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Alarming
developments for religious freedom in Kazakhstan
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
PAGE E74
Feb. 5, 2002
ALARMING DEVELOPMENTS FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN KAZAKHSTAN
HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH
OF NEW JERSEY
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tuesday, February 5, 2002
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, troubling amendments to the current Kazakh law on
religion await President Nursultan Nazarbayev's signature to enter into force. Both the
lower and upper houses of the Kazakh parliament passed the amendments without any
substantive modifications. As a result, if President Nazarbayev signs the legislation into
law during the ten-day window, Kazakhstan would seriously undermine its commitments as a
participating State in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to
ensure the freedom of the individual to profess and practice their religion or belief.
Introduced without public consultation in late November 2001, the amendments passed the
lower house on January 17 and the upper house on January 31 of this year. The sudden rush
to passage was surprising. Kazakhstan had been working with the OSCE Advisory Panel of
Experts for Freedom of Religion or Belief to craft a law in harmony with its OSCE
commitments. In fact, an earlier draft heavily criticized by the Advisory Panel was
withdrawn in August 2001. The Advisory Panel issued a report on the latest draft on
January 16, 2002, highlighting serious deficiencies in the text. However, it appears
little heed was given to their critique. Reportedly, the executive branch pushed
vigorously for legislation providing stricter controls on minority religious groups, which
would explain the rapid consideration.
In response to these unfolding events, myself, Chairman BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL and six
other Commissioners of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Helsinki
Commission, wrote President Nazarbayev last week about these developments. The text of
that letter which I am submitting for the RECORD, highlights several, but not all
problematic elements of the recently passed legislation. Of particular note are the
increased hurdles for registration and vaguely worded articles, which could allow for
arbitrary denials of registration for religious groups, and consequently their legal
existence. Accordingly, there is great concern for the future of religious freedom in
Kazakhstan, whether for Muslims or Christians.
Mr. Speaker, in the letter we respectfully asked President Nazarbayev not to sign the
amendments into law.
Our concerns are not based on mere supposition; related laws and regulations have been
utilized to suppress faith communities in Kazakhstan. For example, this past summer
Article 375 of the Administrative Code was introduced, requiring the registration of all
religious groups and including language penalizing unregistered religious groups. Police
have since justified several raids on religious meetings citing Article 375, resulting in
harassment and imprisonment as well as reported beatings and torture. Actions late last
year against unregistered Baptist pastors is an illustrative example.
On October 27, 2001, Pastor Asylbek Nurdanov, a Baptist leader in the Kyzyl-Orda regional
city of Kazalinsk, went to a police station after his church was raided for failing to
register. Once there, he was reportedly severely beaten and stripped, with one officer
attempting to strangle him with a belt. Another threatened to cut off his tongue with
scissors if he did not renounce his faith. It was also reported that on November 10,
Pastor Nurdanov was forcibly taken and detained in a psychiatric hospital in Kyzyl-Orda.
While he was released on November 16, such abuse is unacceptable. Other reports of police
harassment and detention of Baptist pastors who have not registered their faith
communities also exist. For example, on September 25, 2001, the Aktobe public prosecutor
initiated legal proceedings against Baptist Pastor Vasily Kliver on the charge of
"evading the registration of a religious community." In October, Baptist pastor
Valery Pak was jailed in Kyzyl-Orda for five days on the same charge.
These reports of harassment, torture and detention indicate a serious failure to uphold
Kazakhstan's human rights commitments as an OSCE participating State. As is evident, our
concerns about Kazakh authorities utilizing the proposed amendment's restrictive nature to
harass, if not condemn, religious groups are borne out by past practice in Kazkahstan. Mr.
Speaker, it is my hope that President Nazarbayev will honor the obligations his nation
freely chose to uphold as a participating OSCE state and not sign the amendments into law.
Mr. Speaker, I request that the text of the letter sent to President Nazarbayev last week
be included in the RECORD.
January 30, 2002.
His Excellency NURSULTAN NAZARBAYEV,
President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Astana, Kazakhstan.
DEAR PRESIDENT NAZARBAYEV: We write today to express our concern over the proposed
amendments to the Law on Freedom of Religion and Religious Associations. We view the
amendments, scheduled for consideration by the Senate on January 31st, as problematic,
since they would seriously undermine Kazakhstan's commitments to human rights as a
participating State in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Therefore, should the Kazakh Senate approve the amendments, we respectfully ask that you
not sign them into law.
The OSCE Advisory Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion and Belief issued a review of
the proposed amendments on January 16, 2002. The review found the proposed amendments,
while an improvement from an earlier draft withdrawn in August 2001, seriously deficient
in many respects. In addition, the OSCE Centre in Almaty has stated the current religion
law meets international standards and found no justification for initiating the new
provisions. Therefore, we believe the remarks contained in the OSCE Advisory Panel
critique should be followed fully.
Problematic areas include, but are not limited to, permitting the registration of Muslim
groups and the building of mosques only after a recommendation of the Spiritual
Administration of Muslims of Kazakhstan. In addition, the number of individuals required
to form a religious association would increase from 10 to 50, regardless of religion.
Furthermore, the proposed amendments would permit dissolution of a religious group should
individual members of the group commit repeated violations of the law. Each of these
examples would allow the government to arbitrarily deny registration, and thereby legal
existence, on specious legal grounds not in harmony with OSCE commitments.
[Page E75]
Reportedly, your government's justification for the new requirements in the current
amendments, which create hurdles for registration, is to combat religious extremism. Yet
the definition of "religious extremism" in the amendments is vague and
inherently problematic, potentially categorizing and prohibiting groups on the basis of
their beliefs, rather than on their having committed illegal actions. Such vague language
would allow the arbitrary interpretation of a group's beliefs and uneven implementation of
the law.
Our fear of Kazakh authorities harshly employing new requirements against religious groups
is not unfounded. While the existing religion law does not require registration of faith
communities, Article 375 of the Administrative Code, a provision added last year, requires
the registration of faith communities. Since the promulgation of that article, we have
received several reports of unregistered groups being penalized through criminal
sanctions, as well as individuals being beaten while in custody. The harassment, detention
and beating of individuals for merely belonging to unregistered religious groups, as well
as disproportionate criminal charges for an administrative violation, are in direct
violation of OSCE commitments.
In calling for these actions, we remind you of the 1991 Moscow Document in which the OSCE
participating States declared that "issues relating to human rights, fundamental
freedoms, democracy and the rule of law are of international concern" and "are
matters of direct and legitimate concern to all participating States and do not belong
exclusively to the internal affairs of the State concerned." It is in this light that
these requests are made.
Last autumn, your government made a wise decision by choosing to honor its OSCE
commitments and withdrawing the earlier version of the amendments. Recognizing the crucial
importance that the very highest standards of religious freedom and human rights agreed to
and proclaimed in various Helsinki documents be upheld, we respectfully urge you to take
similar steps and not sign the amendments into law, should they pass the Senate without
substantive modification.
Sincerely,
Ben Nighthorse Campbell, U.S.S. Chairman, Steny H. Hoyer, M.C., Zach Wamp, M.C., Alcee L.
Hastings, M.C., Christopher H. Smith, M.C. Co-Chairman, Joseph R. Pitts, M.C., Robert B.
Aderholt, M.C., Louise McIntosh Slaughter, M.C.
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Congressional Record.08 Feb 2002 |
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