{"id":1606,"date":"2025-04-23T10:03:50","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T01:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/souqtimes.com\/?p=1606"},"modified":"2025-04-23T10:04:54","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T01:04:54","slug":"malaysian-islamic-party-mp-warns-ai-could-threaten-islamic-understanding-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/souqtimes.com\/ja\/culture\/1606\/","title":{"rendered":"Religious freedom is routinely curbed in Central Asia \u2013 but you won\u2019t often see it making international news"},"content":{"rendered":"

From The Conversation<\/strong><\/a>| February 6, 2025<\/p>\n

Freedom of worship is tenuous around the globe. The Pew Research Center\u2019s\u00a0latest annual report<\/a>\u00a0found \u201chigh\u201d or \u201cvery high\u201d levels of government constraints on religion in 59 of the 198 countries and territories it analyzed \u2013 a new record. When Pew began releasing reports on the issue in 2007, just 40 countries\u2019 restrictions on religion were classified that way.<\/p>\n

And trampling of religious practices is a taboo subject for domestic news media in many, if not most, of such countries.<\/p>\n

As\u00a0a journalism professor<\/a>, I\u2019ve studied international press practices and obstacles to fair, balanced, ethical and independent reporting for more than two decades. Much of my work is about press rights in \u201crepressitarian\u201d countries<\/a>, meaning repressive in human rights practices and authoritarian in governance. I see overlaps among a range of human rights abuses \u2013 of freedom of expression, of religion, of political affiliation \u2013 and how the absence of press freedom shields those abuses from public scrutiny.<\/p>\n

The latest study I did with my undergraduate research assistant, Eleanor Pugh, examined how one news organization,\u00a0Forum 18<\/a>, covers constraints on religion in the five post-Soviet countries of remote but strategically important Central Asia. Based in Norway, the independent site is named after Article 18 of the\u00a0Universal Declaration of Human Rights<\/a>, which recognizes a fundamental right to \u201cfreedom of thought, conscience and religion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forum 18 appears to be the only news outlet that specializes in coverage of the rights of diverse faiths across the former Soviet Union. Its journalism demonstrates the challenges media outlets have in covering and influencing treatment of religious affiliations and observances in the region.<\/p>\n

Taboo topic<\/h2>\n

The five countries of Central Asia \u2013\u00a0Turkmenistan<\/a>,\u00a0Tajikistan<\/a>,\u00a0Kazakhstan<\/a>,\u00a0Kyrgyzstan<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Uzbekistan<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 pursue harsh policies and practices that frequently curtail freedom of faith. This is especially true for minority religions and sects, but even for practitioners of Islam, the region\u2019s predominant faith. All are rated \u201cNot Free\u201d in the 2024\u00a0annual report<\/a>\u00a0on global political rights and civil liberties issued by Freedom House, a democracy advocacy group based in Washington.<\/p>\n

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Where is Central Asia?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Map:<\/span>\u00a0The Conversation, CC-BY-ND<\/span>Download image<\/span><\/a>Created with<\/span>\u00a0Datawrapper<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Government tactics include censorship and seizure of religious materials, trumped-up charges and prison terms for believers, prohibiting schoolchildren\u00a0from wearing hijabs<\/a>\u00a0or attending worship services, and\u00a0imprisoning Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses<\/a>\u00a0who refuse compulsory military service. One\u00a0recent law in Kyrgyzstan<\/a>, which took effect Feb. 1, 2025, prohibits faith communities with fewer than 500 adult members and bans unregistered religious activities or places of worship.<\/p>\n

International news outlets generally devote little attention to religious freedom almost anywhere around the world, except for large-scale tragedies such as the\u00a0repression of Muslim Uyghurs in western China<\/a>\u00a0and the genocidal suppression of\u00a0Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Foreign journalists find it tough, sometimes impossible, to report on religious issues from inside authoritarian countries.<\/p>\n

Peter Leonard, the former Central Asia editor of the news outlet\u00a0Eurasianet<\/a>, told me in March 2024 that officials\u2019 willingness to even talk with international journalists varies from country to country. At best, journalists are \u201cgreeted with a little bit of suspicion\u201d in a capital city, while in rural areas and villages they \u201ccan expect to be booted out or harassed,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cReligion is a minefield area.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ethnic Russian Kyrgyz citizens wait for a Sunday service at the Church of Archistrategos of God Mikhail \u2013 Archangel Michael of God Orthodox Church \u2013 in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, in 2010.<\/span>\u00a0AP Photo\/Alexander Zemlianichenko<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When limits on worship do make domestic news, they\u2019re often presented as part of a fight against \u201cterrorism\u201d \u2013 a common way authoritarian regimes\u00a0masquerade crackdowns on religious freedoms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Darkhan Umirbekov, an editor at Radio Fee Europe\/Radio Liberty, told me that in Kazakhstan \u2013 where most media are owned, controlled or financially dependent\u00a0on the regime and its allies<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 most such coverage is \u201cin the context of extremism,\u201d as when \u201csecurity forces detain members of a religious sect or group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Protecting sources<\/h2>\n

We chose to study Forum 18 because its reporting follows traditional journalistic values such as fairness and balance, seeking comments and information from government and nongovernmental sources. One of the outlet\u2019s key underlying motives, however, is advocacy in support of religious freedom.<\/p>\n

Although founded by a group of Christians, its coverage spans a wide spectrum of faiths. Recent topics included\u00a0police raids on Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses<\/a>\u00a0meetings in Kyrgyzstan,\u00a0threats to punish<\/a>\u00a0a Muslim actor in Kazakhstan for quoting from the Quran in a video about Islam posted on Instagram, and the\u00a0demolition of a mosque and Baptist church<\/a>\u00a0in Uzbekistan.<\/p>\n

Our analysis, which we presented at a 2024 conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, found that almost two-thirds of Central Asian stories in 2023 focused on broad topics such as fines, government policies and jail terms for believers. The remainder focused on one-off events such as particular arrests, raids or seizures of religious books.<\/p>\n

We also found that nonofficial news sources \u2013 frequently anonymous \u2013 outnumber named sources. Many of the site\u2019s reporters\u2019 sources have been developed over the years from the ranks of religious leaders, human rights activists, dissidents and legal scholars. Some live in the region, and others in exile.<\/p>\n

In light of the serious risk of retaliation, it is unsurprising that so many sources require anonymity. While their identities are known to reporters and editors, their names are not disclosed to audiences for protection from threats, attacks and intimidation. Sometimes these sources are described generically, such as \u201cone Protestant\u201d or \u201cindependent religious expert\u201d or \u201clocal resident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forum 18 editor and co-founder Felix Corley told me in an interview: \u201cWhat we\u2019re concerned about is people that we talk to, that we don\u2019t land them in trouble, so we have to be very careful to do everything we can to avoid endangering anyone by clumsy behavior on our part.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, the site\u2019s stories detail names and titles of officials responsible for anti-faith policies and practices \u2013 among them prosecutors, judges and agency heads, most of whom refuse to comment or even respond to media inquiries.<\/p>\n

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Astana Grand Mosque in Kazakhstan, the largest mosque in Central Asia.<\/span>\u00a0Aytac Unal\/Anadolu via Getty Images<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Small but significant<\/h2>\n

Forum 18\u2019s audience is primarily outside the region. It includes Central Asians living abroad, human rights activists, nongovernmental organizations, foreign governments, faith leaders and other news organizations that may cite or re-report its stories.<\/p>\n

For example,\u00a0a 2019 U.S. State Department human rights report<\/a>\u00a0on Uzbekistan makes references to a Forum 18 story on the torture of a \u201cprisoner of conscience\u201d incarcerated for meeting with fellow Muslims and participating in religious activities without government permission.<\/p>\n

Religious freedom advocates hope such coverage can\u00a0inform and influence world opinion<\/a>. Reporting abroad can spotlight otherwise-unaccountable officials, especially when censorship,\u00a0self-censorship<\/a>\u00a0and threats of prosecution\u00a0preclude domestic media from reporting<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Realistically, we recognize that external media coverage is unlikely to prompt meaningful protections of religious freedom in authoritarian countries.<\/p>\n

Even so, such journalism may be seen as a step \u2013 albeit a small, symbolic one \u2013 toward holding individuals, governments, social groups and other enablers accountable for violations of a fundamental human right.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Source:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Freedman, E. (2025). Religious freedom is routinely curbed in Central Asia \u2013 but you won\u2019t often see it making international\u00a0news<\/i>. The Conversation. https:\/\/theconversation.com\/religious-freedom-is-routinely-curbed-in-central-asia-but-you-wont-often-see-it-making-international-news-248740<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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