Source:         www.forum18.org

Date:            May 6, 2008

 
 
By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service <http://www.forum18.org>, and
 
Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service <http://www.forum18.org>
 
Leaders of a variety of religious communities have expressed serious
concerns to Forum 18 News Service about the proposals now in parliament to
amend the Religion Law and a number of other laws affecting religious
activity. "This draft Law is very bad," one religious leader who preferred
not to be identified told Forum 18 on 6 May. Another told Forum 18 the same
day of his community's "mass of objections" to the draft. In a sign of what
some religious leaders describe as "growing tension" around the subject of
religion, a number of leaders were afraid to speak to Forum 18 about the
new Law on the record.
 
However, one prepared to speak out was Bishop Yuri Novgorodov, who heads
Kazakhstan's Lutheran Church, with 52 congregations in six of the country's
regions and a seminary in the capital Astana. "If adopted, this would be a
Law on Non-Freedom of Conscience," he told Forum 18 from Astana on 6 May.
"It would destroy our whole organisation and our seminary, and the bishop
would no longer be able to function as such."
 
Bishop Novgorodov particularly objected to the new rules that would
require all existing registered communities to re-register under new
requirements, which he criticised as having retroactive force. "If this
draft is adopted, religious organisations should be allowed to keep their
current legal status," he insisted to Forum 18. "Under the present draft,
this would not happen."
 
Echoing Bishop Novgorodov's views were members of the Council of Churches
Baptists, who declared that the draft Law "puts believers in Kazakhstan
outside the law". And they added: "How can this be termed a law on freedom
of conscience?" Franz Tissen, the head of the Baptist Union, another
Baptist network, also criticised several provisions of the draft Law in a
16 April statement (see F18News 30 April 2008
<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1123>).
 
Ninel Fokina of Almaty Helsinki Committee told Forum 18 on 15 April that
human rights groups in Kazakhstan are also concerned over many provisions
in the proposed new Law. "The new draft law would make it particularly hard
for smaller religious groups to develop or even survive," she complained.
 
The draft Law on Amendments and Additions to Several Legislative Acts on
Questions of Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organisations - prepared
by a group of parliamentary deputies - was approved for consideration by
parliament on 2 April. If adopted, the new Law would amend numerous
articles of the current Religion Law, the controversial Article 375 and one
other article of the Code of Administrative Offences, as well as several
other laws. The draft Law has already received the backing of Prime
Minister Karim Masimov (see F18News 30 April 2008
<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1123>).
 
Registration requirement
 
Although the draft Law requires only ten adult citizens to register a
local religious association, one Protestant told Forum 18 that some
parliamentary deputies have already begun to propose that this should be
raised to 250, which would make it impossible for many if not most
religious communities to register as associations.
 
Ban on unregistered religious activity
 
The draft Law maintains the ban on unregistered religious activity which
was introduced in the 2005 amendments to the Religion Law. As an official
of the government's Human Rights Ombudsperson's Office and law professors
Roman Podoprigora and Malcolm Evans have previously observed,
international human rights standards "nowhere say that rights to free
practice of religion extend only to registered religious communities" (see
F18News 1 March 2006 <http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=735>).
 
Missionary activity
 
The draft Law would amend Article 4-1 of the Religion Law to impose
sweeping restrictions on "missionary activity", which is defined in a new
Article 1-1 as "religious/educational activity" by local people or
foreigners aimed at spreading a faith "in the name of a religious
association outside the territory of its activity". This means that any
individuals who decide to talk to others about their faith without getting
permission from their registered religious community - or any unregistered
communities that seek to spread their faith - will be committing crimes
under the Code of Administrative Offences.
 
Article 4-1 would specifically ban missionary activity by such unapproved
people and require even those conducting such activity in the name of a
registered religious organisation to have personal registration as a
missionary. The government would draw up an annual quota of missionaries
broken down by Region on the recommendation of the Religious Affairs
Committee, based on recommendations from each Regional administration.
 
Bishop Novgorodov of the Lutheran Church objects to these new bureaucratic
restrictions. "I don't know why there is a ban on preaching God's word," he
told Forum 18. Tissen of the Baptist Union describes them as an "absolute
intrusion into the inner life of believers".
 
Who can and can't register?
 
Article 7, which describes the rights of registered religious
associations, says that they can only be founded if they "conduct divine
services, religious rituals and preaching and other religious ceremonies".
The formulation of the requirement to conduct "divine services" appears to
encompass theistic religions but may exclude other religions. Roman
Podoprigora, a law professor at the Adilet (Justice) Law School in the
commercial capital Almaty, pointed out to Forum 18 that Buddhists, for
example, might face difficulties because of this formulation. Members of
Almaty's Buddhist community were not immediately available for comment.
 
Article 9 requires religious associations to submit with their
registration application a description of the "basics of their faith", the
history of the faith as a whole and the particular community, as well as
their attitude to marriage, the family, education, the health of their
adherents and their attitude to their adherents' civil obligations. It
remains unclear why this information is needed, how much information is
required on each point or who will decide whether information supplied is
acceptable or not.
 
Article 9 extends the processing period for registration applications for
communities "previously unknown in the Republic of Kazakhstan" to six
months. Religious associations have to confirm to the authorities each year
that they are continuing to function.
 
Article 8-1 would ban the registration of associations with the same or
partially the same name as an existing registered religious association. It
remains unclear whether this will ban independent Muslim, Orthodox or
Jewish communities from registering, as well as various Baptist, Lutheran
or Protestant denominations with similar names.
 
Centralised religious associations
 
Article 7 also divides registered religious associations into local and
centralised associations. Local associations can function only within one
of the country's 16 administrative units (the 14 provinces plus the cities
of Astana and Almaty). Thus it would be illegal for one local association
to cover Almaty city and region, for example. Caught up by this provision
will be the Russian Orthodox and Catholic dioceses, which cover several
Regions without being centralised organisations, or the Northern and
Southern Kazakhstan Conferences of the Seventh-day Adventists - they will
in future be illegal organisations if they continue to exist.
 
Under Article 7, centralised associations have to be founded by local
associations that have functioned in at least half the country's
administrative units (at least nine of the 16) for at least ten years. The
government's Religious Affairs Committee will have to confirm that the
founding meeting for the centralised association was conducted in
accordance with the law. "We have communities in only six of the country's
regions so this will destroy our organisation," Bishop Novgorodov of the
Lutherans complained to Forum 18. "This Law does not acknowledge at all the
traditional organisation of our Church."
 
Article 7 also bans the creation of religious organisations under any
other legal framework than religious associations, except those founded by
religious associations. It is unclear if this means that organisations such
as the Bible Society - founded 14 years ago and registered as a
non-commercial organisation with representatives from a variety of
Christian denominations on the board - will be allowed to exist.
 
Article 4 of the draft Religion Law allows the state authorities to
conduct an "expert assessment" of a religious organisation, with the
possibility of suspending its activity while the assessment is underway.
Such assessments are to be carried out by state officials, legal
specialists, as well as members of religious and social organisations.
Article 9 makes these assessments the basis for decisions on granting or
withholding registration. This means that members of one religious
community could be involved in assessing the activity of other religious
communities and proposing whether their activity should be allowed or not.
 
Restrictions on "religious groups"
 
The proposed new Religion Law would severely restrict the rights of
"religious groups" - smaller communities that are required to gain formal
registration (uchetnaya registratsia in Russian) with the local
authorities. Article 4-3 specifies that members of such religious groups
have the right "only within their circle to conduct religious rites and
ceremonies, and study their religion and provide religious education"
within premises belonging to their members and in the territory for which
they have formal registration.
 
The Article specifically bans "religious groups" from publishing
literature or producing religious products, "founding, opening or
maintaining places for worship or religious meetings open for wide public
access". It also bans any religious work outside the "religious group",
imposing the same penalties through the Code of Administrative Offences as
for unregistered religious activity.
 
Fokina of the Almaty Helsinki Committee particularly opposes these
proposed restrictions on "religious groups". "Religious groups would not
enjoy equal rights with religious communities and be very limited in their
activities," she complained to Forum 18, "since they would not be allowed
to rent public buildings but only function inside the homes of their
members. It is discrimination and a serious limitation on religious
liberties." Her concern is echoed by Tissen of the Baptist Union.
 
Places of worship
 
Article 12 of the proposed new Religion Law would require permission from
the local authority for the construction of any new place of worship or
adaptation of an existing building for religious use. "It is not clear who
will determine which places of worship are acceptable," one lawyer who has
worked on religious freedom cases told Forum 18 on 30 April.
 
Education and children
 
Article 5 of the proposed new Religion Law would require both parents (or
guardians, with the permission of the care authorities) to give written
permission for their children to take part in any religious event by a
registered religious community aimed at young people.
 
Article 5 also would require religious educational establishments to
register with the authorities with a detailed statute that includes a
detailed organisational structure, the full curriculum, and even the
language of education. Article 7 specifies that centralised religious
organisations have the right to found religious educational establishments
to train their clergy. Professor Podoprigora told Forum 18 that this
implies that only centralised religious organisations therefore would have
this right and that any other religious colleges would become illegal and
would have to close down.
 
Lutheran Bishop Novgorodov told Forum 18 that given that his Church would
not be able to register a centralised religious organisation its seminary
in Astana would automatically have to close.
 
Religious literature
 
Religious literature would face tight controls. Only registered religious
associations would be allowed to produce it, while Article 13 imposes
compulsory prior censorship over all religious literature imported into
Kazakhstan.
 
Donations
 
Article 16 of the proposed new Religion Law would ban all religious
associations from receiving any anonymous donations and donations from any
foreign organisations or individuals. It would also require a cash register
machine to be installed to record all donations of whatever size, with
donations to be monitored by local administration officials. "Religious
organisations are supposed to be separate from the state," commented Bishop
Novgorodov of the Lutherans, "so if we're not breaking any law, why should
officials be checking this?" He also objected to the ban on foreign
donations. "I don't understand this ban on mutual financial help from one
church to another." Tissen of the Baptist Union echoes these concerns.
 
Fokina of the Almaty Helsinki Committee also ridiculed the requirement for
cash registers which would work under the supervision of the Tax Ministry.
"Probably no-one has seen a stranger idea," she told Forum 18. "It is
ridiculous that the State would so closely scrutinise the charitable work
and financial affairs of religious organisations."
 
Compulsory re-registration
 
Article 3 of the whole new draft Law now in parliament would require the
re-registration of all religious organisations within two years of the
adoption of the Law. The Religious Affairs Committee could go to court to
seek liquidation if after two years an organisation fails to re-register or
reorganise itself in line with the new Religion Law. Given that all
unregistered religious activity is banned, such liquidation would end a
community's legal right to do anything. Only centralised religious
organisations with associations in at least nine regions would be eligible
to apply for re-registration.
 
Law professor Podoprigora told Forum 18 that the requirement for
re-registration of all existing organisations is not fair. "If you take
into account that organisations will have to register their legal addresses
again, which will involve renting or acquiring new buildings in many cases,
it is not difficult to see that those organisations with poor finances and
low membership will suffer the most," he told Forum 18.
 
Penalties for unregistered religious activity
 
Asked why the draft Law is harsher in relation to unregistered religious
activity than the existing law, Kayrat Tulesov, the deputy Chair of the
Justice Ministry's Religious Affairs Committee, insisted to Forum 18 on 15
April that religious organisations functioning in Kazakhstan must respect
its laws by being registered. "We will by all means facilitate
organisations to register, and I don't see a problem there," he said.
 
Reminded of organisations such as Council of Churches Baptists - who
refuse on principle to register with the State and would end up in a worse
situation with huge fines and imprisonment, were the new draft law adopted
- Tulesov declined all comment.
 
The new draft Law as a whole steps up punishments for unregistered and
unapproved religious activity (such as religious services without
registration, allowing children to attend religious youth events without
written permission from both parents or opening a place of worship without
permission). A revised Article 375 of the Code of Administrative Offences
would punish such activity with fines on individuals of up to ten times the
minimum monthly wage, and fines on organisations of up to one hundred times
the minimum monthly wage and possibly a ban of up to six months on its
activity.
 
Missionary activity without permission would lead to a fine of fifteen
months' minimum wage on individuals, with foreigners also liable to
administrative deportation. Organisations allowing such unauthorised
missionary activity could also be banned for up to six months or
permanently.
 
Repeat offences under Article 375 within a year could lead religious
organisations to face fines of 300 times the minimum monthly wage and a
total ban on their activity.
 
Law professor Podoprigora told Forum 18 that he could not imagine what the
authorities would do with the unregistered Baptists and other communities
that continue to meet for worship without registration. "Let's say they
fine them once with those huge fines for unregistered activity, which they
can't pay. They fine them a second and third time, what then? Will they
kill them?" he asked. "I guess they will deport them or put them into
prison."
 
The Law's wider context
 
Religious communities in Kazakhstan have been disturbed by increased
official demands that they and their leaders complete highly intrusive
questionnaires covering an extremely wide range of personal, political,
religious and other matters, including who the close friends of leaders are
(see F18News 25 February 2008
<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1093>). Official demands
that answers must be given to such questions violates the Kazakh
Constitution (see F18News 25 February 2008
<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1092>).
 
The draft Religion Law is being considered in a climate of ongoing formal
officially-incited intolerance of religious minorities, in a "State
Programme of Patriotic Education," approved by a decree of President
Nursultan Nazarbayev, and a Justice Ministry booklet "How not to fall under
the influence of religious sects" (see F18News 3 April 2007
<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=939>). This intolerance is
also incited through the mass media, which is being used by the state to
encourage support for police raids on religious communities (see F18News 22
February 2008 <http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1091>)
 
Neither international human rights standards nor published Kazakh laws
guide the actions of officials. Currently Kazakh law contradicts itself
over whether or not registration is actually compulsory (see F18News 8
December 2005 <http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=701>). But
this has not stopped administrative arrests and fines of members of
unregistered religious communities (see F18 News 13 March 2007
<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=931>), or the activity of an
unregistered Baptist congregation being suspended for six months (see F18
News 23 April 2008 <http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1117>).
 
The administration of those rights supposedly guaranteed in Kazakhstan is
open to serious criticism. For example, the Organisation for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has found that court proceedings in the
country do not offer the guaranteed right to a fair trial. In a February
2007 report on trial monitoring, the OSCE found that Kazakh court
proceedings needed to offer "the right of the public to attend court,
equality between the parties and the presumption of innocence" (see
<http://www.osce.org/item/23396.html>). Similarly, legal experts have told
Forum 18 that terrorism charges brought against 15 devout Muslims - which
resulted in jail sentences of up to 19 and a half years - were not proven,
and that at least fourteen of the accused are completely innocent (see
F18News  8 April 2008
<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1110>). (END)
 
For a personal commentary on how attacking religious freedom damages
national security in Kazakhstan, see F18News
<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=564>.
 
For more background, see Forum 18's Kazakhstan religious freedom survey at
<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=701>.
 
More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Kazakhstan
can be found at
<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?query=&religion=all&country=29>.
 
A survey of the religious freedom decline in the eastern part of the
Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) area is at
<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=806> and a survey of
religious intolerance in Central Asia is at
<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=815>.
 
A printer-friendly map of Kazakhstan is available at
<http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html?Parent=asia&Rootmap=kazakh>.