The American federal commission updated its 2020 report on the widespread attacks against the religious organization.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is a bipartisan commission of the U.S. federal government, whose members are designated by the congressional leaders of both political parties, Democrat and Republican, and appointed by the President. In addition to a yearly general report, it produces periodically ad hoc documents on specific issues of religious liberty. One of them in 2020 presented the persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in several countries.
Four years after the 2020 report, a new document dated November 2024 has now been published. It notes that many countries still prosecute or discriminate against the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Extremism laws and statutes that do not recognize conscientious objection have led to the imprisonment of hundreds. Some nations deny them legal recognition, rights, or impose discriminatory policies. The USCIRF report updates their global situation, analyzing issues they face and identifying specific countries of concern.
The USCIRF text should be read in connection with the part on anti-Christian hate crimes of the 2023 report on hate crimes of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe)’s ODIHR (Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights), also released in November. This document shows that in the OSCE area, which includes Europe, 154 out of 570 incidents targeted the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They were 129 in 2022.
In view of the figures, it may be now time for international organizations to recognize a new category of hate crimes, “Jehovahphobia,” for those targeting the Jehovah’s Witnesses, just as “Christianophobia” is increasingly mentioned alongside anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. “Jehovahphobia” can be defined as irrational fear, hatred, discrimination or prejudice against Jehovah’s Witnesses. It can include verbal or physical attacks on individuals or entire communities because of their faith, as well as the use of stereotypes, i.e., broad and negative generalizations about Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The best known and most severe case of persecution discussed by the USCIRF study is Russia. The USCIRF reports that, “According to Jehovah’s Witness sources, Russian authorities have conducted more than 2,000 searches of Jehovah’s Witness homes and opened criminal cases against more than 800 members since the Supreme Court declared Jehovah’s Witnesses ‘extremist’ in 2017. Law enforcement routinely prosecute Jehovah’s Witnesses for engaging in peaceful religious activities, including discussing the Bible, participating in religious services, and collecting money for their communities.”
In October 2024, “over 140 Jehovah’s Witnesses were either in pretrial detention, enduring forced labor, or imprisoned, while another nine remained under house arrest.” Sentences for Jehovah’s Witnesses also continue to increase in severity as does treatment, or rather mistreatment, in Russian jails and labor camps. There are reports, USCIRF notes, of prisoners beaten, waterboarded, and electrocuted “for several days.” Russia also persecutes Jehovah’s Witnesses in the territories of Ukraine it has illegally occupied.
Another severe case of persecution is Eritrea. USCIRF notes that Eritrean government detains Jehovah’s Witnesses indefinitely without charge due to their religious practices, including conscientious objection. Since 1994, after the community refused to participate in the 1993 independence referendum and mandatory military service, authorities stripped them of citizenship, imprisoning over 270 members in thirty years. Although more than thirty were released during the COVID-19 pandemic, and others occasionally for medical reasons, mass arrests continue, USCIRF notes. In September, police arrested over twenty during worship, with some now in Mai Serwa Prison. As of October 2024, 63 remain imprisoned.
Several Jehovah’s Witnesses, the USCIRF reports, have been incarcerated in Eritrea for nearly two decades. Among these are individuals who are elderly, raising serious concerns about their health and well-being. The conditions in the prisons are substandard, with many inmates residing in dilapidated facilities and experiencing physical and sexual violence as well as medical neglect. Notable cases include Tesfazion Gebremichael, who is now in his early 80s and was arrested in July 2011. Additionally, Yoab Tekle and Kdisti Tesfamichael, a married couple in their early 70s, have been in state custody since November 2022, reportedly due to their refusal to contribute financially for political purposes. It is worth noting that Tekle was previously imprisoned from July 2009 to December 2020 before being re-arrested.
The Tajikistan government, USCIRF also reports, criminalizes Jehovah’s Witnesses by denying their registration. In 2007, the government removed the organization’s registration in Dushanbe, citing violations of the religion law due to conscientious objection to military service and presenting their faith as the only true one.
In 2022, as USCIRF summarized, the United Nations Human Rights Committee issued a decision requesting that Tajikistan reconsider the 2007 ruling and review Jehovah’s Witnesses’ registration application in Dushanbe. In 2023, the Supreme Court of Tajikistan upheld the ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses, following a 2021 decision that labeled them an “extremist organization.” By May 2024, the Supreme Court’s official website listed Jehovah’s Witnesses as an “extremist organization.”
As a positive development, USCIRF reports that as of October 2024, no Jehovah’s Witnesses are imprisoned in Tajikistan. In May 2023, Shamil Khakimov, the last detained Jehovah’s Witness, was released after more than four years in prison. Despite his release, however, Jehovah’s Witnesses still face harassment and pressure from authorities. In June 2023, two Jehovah’s Witnesses were detained, questioned for proselytizing, and fined for “inciting religious hatred.”
The USCIRF report also mentions Turkmenistan, where Jehovah’s Witnesses lack legal recognition and face harassment from authorities. In October 2023, a man was detained for ten days in Turkmenabad for sharing his faith, threatened with prison, deprived of his phone, filmed without consent, and denied restroom access. In January 2024, police raided a home in Sakar, detaining and interrogating five individuals for eight hours. Jehovah’s Witnesses in Turkmenistan have faced challenges due to their refusal to serve in the military, which is mandated by law without a civilian alternative. In 2021, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov pardoned the last sixteen Jehovah’s Witnesses imprisoned for conscientious objection. Since then, no new imprisonments have been reported. However, they still lack legal protections and remain at risk of arrest.
In Uzbekistan, the USCIRF states, Jehovah’s Witnesses are registered only in Chirchik and face challenges obtaining registration elsewhere, including Tashkent. For decades, authorities have denied Jehovah’s Witnesses registration. Police frequently detain them for missionary activities. In January 2024, Tashkent police detained two Jehovah’s Witnesses for sharing their beliefs, leading to fines under laws against proselytizing. In March 2024, the police detained two more Jehovah’s Witnesses in Tashkent for the same reason, holding them for over seven hours for interrogation. Since 2006, authorities have banned importing their religious literature.
