Turkmenistan: Religious Freedom

(asked on 23rd March 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to support freedom of religion in Turkmenistan.


Answered by
Wendy Morton Portrait
Wendy Morton
This question was answered on 31st March 2021

The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all, and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities. Promoting the right to FoRB is one of the UK's longstanding human rights priorities. Turkmenistan remains a Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Human Rights Priority Country. Our 2019 Human Rights Report and a subsequent statement by the Minister responsible for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, in November 2020 highlighted our concerns over the imprisonment of a number of conscientious objectors to military service, which included Jehovah's Witnesses. Officials in London have met with The European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses to discuss freedom of religion or belief across Central Asia.

Lord Ahmad also underlined the UK's commitment to FoRB for all in a number of international meetings in November 2020, speaking at the Ministerial to Advance FoRB and the Ministers' Forum of the Alliance. On 20 December 2020, the Prime Minister reaffirmed his commitment to FoRB by appointing Fiona Bruce MP as his Special Envoy for FoRB. Mrs Bruce represents the UK at meetings of the Alliance who work to advocate for the rights of individuals being discriminated against or persecuted on the basis of their faith or belief.

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