Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Forum 18: Tajikistan - Draft of New Religion Law Unnecessary

27 November 2007 (received December 1, 2007)
TAJIKISTAN: WHY IS A NEW RELIGION LAW NEEDED?
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1052

Today (27 November), 24 religious organisations in Tajikistan have formally complained about the latest draft of a controversial proposed new Religion Law. Despite the proposals for a new Law having been repeatedly strongly criticised by Tajik organisations and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Secretary of Tajikistan's Public Council is unable to explain why a new Religion Law is necessary."Well, look at the new draft and you'll understand it yourself," he told Forum 18 News Service. The 24 religious organisations insist that the draft Law directly or indirectly contradicts not only the Tajik Constitution, but also twelve other laws and legal codes of the country. Viktor Kim, whoheads an association of ethnic Korean Tajik citizens, told Forum 18 that"this draft Law needs to be totally discarded and a new one written," he maintained. "So many of the articles in the draft Law are in conflict with the Tajik Constitution. There is no overall logic and concept in the draft, so it makes no sense to adopt it or even work on it."

No comments: