New Restrictions Severely Limit Religion in Kazakhstan

(Forum 18) – New national security amendments signed by President Nursultan Nazarbayev on 8 July have brought in tight new restrictions on religious activity that violate Kazakhstan ‘s international human rights commitments. All unregistered religious activity is now illegal and those leading or taking part in unregistered religious meetings can be fined. Missionary activity by local people and foreigners is illegal unless missionaries are from a registered religious organisation and have individual registration from the authorities of the local area where they operate. Literature for use by missionaries requires prior censorship from local authorities. The OSCE had urged that the ban on unregistered religious activity should be excluded from the law. “Unfortunately this was not done,” an official of the OSCE mission in Almaty told Forum 18 News Service. The OSCE is preparing a detailed critique of the “overly restrictive” new law.