
“I don’t know if any improvement is now likely, though we hope for the good,” the Protestant added, saying it was too early to consider returning to Turkmenistan while the threat of being punished for peaceful religious activity remains.
Like the exiled Protestant, exiled human rights activist Farid Tukhbatullin, who heads the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights, agrees that the anti-religious policy was instituted on the “personal instruction” of President Niyazov. “This does not mean though that his subordinates were merely implementing his will,” Tukhbatullin told Forum 18 on 21 December. “Almost all of them shared his views on this entirely. And if the current authorities continue in the same way, then the anti-religious policy will carry on.”
Tukhbatullin saw a small hope in the possibility that the future President – whoever they may be – will have to soften the government’s policies to consolidate power both domestically and internationally. “However, the overwhelming majority of officials of the police and the National Security Committee (KNB) secret police have a vested interest in preserving the current situation, under which they enjoy unlimited rights.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses have told Forum 18 that, throughout 2006, their members across Turkmenistan have been detained for up to 48 hours – especially while talking to others about their faith on the street or at people’s doors – and meetings in private homes have been raided.
Following previous long-standing practices against religious minorities, local imam I. Janmedov joined police officers and an official of the local administration during a 15 May raid on a Jehovah’s Witness meeting in a private flat in the northern town of Konye-Urgench [Koneürgench]. After being taken to the local police station, all the Jehovah’s Witnesses were interrogated, insulted and threatened before being released. Religious literature confiscated from them was not returned. In late June, R. Nasyrov, a Jehovah’s Witness from Turkmenabad (formerly Charjou [Charjew]), was forcibly held for five days at a xxx-treatment centre in Atamurad (formerly Kerki) in southern Turkmenistan, where he became seriously ill.
In early June, military conscription officers from the northern Lebap region forcibly took Jehovah’s Witness Serdar Satlykov to the detention centre for those refusing to perform compulsory military service, Jehovah’s Witnesses told Forum 18. After refusing pressure from the head of a military unit to accept military service, Satlykov was taken to deputy defence minister, Kurban Muhammednazarov, who then ordered that he be held in a psychiatric unit. Satlykov – who refuses military service on grounds of his faith – was detained there from 6 to 20 June before being freed. He has not been harassed since his release. Fellow Jehovah’s Witness Aga Soyegov was held in psychiatric hospital in late 2005 to try to pressure him to accept compulsory military service (see F18News 10 February 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=725).
Even the Russian Orthodox Church – one of only two legal faiths between 1997 and 2003 – faces restrictions on its activity. The Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights (TIHR) reported in October that final construction work on the women’s convent next to St Nicholas’ Church in Ashgabad had to come to a halt in late 2005, after President Niyazov warned the Orthodox clergy in a private conversation that if they carried on with the building work he would order the demolition of all the country’s Orthodox churches.
Other places of worship – such as those of the majority religious community Islam, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church have also been demolished (see F18News 23 May 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=786).
“The walls of the future convent were put up with the funds of parishioners and by their own efforts,” TIHR quoted Russian Orthodox parishioner Svetlana M. as declaring. “Unfortunately the powers that be don’t understand that the prayers pronounced within the walls of a convent – just as those in mosques – call for peace and harmony.”
Unclear at present is whether the new government will continue to impose the cult of personality around Niyazov that was imposed during his lifetime. Niyazov’s two-volume Ruhnama (Book of the Soul) has become compulsory reading in schools and other institutions and has been imposed on religious communities. Quotations from it have even – in an action that is for devout Muslims blasphemous – been carved around the interior of the dome of a vast new mosque built in Niyazov’s home village of Kipchak near Ashgabad, where he is due to be buried (see F18News 1 March 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=522).
Turkmenistan’s cult of the leader’s personality and state-imposition of an invented religion is far closer to North Korea’s Juche, or self-reliance, than it is to Stalin’s personality cult. North Korea’s Juche is – in a similar way to Turkmenistan’s Ruhnama – synonymous with the cult of the deceased North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung, or Kimilsungism (see F18News 29 March 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=752).
“Although religion here is separate from the state, imams and ordinary believers appealed to the government and the local authorities to be allowed to quote from the Ruhnama in mosques,” one Ruhnama teacher – who preferred not to be identified – insisted to Forum 18 back in October. “This was the initiative of imams and believers, who wanted to do so out of respect for the President.” The teacher alleged that imams only read parts of the work connected with religion. He said mosques hold Ruhnama days each Saturday, but said he did not know if communities of other faiths do the same. “For Christians and others it’s their affair – they have their own rituals.”
The teacher denied that the presence of copies of the Ruhnama in mosques on a par with the Koran was an insult to Muslims’ faith. “If you want to read the Ruhnama you can – you’re free to do so or not.” He also denied that Muslims are offended by quotations from the Ruhnama at the Kipchak mosque. “People are calm about this,” he told Forum 18. “They come to the mosque to worship Allah – it doesn’t matter if the quotation is from the Koran or the Ruhnama, as the Ruhnama also speaks of Allah.”
The teacher explained that each local administration across the country has an official or officials who “help” local Muslims and other faiths. He was unable to explain to Forum 18 why communities wanted such help. He claimed initially that “ordinary believers” choose their imams, but when pressed explained that the leading imams in each region and district are named by the local authorities in agreement with the Gengeshi for Religious Affairs. He said the government had issued an instruction that the hundred or so regional and district imams should not ask believers for money as they are already paid by the state, a subsidy no other faith gets.
The teacher made no comment on the cases of mosques destroyed for, apparently in some cases, failure to honour the President Niyazov’s books of alleged “spiritual writings” (see F18News 4 January 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=481 and 19 November 2003 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=187).
He said he did not know the background to the removal by Niyazov of successive chief muftis, and declined to discuss the case of Nasrullah ibn Ibadullah, removed as chief mufti in 2003 and sentenced in 2004 to 22 years’ imprisonment on charges the government has persistently refused to make public (see F18News 8 March 2004 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=271). Despite rumours that he had been freed in the October 2006 prisoner amnesty, it is believed Nasrullah is still being held.
The teacher defended the government’s controls on the number of pilgrims going on the haj to Mecca, currently set at 188 annually. He said lists of applicants are held by the religious affairs officials in each local administration, adding that he is 3,000th on the list. Turkmenistan still imposes the strictest controls in Central Asia on haj pilgrims (see F18News 5 January 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=711).
In early November 2006, the Turkmen government announced that, as in previous years, only 188 pilgrims will be permitted – only enough to fit on one aeroplane of the state-run Turkmenistan Airlines – far below the quota allocated to Turkmenistan by the Saudi authorities.
The teacher claimed that local imams – who are also part of the local administration – play no role in evaluating whether religious minorities are allowed to register religious communities in their area. “In the case of non-Muslim communities, they merely pass on the applications to the local administration before it goes to the justice ministry in Ashgabad. Usually religious people don’t say No to others who believe in God,” he claimed, but could not then explain why imams have taken part in recent years on raids on religious minority communities and threatened them at interrogations at local administrations.
The teacher also claimed that local authorities cannot refuse to allow a religious community to function, if the Justice Ministry has given it registration.
While many ordinary residents of Turkmenistan fear potential instability in the wake of Niyazov’s death, religious believers have told Forum 18 they hope their ability to practice their faith freely will improve. But they remain cautious, as the new leaders have so far indicated they will continue the current course.
Before President Niyazov’s death, many within religious communities doubted whether limited access to state registration – trumpeted by the regime as a “liberalisation” – made any real improvement to their situation in practice (see F18News 24 May 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=787). Unregistered religious activity remains – against international human rights standards – illegal. Despite regime claims of the abolition of exit visas, and exit ban against those the state dislikes is still in place (see F18News 31 May 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=790).
In June this year, a Baptist, Aleksandr Frolov, was deported solely for his religious activity. This was despite the fact that the deportation separated him from his wife, their three year old son, and their five month old daughter (see F18News 14 June 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=799).
Turkmenistan has not been able to explain to Forum 18 News Service why requests by Asma Jahangir, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief, to visit the country have gone unmet (see F18News 25 January 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=718). (END)
SEATTLE (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) — During many surgeries, doctors pump several units of donated blood into their patients. But what if the blood isn’t available? The American Red Cross reports donations are not keeping up with increased demand. Now there’s a push to use fewer transfusions, and technology is making it possible.
This donated blood is sitting out the next surgery — a major operation that would usually need it. But Dale Reisner has decided not to use donor blood during her open heart surgery. “It’s a precious resource,” she says. “It’s a limited commodity.”
As a surgeon herself, Reisner knows how limited the blood supply can be. “It’s really used best for trauma and acute surgical emergencies,” she tells Ivanhoe.
About 14 million units of blood were used last year in the United States. The American Red Cross reports donations are increasing by about 3 percent annually in the United States, but demand is climbing by between 6 percent and 8 percent — as an aging population requires more operations that often involve blood transfusion.
Bloodless surgery used to mostly be requested by Jehovah’s Witnesses. Now, more than 25 percent of patients asking for no donor blood do so for non-religious reasons. Studies show transfusions lead to more infections and complications.
Lori Heller, M.D., a bloodless surgery expert at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, says, “We’re probably using blood transfusions too commonly and too regularly and using it for patients who don’t need it.”
For weeks, Reisner had hormone injections to boost her blood count. Now, doctors will transfuse her with her own blood during the surgery — if she needs it.
Other ways to avoid transfusions: During the surgery, a cell salvage machine collects blood, spins it, washes it, filters it and returns the patient’s own red blood cells. “It prevents many transfusions and the patient having to receive banked blood,” Dr. Heller says.
New blood testing techniques only need a drop — rather than a whole tube — of the patient’s blood. And all of these techniques mean safer surgeries … And saves a precious resource for emergencies.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
If you would like more information, please contact:
Mary Ghiglione
Swedish Medical Center
Blood Management Center
(206) 386-3544
UZBEKISTAN: Government attacks on Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Muslims continue
By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service
Uzbekistan’s last legal Jehovah’s Witness congregation is being threatened with closure, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. If this happens, it would make the faith illegal in the country and liable to harsh penalties. Also, several Protestant churches have been closed in the past month, while raids, fines and police interrogations continue. Some churches have had to give up holding full church services and can meet only quietly in small groups. On 18 December a Pentecostal in Tashkent was set upon by four men and brutally beaten. “The local imams turned to the mafia and they became involved,” one Protestant told Forum 18. The attack follows state TV encouragement of religious intolerance and attacks on religious freedom – targeting Protestants and Jehovah’s Witnesses in particular. Meanwhile, further restrictions – for examples obstacles to the practice of daily prayer – have been imposed on the Muslim population of the strongly Islamic Fergana Valley area.
In a new challenge to Uzbekistan’s tight restrictions on religious activity, the Council of Churches Baptists have issued a detailed complaint about the country’s religion law and articles of the Criminal and Administrative Codes which restrict religious freedom. “Religious services have been broken up,” they told Forum 18 News Service on 7 December. “Believers have been forcibly taken to police stations, after which cases have been drawn up and handed over to the courts. Fines have been imposed, even when just a few people have come together for prayer in a private flat.”
The Baptist challenge comes as the authorities step up their anti-Protestant and anti-Jehovah’s Witness propaganda through the state media (see F18News 19 December 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=890). The authorities also appear to be about to deprive of registration – and thus of legal existence – the last remaining Jehovah’s Witness community in the country, while new controls on Muslim practice have been imposed in the Andijan [Andijon] region in the Fergana [Farghona] Valley.
The sharply increased penalties in the Criminal and Administrative Codes introduced in June are a particular focus of the Baptist’s complaint (see F18News 29 June 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=805). “Under the new laws an individual’s possession of two copies of the Bible can serve as a reason to instigate an administrative or criminal case. The second copy will be considered as ’storing with the aim of distributing’.” They add that the same restrictions apply to importing religious literature. They complain also of the burning of confiscated religious literature and the punishment of those who have imported it.
Council of Churches Baptists reject registration in all the former Soviet republics where they operate. Under Uzbekistan’s draconian religious laws, all unregistered religious activity is – in defiance of the country’s international human rights commitments – illegal and punishable (see the F18News religious freedom survey at http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=777).
The Baptists call for missionary activity to be decriminalised, for Christian literature to be allowed to be freely imported, owned or distributed, and for the requirement that religious communities be registered before they can legally function to be annulled “so that believers can hold services and praise God without obstruction”.
They complain of the latest fine and court order to burn Christian literature in what they call “continuing persecution” from the authorities. On 25 November, Judge B. Botirov, of the Pap District Criminal Court in Namangan Region, fined 35-year-old Nikolai Zulfikarov 12,420 Soms [62 Norwegian Kroner, 8 Euros, or 10 US Dollars] under Article 241 Administrative Code. This punishes “failing to observe the correct procedure for teaching religious beliefs”. Baptists told Forum 18 that the court found Zulfikarov’s activity to be illegal, but gave him a low fine given his material situation.
The verdict declared that Zulfikarov’s offence was speaking “without registration in the decreed manner” and without “specialised” religious education “in private” about his faith to four local people on 3 November in his own home in the village of Halkabad. This home service was raided by the police, who confiscated books and tapes.
The verdict noted that “literature, journals of a religious tendency, manuscripts written by others and audio cassettes” were used as proof in the case. A 15 November “expert analysis” of the confiscated materials had found that they were Baptist and “basically represent materials of missionaries (religious propagandists)”, the verdict reported, but added that the analysis had not found anything against the constitutional order of Uzbekistan or calls for the seizure of power. The analysis claimed that the audio tapes – recordings of Baptist meetings in Russia – represented agitation for unregistered Baptist congregations. “Calls like this could lead to social and family differences of opinion,” the verdict noted.
“The confiscated material evidence, as a result of the conclusions of the textual expert assessment – given that all calls and agitation to join illegal societies represent a threat to social security and cause differences of opinion in families and dissatisfaction – are to be destroyed.”
Local Baptists told Forum 18 on 7 December that they are calling for prayer and appeals for the fine to be annulled and for the return of the confiscated literature and audio-tapes.
On several occasions, courts in Uzbekistan have ordered the destruction by burning of Christian and Hare Krishna literature confiscated during police raids, the most recent case known to Forum 18 being by a court in Karshi in October (see F18News 27 November 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=877).
Several Protestant churches have been closed across Uzbekistan in the past month, while raids, fines and police interrogations continue. Protestants have told Forum 18 that they fear further reprisals if the exact details of the closures are published. Some Protestant churches have had to give up holding full church services and can meet only quietly in small groups. Also, on 18 December a Pentecostal church worker in Tashkent was set upon by four men and brutally beaten. “The local imams turned to the mafia and they became involved,” one Protestant told Forum 18 from Tashkent. “The government is stirring up the Muslim population against Christians.”
State-run national television has recently broadcast programmes explicitly and directly encouraging religious intolerance and attacking religious freedom, targeting the Protestant and Jehovah’s Witness religious minorities in particular. Protestants have expressed grave concern to Forum 18 about the impact of these programmes, suggesting that one of their goals may have been to prepare Uzbek citizens for a further repression of religious freedom (see F18News 19 December 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=890).
Despite its numerous anti-religious measures attacking religious freedom, the government has stepped up its efforts to try to convince the world that it respects religious tolerance and religious freedom (see F18News 19 December 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=891).
Also threatened with closure is Uzbekistan’s last legal Jehovah’s Witness community, in Chirchik (Chirchiq) near Tashkent. “Our community in Chirchik was warned to correct what officials claim was wrong in its practice within one month, otherwise we would lose our registration,” Jehovah’s Witnesses sources told Forum 18 on 20 December. “This looks very similar to the way they closed down our community in Fergana earlier this year.” The community filed its corrections with the authorities head of the deadline imposed of 17 December. The authorities have not yet responded.
On 17 November the Jehovah’s Witnesses lodged a legal challenge to the Fergana regional justice department’s decision to strip the Fergana community of registration (see F18News 5 September 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=837). “The accusations had no basis apart from a few technical corrections,” they told Forum 18. Judge Elza Yunn invited the community to Fergana city court for the first hearing on 14 December and the second on 19 December, the Jehovah’s Witnesses reported. “The judge did not accept the request of the community to have audio or video recording of the trial.” The next hearing is scheduled for 21 December.
Only two of the more than 30 Jehovah’s Witness communities across Uzbekistan have ever been able to get registration, but the stripping of registration from the Fergana community and the threat to the continued legal existence of the Chirchik community could see Uzbekistan’s entire Jehovah’s Witness community being declared illegal under the country’s draconian laws on religion. Jehovah’s Witness communities are frequently raided, especially during the one festival they mark each year, the memorial of Christ’s death. Raids on those commemorations have become an annual ritual (see F18News 19 April 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=763).
The Jehovah’s Witnesses told Forum 18 that they are considering taking a case over the memorial raids to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, which monitors how individual governments implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The government’s Religious Affairs Committee – which administers the compulsory, prior censorship of all religious literature published in the country or imported into it – has denied the Jehovah’s Witness community permission to import 500 copies of the Bible in Russian and the same number of copies of a Russian-language book “What does the Bible actually teach?” In a 16 October response to the Jehovah’s Witness application lodged nearly three months earlier – seen by Forum 18 – the Committee’s deputy chairman Artykbek Yusupov describes the import of the literature as “inexpedient” for the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ “only functioning organisation on the territory of the republic” – despite the fact that more than 30 Jehovah’s Witness communities actually exist in Uzbekistan. The Committee allows only registered religious organisations to apply for permission to import religious literature, and censorship controls have been tightened this year (see F18News 29 June 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=805).
Yusupov argues that the permission the Committee had given the Jehovah’s Witnesses to import 504 copies of the Bible in 2004 and a further 992 copies in 2005, together with 500 copies of “What does the Bible actually teach?”, was enough. Yusupov accused the Jehovah’s Witness leadership of “deception” by trying to import the same books earlier this year as humanitarian aid, an accusation the Jehovah’s Witnesses rejected to Forum 18.
The majority Muslim religious community is also being attacked by the Uzbek government. The new Hokim (head of administration) of Andijan region, Ahmadjan Usmonov, introduced a range of restrictions on Muslim practice, the Russian-based news website Ferghana.ru reported on 29 November. The azan (call to prayer) can no longer sound from mosques five times a day, while mullahs have been banned from preaching at weddings.
The website quoted a 70-year-old resident of Andijan, Rahmonjon, who is confined to bed and cannot get to the nearby mosque. He was quoted as expressing his surprise not to hear the azan before he found out about the hokim’s order. “Several years ago Muslims were banned from calling the faithful to prayer with the aid of a microphone,” he declared, “and now the azan has been banned completely.” Ferghana.ru said local Muslims initially believed the new order was merely a continuation of the ban on using loudspeakers, but were surprised to find out that the azan had been completely banned.
Complaining of increased controls on mosques was another Andijan resident, Azimboi Tulyaganov. “Underage adolescents are not allowed in,” the agency quoted him as saying. “And if young people don’t learn to read the namaz and the Koran now, when will they do so?” Systematic repression of Muslims has increased in recent months (see F18 News 2 November 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=864).
Ferghana.ru reported that anyone violating the ban on hosting Muslim preachers at weddings could face a fine of up to 500,000 sums. It quoted local legal specialist D. R. (full name not given) as complaining that this ban violates the Uzbek Constitution. “How to conduct a wedding – whether with a preacher or musicians – is the personal affair of individuals.” The specialist described the hokim’s instructions as “a war against Islam”.
The news agency added that in late November a new local instruction had also come into force banning people from praying at their places of work. Ferghana.ru cited a worker at Andijan’s medical institute as reporting that the chief doctor had ordered the closure of prayer rooms in the institute. “I always conducted the five-times daily namaz, as my age already forces me to do so,” the elderly worker reported. “It will be a sin if I have to abandon performing the namaz because of work.”
Forum 18 has been unable to find out why the Hokim has ordered these new restrictions on Muslim practice. Officials at the Andijan regional administration referred Forum 18 to the press office, but the telephone there went unanswered between 18 and 20 December. (END)
Más de 40.000 niños franceses crecen inmersos en sectas
Un estudio parlamentario pide un mayor control de estos menores
J. M. MARTÍ FONT – París – 20/12/2006
En Francia hay entre 40.000 y 80.000 niños que crecen en un entorno sectario y corren serio peligro de padecer secuelas el resto de su vida, no sólo en su personalidad, sino también en su salud. Una comisión parlamentaria presidida por el conservador (UMP) George Fenech que ha investigado este tema hizo público ayer su informe en el que denuncia la “negligencia” de los servicios públicos al afrontar este fenómeno.
Un informe parlamentario denuncia la negligencia de los servicios públicos ante los peligros que amenazan a los menores que viven en sectas.
El informe considera que a estos menores “se les roba la infancia” y corren serio peligro de padecer graves problemas cuando lleguen a adultos debido al adoctrinamiento al que son sometidos, las condiciones a menudo precarias en las que viven, la falta de controles sanitarios como las vacunaciones y la dudosa escolarización que siguen. En Francia, constitucionalmente, los padres tienen derecho a no escolarizar a sus hijos y educarlos en casa si así lo desean. A cambio, teóricamente, deben someterse periódicamente a controles del sistema educativo.
Los parlamentarios denuncian que los controles que se realizan no son efectivos y acusan a los servicios públicos de “negligencia” e incluso de “complacencia” con los movimientos sectarios. El informe hace una mención específica a determinadas sectas que ofrecen servicios de “ayuda escolar” que en realidad son técnicas de proselitismo. Y cita concretamente a la Iglesia de la Cienciología, que desde 1985 dispone en París de un instituto de clases particulares de matemáticas, que propone “dar consejos a los padres y ayudar al niño a descubrir y conseguir sus objetivos”.
El informe cita otras sectas como la de Sokka Gakkai, de inspiración budista, o la secta Tabitha’s Place, una comunidad bíblica que pretende vivir como los antiguos cristianos, salió recientemente a la luz pública cuando dos miembros de la comisión visitaron uno de sus centros cerca de Pau, en el sur de Francia y los franceses descubrieron que aquellos niños lo desconocían todo del mundo exterior.
Los diputados, que investigaron sobre este asunto durante más de un año, hacen en su informe 50 proposiciones para afrontar los peligros del fenómeno sectario que se centran en controlar las condiciones de escolarización de los niños y reforzar el seguimiento médico. Una de dichas propuestas, por ejemplo, pide que se penalice el rechazo a la vacunación y que no sea posible negarse a una transfusión sanguínea en caso de necesidad.
Sólo uno de los 30 diputados que forman la comisión, Christian Vanneste -también de la gubernamental UMP- se desmarcó del informe. Entre las principales razones que cita en un comunicado Vanneste para explicar por qué no ha votado el informe, figura el hecho de que se derivan proposiciones discriminatorias en términos legales.
Los testigos de Jehová, que en Francia tienen el estatuto de asociación de culto y cuentan -según datos del Gobierno- con 45.000 adeptos, pero que los parlamentarios incluyen en la galaxia sectaria, denunciaron haberse convertido en un “objetivo obsesivo” de la comisión.
PARLEMENT – Rapport
Entre 60 000 et 80 000 enfants seraient la proie des groupes sectaires. Dramatisation?
Paris/MATHIEU VAN BERCHEM
Publié le 20 décembre 2006
On connaît l’extrême vigilance des autorités françaises à l’égard des mouvements sectaires. En douze ans, l’Assemblée nationale a concocté pas moins de trois rapports d’enquête sur la question. Le dernier, publié hier, fera d’autant plus de bruit que le sujet est ultrasensible: l’impact sur les mineurs. Le bilan est plutôt inquiétant.
Entre 60 000 et 80 000 enfants sont la proie des sectes, estime le député UMP Georges Fenech. «Tous ne sont pas soumis aux mêmes dangers, mais certains d’entre eux sont vraiment exposés», ajoute le président de la commission d’enquête, précisant que ce chiffre «n’est pas en régression».
D’où viennent ces statistiques? Les parlementaires ne sont pas allés chercher très loin. Interrogé par la mission, Emmanuel Jancovici, chargé de prévenir les dérives sectaires au Ministère de la santé, estime que 60 000 à 80 000 enfants sont élevés dans un contexte sectaire. «Par prudence, je préfère parler de plusieurs dizaines de milliers d’enfants», ajoute le haut fonctionnaire. Pour les seuls témoins de Jéhovah, M. Jancovici compte, par déduction, au moins 45 000 mineurs concernés.
Contrôles plus sévères
C’est dans les rares zones de flottement laissées par l’Education nationale que la commission veut agir. Il n’est pas encore question d’interdire l’instruction à domicile, mais les députés entendent la contrôler plus sévèrement. Des raisons sérieuses, type maladie ou handicap, devront justifier ce régime d’exception. L’«angélisme» de l’Etat, selon l’expression du député communiste Jean-Pierre Brard, est révolu. Les témoins de Jéhovah s’opposent aux transfusions sanguines?
Les médecins pourront passer outre le refus des parents. La commission souhaite aussi que les grands-parents puissent saisir directement la justice, lorsque la santé, la sécurité ou la moralité de l’enfant sont en danger.
«Si ces estimations sont exactes, alors la situation est grave», note Nathalie Luca, chargée de recherche au Centre d’études interdisciplinaires des faits religieux. «Ce qui m’étonne, poursuit l’auteure du «Que sais-je?» sur les sectes, c’est l’apparition soudaine de ces statistiques, alors que l’on croyait que le travail des pouvoirs publics portait ses fruits.» Un rapport pas si ancien, rappelle la sociologue, celui de l’inspecteur général de l’Education nationale Daniel Groscolas, affirmait que la situation était en voie d’amélioration.
La France serait-elle, plus que jamais, obsédée par la lutte contre les sectes, au point de rejeter tout regard nuancé sur la question? «On a bien fait, dans les années 1990, de renforcer le contrôle de l’instruction à domicile ou des institutions privées», estime Nathalie Luca. Mais il ne faudrait pas, poursuit la sociologue, dramatiser les choses. La Miviludes, l’organisme chargé de lutter contre les sectes, est marquée par des personnalités farouchement «antisectes». «Dans l’Hexagone, il suffit d’émettre un avis distancié pour être suspecté d’appartenir à une secte», déplore Mme Luca.
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Témoins de Jéhovah et transfusions: le cas genevois
Comment les Hôpitaux universitaires genevois (HUG) font-ils face au refus qu’expriment les témoins de Jéhovah de bénéficier d’une transfusion de sang? Grâce au CIC (Comité intercantonal d’information sur les croyances), nous avons pu prendre connaissance de l’avis édicté par le Conseil d’éthique clinique des HUG. Le principe qui prime demeure le respect de la liberté de décision du patient adulte, témoin de Jéhovah ou non. Mais il en va différemment des enfants,
en fonction des situations suivantes.
Patients mineurs incapables de discernement. Si elle est nécessaire, la transfusion doit être effectuée, quelle que soit l’opinion des parents.
Patients mineurs en état d’urgence avec risque vital. La décision de transfuser reste la règle.
Patients mineurs capables de discernement, hors urgence. Il n’existe que des cas particuliers qui doivent faire l’objet d’un «contrat thérapeutique» entre patients et équipe soignante, incluant ou non des transfusions.
«Directives anticipées». En outre, les témoins de Jéhovah gardent souvent sur eux, enfants ou adultes, des «directives» contre le recours aux transfusions sanguines, même en cas de perte de connaissance. Il ne s’agit pas d’une sorte d’«ordre de marche» mais d’un élément, parmi les autres qui sont pris en considération par le médecin responsable avant de décider de transfuser ou non. La «directive» sera examinée avec d’autant plus d’acuité qu’elle concerne un enfant.
Maternité. Il convient d’informer les femmes enceintes membres des témoins de Jéhovah qu’en cas de nécessité vitale et faute d’autres solutions, elles recevront une transfusion de sang.
Jesucristo demostró que era, sin lugar a dudas, el “Maravilloso Consejero” que se había predicho (Isa. 9:6). El Sermón del Monte es un magnífico ejemplo de lo bien que conocía la forma de pensar de su Padre celestial. Ese sermón habla sobre cómo alcanzar la felicidad verdadera, cómo evitar la inmoralidad, cómo practicar la justicia y cómo tener un futuro seg […]
