Bahá'í
Academics Resource Library
HRP: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
IRF: Annual Reports to Congress on International Religious Freedom
FREEDOM OF RELIGION
While it affirms a number of important religious freedoms, the Law on Freedom
of Conscience and Religious Organizations, which was amended in 1995 and
again in 1996, also provides for significant government control of religion.
Religious congregations are required to register with the Government and
must have at least 500 Turkmen citizens over the age of 18 as adherents
to be registered. This requirement has prevented all but Sunni Muslims
and Russian Orthodox Christians from setting up legal religious organizations.
Moreover the Government applies this 500-member standard on a local basis.
A religious group must have at least 500 adherents in each city in which
they wish to be registered.
Nonregistered religious congregations are present in the country, including
Bahai's, Baptists, Hare Krishnas, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Pentecostals,
among others; however, the Government restricts their activities.
They are prohibited from establishing churches and from conducting religious
activities including gathering, proselytizing, and disseminating religious
materials. The Government's interpretation of the law also limits
their ability to meet in private homes. While the Law on Religious
Organizations does not prohibit nonregistered religious groups from gathering,
government permission is required for any mass meetings or demonstrations
for religious purposes.
This restriction also has caused problems for a number of minority religions,
including the Baha'i Faith, which was registered by the Government in 1994
only to be deregistered in 1997 when the threshold was raised to 500 adherents.
Members of the Baha'i Faith have been prevented from conducting services
since 1997 and, in 1997 and 1998, were questioned by internal security
representatives for holding private prayer meetings in their homes.
The Baha'i community, whose members had been prevented from conducting
services since 1997, gathered publicly to celebrate Novruz Bairam in March
2001, and sent a delegation from Turkmenistan to Israel in June 2001 to
participate in the opening ceremony of a Baha'i garden in Haifa.
Although the local Baha'i community in Ashgabat was able to open its center
for 1 day in March 1999 to celebrate the Faith's Nowruz (spring) holiday,
this year the community believed that they would not be permitted to open
for Nowruz and therefore did not request permission to open. However, the
local Baha'i community in Ashgabat was able to conduct a memorial service
at a local restaurant in January.
The local Baha'i community in Ashgabat was able to conduct a memorial service
at a local restaurant in January 2000.
In June 1999, representatives of internal security organizations also
visited the Baha'i center and warned its members not to distribute religious
materials....
Members of the Baha'i Faith have been questioned by internal security
representatives for holding private prayer meetings in their homes.
The local Baha'i community in Ashgabat was able to open its center for
a single day to celebrate the Faith's Nowruz (spring) holiday in March
1998 and again in March 1999....
The Government's Council on Religious Affairs does not actively promote
interfaith dialog although its representatives attended the opening for
a single day of the local Baha'i center in Ashgabat in March 1999.
In June [1998] representatives of internal security organizations visited
the Baha'i center in Ashgabat as part of the Government's attempt to control
the activities of unregistered religious groups and warned its members
not to distribute religious materials.
SOCIETAL ATTITUDES
Turkmen culture historically is tolerant and inclusive of different religious
beliefs. For example, in the early part of the 20th century, Ashgabat was
a refuge for members of the Baha'i Faith escaping persecution in Iran,
and the first Baha'i temple was built in Ashgabat.
US GOVERNMENT POLICY
In August 1998, embassy officers met with the head of the President's Institute
for Democracy and Human Rights to discuss the onerous registration requirements
for minority religions and the possibility of reducing the number of adherents
necessary for registration for certain historical religions. In February
1999, embassy officers also met with the head of the Institute to discuss
the harassment of adherents of the Baha'i Faith by authorities from the
internal security services.