‘Release 18-year-old from jail’ — UN demands

The United Nations (UN) is fighting for the religious rights of Jehovah’s Witnesses, once again.

Religion News Service reports that U.N.’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) is asking for 18-year-old Daniil Islamov to be immediately released.

The young Jehovah’s Witness was unlawfully arrested and subsequently detained in Tajikistan because he conscientiously objected to the country’s mandatory military service.

According to the panel, the fact that Islamov’s faith prevents him from reciting patriotic pledges, singing nationalistic songs or joining the military, is no grounds for his arrest.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights adds that Islamov was denied alternative civilian service, even after seeking permission.

All of this is why the WGAD has a resolution on Islamov’s case. It reads, “The Working Group considers that taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to release Mr Islamov immediately and to accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.”

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The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ spokesman David A. Semonian says this resolution is encouraging but “we are very concerned that the Working Group’s opinion had no effect on the court’s subsequent decision to convict and imprison him for conscientiously refusing to serve in the military.

“We will update the Working Group on this disturbing development, and we expect that they will issue an even stronger directive to release Daniil.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses’ right to reject military service is recognized in the U.S. and other Western countries, apart from Tajikistan, which has no law concerning this.

This objection is based on their allegiance to only God.