Kazakhstan--Christian Persecution in Kazakhstan

Religious Atmosphere: Islam is the dominant religion comprising some 47% of the population. Orthodox Christianity is also represented in around 44% of the population. Protestant Christianity accounts for around 2% of the population.

• Extremist activity has been very minor and has not shown any political or large-scale organization.

Government:

• The constitution provides for the freedom of religion.
     
• The constitution also states that the foreign religious organizations must be "in coordination" with the government in both the appointment of local leaders and normal activities.
    
• Some missionaries have complained of harassment by low level officials but the extent and effect of these actions is not believed to be wide-spread.
     

• March 5, 2003 - Police threatened and briefly detained Nurbai Arystanov in Arys for distributing aid from the Good Samaritan international charity. Authorities stated that the charity was registered in Chimkent and was not authorized to distribute items in other areas of the country. Arystanov's personal possessions were confiscated from his apartment and police reportedly ordered that his children be denied schooling. (F-18 News)
    
• September 8, 2002 - Police and National Security agents raided the home of a Baptist pastor during a Bible study in Atyrau. All eight Christians involved were hauled off to the police station where Pastor Kormangazy Abdumuratov was told to write a statement declaring that he would not hold any more religious meetings in his home. Pastor Abdumuratov refused to sign and was told that he could face imprisonment because this was his third offense. Video footage taken during the raid was later aired on TV, wanring of "dangerous cults." Pastor Abdumuratov has since been expelled from the Atyrau Oil and Gas Institute where he had been a student (Keston).
     
• July 1, 2002 - Congregations and leaders of non-registered Baptist and Evangelical churches, are being targeted with "fines, legal proceedings, and threats." A new law was moved through the government to ban all unregistered religious groups, but it was not passed. (ANS)
  
• May 26, 2002 - The house of a Baptist family was sealed by authorities in Georgievka in Zharma district of Eastern Kazakhstan region because the family refused to register the house church that operated from their home. A washing machine was also confiscated because the family refused to pay a fine which was leveled against them in February 2002 for operating an illegal church. (Keston)
     
• January 23, 2002 - Baptist Christian Tursunbai Auelbekov was arrested in Turkestan for distributing Christian materials in the town market. Authorities also confiscated the religious materials saying that Auelbekov could not distribute materials because his church was not registered in Turkestan. Auelbekov was later released, and the materials were returned to him. (Keston)
     
• November 17, 2001 – Baptist leader Asylbek Nurdanov was released (see November 10, 2001) when a delegation of Baptist leaders visited him in the town of Kyzyl-Orda.   (KNS)          
      
• November 10, 2001 – Police forces arrested Baptist leader Asylbek Nurdanov and transported him to a psychiatric hospital in Kyzyl-Orda after the “police allegedly pressured his parents to write a statement of his activities.”   At the latter of October, the police beat and threatened Nurdanov for his work with the church.   (KNS)
            
• May 2, 2001 – A small Baptist congregation was declared illegal because it was not registered with the government. Kurmangazy Abdumuratov and Ashkat Akunkhanov were threatened with jail and heavy fines if they did not sign a statement declaring that they would stop all religious activities. The two church leaders acquiesced but later appealed the court order on the grounds that Kazakh law does not prohibit unregistered religious groups from functioning. Authorities argue that the Baptist group had formed an association, which must be registered under law.
     
• March 27-28, 2001 – Protestant Christians were given the opportunity to publicly explain their faith to government officials at the Turkic-Arabic center in Almaty. The purpose of the presentation was to convince officials that Protestantism is a legitimate religion. A proposed bill would label all non-traditional Muslim and non-traditional Orthodox groups as extremists and impose up to one year of corrective labor on anyone spreading these "extremist" religions.
     
• November 17, 1998 - A bomb was throw into the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Almaty. Little damage and no injuries were reported. The bombing temporarily disrupted the church's citywide evangelistic crusade as the owners of the building where the meeting was to be held canceled the church contract.
    
• 1996 -The government controlled television proposed stopping missionaries from preaching "Christianity and Krishna ideas on our soils," in an effort to stop conversions to foreign religions. No actual action has been taken.
     

Prisoners: There is no evidence that prisoners are being held for their Christian activities at this time.

• Pray for the Christians of Kazakhstan that they may continue to be protected from harm and that the Christian message may be heard and received by all.
• Write a respectful letter to one or more of the government officials listed below. Express your continuing concern for the safety and well-being of the Christian community in Kazakhstan. Request information about what steps the government is taking to ensure their protection and freedom to practice their faith as laid out in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights documents.
• Contact the elected national officials (Senators, Congressman etc.) for your area as well as the U.S. State Department and express concern for the well being of the Christians in Kazakhstan asking them to make an inquiry into their status.
• Please keep us informed of any replies or results you may receive! Contact ICC by email at icc@persecution.org.

POSTED:  April 23, 2003

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