Page 13 - Article 9 News Today

The new legislation eliminated the need for special measures laws for the types of operations the SDF had engaged in since 2001 and added new provisions for limited collective self-defense.

28 May 2021 Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 On 27 May, Asliddin Khudaiberdiyev was jailed for teaching five boys and six adult men how to read the Koran and pray. The jailing followed a police and secret police raid on a Samarkand Region mosque as Muslims were preparing to worship. The raid came as the regime publicly announced and implemented increased restrictions across the country on under-18s attending mosques. Also, Religion Law changes are still going through parliament but the regime continues...

13 May 2021 Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 In late April the Deputy Headteacher of a Bukhara school rang Muslim parents to say that the ordinary police and the SSS secret police had visited to ask "how religiously devout families and children are". Parents were warned of unspecified consequences if they teach Islam to their children, or any of their children wear the hijab. Human rights defenders have heard unconfirmed accounts that the ordinary police and SSS secret police are making similar visits ...

Bill to amend law on vote to revise Japans Constitution likely to pass Diet Sorry, but your browser needs Javascript to use this site. If youre not sure how to activate it, please refer to this site: https://www.enable-javascript.com/ The House of Representatives Commission on the Constitution approved a bill on Thursday to amend the national referendum law on revision of the Constitution. | KYODO Kyodo, Jiji May 6, 2021 A bill to amend the national referendum law on revision of ...

~ Japan’s current Constitution marked its 74th anniversary on May 3, in the midst of overlapping challenges. In a joint statement at the U.S.-Japan summit in April, both countries emphasized the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, with China in mind. The issue of peace and security of Okinawa and the Senkaku Islands are intimately related to that of Taiwan. North Korean issues – specifically nuclear weapons, missiles, and the abduction of Japanese people – remain unres...

10 March 2021 Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 Prison authorities have repeatedly denied seriously ill Jehovahs Witness prisoner of conscience Shamil Khakimov the specialised medical treatment he needs. The 70-year-old has a bad leg "which smells like rotten meat" and has had coronavirus symptoms. The UN Mandela Rules for prisoners treatment say medical decisions must be made by doctors, and the UN Human Rights Committee and the UN Committee against Torture have both called for Tajikistan to implement ...

5 March 2021 Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 Independent imam Sirojiddin Abdurahmonov, who was also jailed in 2010, was jailed in February for five and a half years along with an unknown number of others. Conscientious objector Rustamjon Norovs appeal against a three and a half year jail sentence is due on 11 March, and a judge has refused to explain why he allowed a Russian Orthodox nun with no connection to the case to testify for the prosecution. On 12 February, a court in the capital Dushanbe jail...

19 February 2021 Olga Glace, Forum 18 Bailiffs accompanied by police used an angle grinder and a crowbar on 17 February to gain access to Minsks New Life Pentecostal Church to evict it. Officials told the Church they were enforcing a 2009 court order. Aleksey Petrukovich, who signed the enforcement order, refused to explain why the eviction happened, and why force was used. "I am indignant. This is a hostile takeover of church property with the excuse of official papers," Sergiy Melyanets, a me...

15 February 2021 Felix Corley, Forum 18 A court in Lebap Region jailed 20-year-old Jehovahs Witness conscientious objector Nazar Alliyev for one year for refusing compulsory military service. He is the seventh to be jailed in 2021 so far and joins 14 other jailed conscientious objectors (9 of them serving second sentences). "We deeply regret the criminalization of conscientious objection," four UN human rights Special Procedures wrote to the Turkmen government in December 2020, adding that Turk...

7 January 2021 Felix Corley, Forum 18 Despite his offer to perform alternative civilian service, Khujand Military Court today (7 January) jailed Rustamjon Norov for three and a half years, the longest known sentence. The court claimed the 22-year-old Jehovahs Witness conscientious objector falsified his medical history to evade compulsory military service, charges he denies. While held in a military unit in October 2020, he was threatened with torture if he did not put on a military uniform. Kh...