Central Asia

Kazakhstan

Also, all Ahmadi Muslim mosques throughout Kazakhstan have been closed (see F18News 24 April 2012 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1692). ARA Press Secretary Penkova told Forum 18 on 5 November that she "cannot guarantee that the Ahmadi Community will be re-registered. But I can guarantee that whatever decision the ARA will make will be based strictly on the Law."

(http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1763)

Kyrgyzstan

From Wikileaks (https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/08BISHKEK392_a.html):

Helping prostitutes rebuild their lives.

3. (U) The Discussion Club meeting was attended by approximately 100 representatives - male and female - of political parties, NGO's, mass media, sex workers, and the clergy. The primary topic of discussion was police corruption and complicity in prostitution. Sex workers complained that the standard bribe that police demand from them has increased from 50 soms ($1.38) to 300 soms ($8.33) over the last year. Police demand bribes often and arbitrarily, posing a threat to the sex workers' livelihoods. Police often demand "subotniki," or free Saturdays at the saunas. NGO representatives recalled a case when a pregnant sex worker was forced to provide free sexual services to a large group of students from the police academy. A representative from Center for Police Reform vowed that he would investigate the incident if the victim

files a formal complaint. The most emotionally charged discussion centered on the role of religion in addressing societal ills and helping victims of prostitution. The discussion leader expressed disappointment that the Mufti and the head of the Russian Orthodox Diocese turned down invitations to attend. However, a representative of the Church of Jesus Christ said that AIDS was a punishment from God for the sin of prostitution and that the sin would be punished for ten generations. The representative of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community expressed a more tolerant view and his willingness to help ex-prostitutes rebuild their lives.