Kazakhstan

While it’s good that Pastor Djabbarbergenov has not yet been extradited, the wait continues. Currently in prison in Kazakhstan, he awaits decisions of whether or not he will be extradited to his native Uzbekistan where he could face up to fifteen years in prison for hosting a house church in his home. The article goes on to say, “Evangelical Christians in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and other former Soviet nations say they are often forced to gather in underground house churches as authorities refuse to recognize their congregations and groups.”

With the new religion laws in full effect Kazakhstan’s religious minorities, which includes Baptists and Protestants, struggle with what on the surface looks like religious freedom, but in action infringes it instead. The standards required to have your religion or faith group approved by the government are nearly impossible for religious minorities. This article states, “The new law sets what critics see as a much higher bar for religious groups on membership requirements, calling for minimum membership of 5,000 nationally, 500 regionally, and 50 locally. The law also contains provisions covering the vetting of religious literature and tightens guidelines for the training of clergy.” Many argue that the government is trying to control the way religion is practiced in the country. Opponents of the religion law continue to believe that choices about religion and faith are personal, private and should not be controlled by the government. We agree.

Last year Kazakhstan enacted a Religion Law which required religious organizations to be registered with the government. Any previously approved religious organizations were required to re-register. This left hundreds of churches at the mercy of the government, who has made things difficult for Christians and other religious groups. Over the summer officials went so far as to tell Christians that if they continued to meet together while “un-registered” their homes could be confiscated. Dmitry Yantsen of the Council of Churches Baptist says that it doesn’t really matter if you are registered or not because "the authorities will continue attacking, pressuring and raiding." His “case-in-point” happened just last week when “several other officials filmed the worship service, wrote down the names of the worshippers, and left. ‘We suppose that a case will be brought against the members of the Church,’” Ynatsen said.

The family of Makset Djabbarbergenov is waiting the results of today’s trial which could determine whether or not Kazakhstan will extradite him to Uzbekistan where he faces charges of “practicing religion outside state regulations”. Everything that could be made complicated for this family has been. They have desperately been trying to gain refugee status, however the papers they filed in August have been “lost”. "We can't understand why they cannot find it," Forum 18 quoted the bureau’s Denis Dzhigava as saying. "It seems the application has been lost." His fate hangs in the balance. If he is sent back the concern is that he will face torture and unfair imprisonment in Uzbekistan, which is number 7 on the World Watch List of dangerous countries to be a Christian.

If you’ve been following the case of Makset Djabbarbergenov, from Kazakhstan, this article is a great sum up of the basics. This pastor escaped from Uzbekistan where he was accused of practicing religion in his home. He is in danger of being extradited and many worry for his future if he is.

On October 25, 2012 the government of Kazakhstan enforced the new “re-registration” deadline for all religious communities, churches etc.  All churches were required to turn in paperwork that included the signatures of individuals who were church members, as you were required to have at least 50 members for your church to be even eligible to register.  In the days leading up to the deadline authorities were contacting those who had signed pressuring and harassing them to revoke their signatures. One Christian said he was, "weary of all these phone calls and visit from the officials."

Uzbekistan is a difficult country in which to be a Christian. Currently, all Protestant Christian churches are considered illegal. So much so, that a pastor and his family escaped to Kazakhstan in hopes of gaining asylum due to the persecution they faced. Now, he has been arrested in Kazakhstan, despite the United Nations saying he should be granted asylum. This article states that if extradited back to Uzbekistan he could be facing up to three years in prison, however ICC sources have reported it could be as high as fifteen years. The next two weeks are critical and will dictate the future of this pastor and his family.

A pastor who fled from Uzbekistan to evade arrest for the “crime” of holding “illegal” religious meetings in his home has been arrested in Kazakhstan where he and his family were living as refugees. The police actually held his sister-in-law for two weeks in attempts to use her to lure him out of hiding so he could be arrested. In June the United Nations Committee Against Torture condemned Kazakhstan for sending refugees and asylum seekers back to Uzbekistan to face torture and long prison terms. The worry now is that this pastor will face that same fate if sent back to his home country.

Kazakhstan is not known for fair trials. So far their “restrictive law on religion” has been harmful to churches and Christians.

“Kazakhstan continues to use property-related legal cases as a way of stopping people exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief,” says Forum 18 News.

A pastor, who was found guilty of “severe damage to health due to negligence” because he prayed for a sick man, is rejoicing that the ruling was overturned. His fine and court costs were overturned by the Supreme Court. Though he should never have been convicted of anything in the first place, we are glad the Supreme Court recognized that and reversed the initial decision.

The Government of Kazakhstan boasts of its religious tolerance, but makes it nearly impossible for churches to exist, much less meet together for worship. All religious groups must register with the government to legally exist. They must have at least 50 members before they are eligible for registration. Churches must register their location and are not allowed to meet anywhere but that locale. This makes small group meetings in the home or churches with less than 50 members illegal. Paperwork can take years to go through, and legal status can be taken away for virtually no reason. This, friends, is not a country that is tolerant. It is a country that says it is, but whose actions speak something entirely different.

Religious tensions run high all over the world. A “global congress of faiths,” held in Kazakhstan, was an attempt to foster discussion, primarily between the Islam and Christian faiths. “The conference is a bold reminder to the world that people of different faiths and ethnic backgrounds can and should live together in peace,” said an official at the event. The first congress, in 2003 came to the conclusion that, "extremism, terrorism and other forms of violence in the name of religion... are threat to human life and should be rejected". In this, the fourth congress, hopes are for similar breakthroughs.

A Baptist man in Kazakhstan says he kept his religious literature in his house and didn’t leave it at his neighbors doors.  The police, apparently, forced his neighbors to write false testimonies claiming that he did this, which is an illegal missionary activity. One neighbor told Forum 18 that they were “not even sure what I signed for the police.” This seems like another case of police making excuses to raid the homes of Christians and arrest them based on the Christian literature they have in their homes. Kazakhstan needs to change the laws that discriminate against religious minorities and begin enforcing laws that protect “their internationally recognized right to freedom of religion or belief…”

New State Censorship Regulations make it difficult for religious literature to be produced or brought into the country of Kazakhstan. So far, the only ones approved have been of Muslim origin.

 In recent weeks the clamp down on religions has intensified, with arbitrary arrests and seizure of material.