GRACE
FULL GOSPEL CHRISTIAN CHURCH
6700 Boone Ave N, Brooklyn Park, MN 55428-1947
Phone: (763) 267-4734
To:
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov.
Fax 011 998 71 139 5325, E-mail: presidents_office@press-service.uz
Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan Ilkhom Nematov
Fax: (202) 293-6804, E-mail: info@uzbekistan.org
Gentlemen,
Paragraph 18 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which your country obliged to respect,
says:
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to
change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or
private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Despite the fact that your Embassy to USA proclaimed “Improvement in human rights now a top
government priority”, real actions of the Government of Uzbekistan are direct infringement of this
statement and paragraph 18th. Based on information provided by Forum 18, Article 18 Alliance and
Barnabas Fund, Christian churches face mass persecution: the government closes churches, destroys
Christian literature, CD and Bibles, fines believers for practicing their faith. Church leaders and elders,
accused by courts through fabricated charges, are sentenced to different prison terms. Very often, in order
to receive needed testimony, police use torture.
Facts:
- On January 21,2007, Pastor Dmitry Shestakov was arrested in a raid on his Full Gospel Church in
Andijan, Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan's Religious Affairs Committee claims Shestakov, an evangelical pastor
affiliated with the registered Full Gospel Church, is not an authorized leader of any officially-recognized
religious organization in Uzbekistan. They describe him as an "imposter" leading an underground group
engaged in proselytizing under Shestakov's leadership. He is appealing his four-year labor camp sentence.
- Tohar Haydarov, a Baptist, has been arrested and faces criminal charges of producing or storing
drugs, which is punishable by up to five years in prison. Haydarov's fellow believers insist that the case
has been fabricated, one stating that "police planted a matchbox with drugs." They also state that
Haydarov "was beaten and forced by the police to sign different papers. His face looked exhausted and
swollen, and he could hardly walk. He did not even remember what was written in those papers." He was
sentenced to 10 years in prison.
- On May 16, 2010 law-enforcement agents of the Republic of Uzbekistan carried out a raid on one of
the biggest churches in the country – Tashkent City Church of Christ. Eight people, ministers and
members of the church among them, were taken to Mirso-Ulugbeksk local office of the internal affairs of
the city of Tashkent. The assistant pastor Arthur Avanesian was also arrested. Two church members were
arrested for filming of what was happening on their mobile phones.
We demand that the Government of Uzbekistan immediately stop its persecution of Christians, and
release those who have been jailed on false charges.
We also call upon the government of the United States to intervene on behalf of the Uzbekistani
Christians and use its international influence to cause Uzbekistan to honor religious freedom within its
borders.
Sincerely, Pastor Vasili Malets
June 21, 2010