E/CN.4/2001/0063 page 25 Kazakhstan 88. In June 2000, in the village of Derbesek, Saryagach District (south-east of Shymkent), the police allegedly raided an unregistered association of Jehovah’s Witnesses, confiscating their literature. The Department of National Security for the South Kazakhstan oblast is said to have initiated criminal proceedings on grounds of organizing and participating in an illegal public association. Kuwait 89. It is reported that in January 2000 the writer Layla al-Uthmen was sentenced to two months in prison for blasphemy on account of her book, Le départ (Departure), in which she “used lascivious images, apparently to depict the relationship between one sea wave and another.” On 27 March 2000 an appeal court reportedly upheld the charges but reduced the sentence of imprisonment to a fine of 1,000 Kuwaiti dinars. 90. Kuwait replied that Layla al-Uthman had been tried for breaking the country’s laws and, specifically, for offending public decency because of the expressions used in her work Le départ. It was emphasized that this was not a case of religious intolerance. It was confirmed that on 22 January 2000 the writer had been sentenced to two months in prison, and that on 26 March 2000 the sentence had been reduced on appeal to 1,000 dinars. The charges were offending public decency and the fundamental values of society. Latvia 91. Latvian legislation makes no provision for civilian service as an alternative to military service. Conscientious objectors who are not covered by the December 1999 amendment to the Compulsory Military Service Act (an exemption is given to clerics and persons undertaking religious training in organizations registered with the Ministry of Justice) are liable to terms of imprisonment. 92. Latvia replied that since the restoration of independence, the Government had stressed its goal of protecting human rights through national legislation and its accession to 51 international instruments. It was explained that the Government protected the freedom of religion and belief, including the right to alternative forms of service for conscientious objectors. “On 2 February 1997 the Compulsory Military Service Act was adopted by the Latvian Parliament, thus amending the provisions for alternative service which were in force as from March 1990. The Act in a certain degree reflects existing financial and administrative difficulties in fully implementing the provisions for alternative service, at the same time retaining a number of provisions of the former legislative act. One example is paragraph 21, subparagraph 7, of the Act, which states that ordained clerics belonging to religious organizations registered by the Ministry of Justice and persons being trained in educational institutions of these religious organizations to become members of their clerical staff are exempted from compulsory military service.