Source: www.forum18.org
Date: January 5, 2022
As the regime declares a state of emergency and bans mass meetings in some
areas, legal changes from 9 January increase the obstacles for holding
religious meetings away from state-registered places of worship. Human
rights defenders such as the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human
Rights and the Rule of Law have documented the regime's already severe
restrictions on the right of peaceful assembly and to hold demonstrations.
Orthodox Christmas night services (due on 6/7 January) in state of
emergency areas have been cancelled.
KAZAKHSTAN: Legal changes increase obstacles for holding religious meetings
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Felix Corley, Forum 18
On 29 December 2021, President Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev signed into law
amendments to the Religion Law to make holding religious events away from
state-registered places of worship more difficult. The amendments come into
force on 9 January.
The new requirements come amid large scale nationwide demonstrations
against the regime
(https://www.rferl.org/a/kazak
The protests were initially against fuel price rises, but have now embraced
issues such as corruption and lack of democracy. President Tokayev declared
a state of emergency and banned mass meetings
(https://www.hrw.org/news/2022
in some areas.
Night services for Russian Orthodox Christmas on the night of 6 to 7
January have been cancelled in areas under a state of emergency, according
to Fr Yevgeny Ivanov, press secretary to the Russian Orthodox Metropolia in
Kazakhstan. Such areas are Almaty, Almaty Region, Nur-Sultan and Mangistau
Region, where the curfew runs from 11 pm to 7 am. "We intend to hold normal
Christmas night services elsewhere, as well as day services everywhere," he
told Forum 18 on 5 January.
The Religion Law amendments do not change the current situation of
religious communities without state registration having no permission to
exist. All exercise of freedom of religion or belief by them remains
illegal (see below).
Any state-registered religious community which wants to hold a pilgrimage
or other event away from their own state-registered place of worship now
has to have advance state permission for such an event, a burdensome
process. Local officials are given many ways to arbitrarily refuse such
requests. Some fear local police might also apply the new rules to regular
worship meetings in rented venues (see below).
With the adoption of the new Religion Law amendments, state-registered
religious communities are now required to:
- seek permission for such events from local administrations at least 10
working days in advance;
- and provide precise and exhaustive detail about the proposed event, some
of which the religious community will find difficult to provide in advance.
The precise details required include the date, start and end time, how
people will get there, whether loud speakers will be used, and how many
vehicles will be used as well as their travel route (see below).
It appears that only one-off special events registered religious
communities want to hold away from their normal places of worship now
require official permission in advance. The earlier version of the
amendments would have required official permission for any meeting,
including for meetings for worship in a rented venue (see below).
"Actually, they did not need to make the new rules," a legal specialist who
wished to remain anonymous told Forum 18. "They just needed to apply the
existing procedures for public gatherings (which are also problematic) to
religious events in public and open spaces" (see below).
The Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law
has documented, in a report published on 6 April 2021, that the regime
repeatedly severely restricts exercise of the right of peaceful assembly
and to hold demonstrations (see below).
The legal specialist says everything will depend on how the police and
other state agencies enforce the new law. "If they apply these new rules
only in cases of religious services in public and open spaces (such as
events in public squares or big congresses at a stadium), I do not see
serious problems," the legal specialist told Forum 18. "If they apply these
rules to regular religious services in rented buildings or offices, it will
negatively impact many religious communities" (see below).
The legal specialist also questioned whether ordinary police officers would
know that the new requirements would not apply to religious communities
meeting in rented premises. Many Protestant, Jehovah's Witness, and Hare
Krishna communities are among those which do not own their own buildings
and meet in such premises. "Much will depend on the instructions of
religious affairs authorities and the discretion of local or national
officials" (see below).
Between 1 January and 31 August 2021, the regime fined at least 15 people
(one twice) and three organisations for holding meetings for worship,
hosting such meetings, maintaining places for such meetings, or holding
other religious rituals without state permission. After a Muslim was fined
for leading Friday prayers, a police officer told Forum 18: "It is not
allowed to pray at any location unless it's approved." Challenged about
open surveillance of Baptists meeting for worship, an official claimed:
"This isn't spying, this is monitoring," adding "we go to mosques,
churches". The Religion Law amendments do not change the legal framework
which facilitates such violations of freedom of religion and belief (see
below).
The amendments describe seeking permission for such religious events from
local administrations as "notification". But as officials must give
permission before such events are allowed, this represents a requirement
for advance state permission to exercise human rights, one human rights
defender told Forum 18 (see below).
The legal specialist also questioned why one-off religious events on the
streets, away from a place of worship a community normally uses, require a
special type of permission. "Such events would be more akin to
demonstrations or processions," the legal specialist notes. "And for this
we already have a Law on the Procedure for Organising and Holding Peaceful
Meetings".
The amendments also include a new definition in Article 1 of the Religion
Law of "informational material of religious content" subject to prior
compulsory state censorship, which specifies "printed, electronic and other
information of religious character on any device" (see below).
All the other provisions of the amendments on Visual Information and
Religious Activity – which were prepared by the Culture and Sports
Ministry - are directed at ensuring that announcements, advertisements and
menus are published in both Kazakh and Russian. It remains unclear why the
Religion Law amendments were included in amendments connected with
language.
"They're behaving very strangely"
The process of preparing and considering these Religion Law amendments has
been opaque. The Information and Social Development Ministry – whose role
includes restricting freedom of religion or belief – initially included
the amendments in a proposed new Law on Social Control made public in
January 2021 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Prime Minister's Office sent the draft Law for revision on 29 June 2021,
ordering that the provisions amending the Religion Law be removed from that
Law.
Yet the Religion Law amendments were suddenly added to amendments to Laws
on Visual Information more than seven months after the Majilis had adopted
the Visual Information amendments in the first reading and just before they
were due for their second reading on 6 October 2021
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
very strangely," one individual who has been monitoring the proposed
amendments told Forum 18 from the capital Nur-Sultan in October 2021.
Amendments adopted
After the Majilis adopted the amendments on 6 October 2021 they were sent
to the upper house, the Senate. After removing several provisions, the
Senate's Plenary Session adopted the amendments in both their first and
second readings (https://www.forum18.org/archi
December 2021. After the revised amendments were adopted in their second
reading, the Senate sent them back to the Majilis, the lower house.
On 8 December 2021, the Majilis approved the amendments as adopted by the
Senate and sent them to the President. President Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev
signed them into law on 29 December 2021, according to the presidential
website. The text was published officially in Kazakh and Russian on 30
December 2021. They come into force on 9 January 2022, 10 calendar days
after their official publication.
The telephone of Yerzhan Nukezhanov, chair of the Information and Social
Development's Religious Affairs Committee
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
time Forum 18 called on 5 January 2022.
Beimbet Manetov, head of the Department of Law Enforcement Practice in the
Field of Religious Activities at the Religious Affairs Committee, had led
the work on the Religion Law amendments. He and other staff in the
Department were on leave on 5 January, a colleague told Forum 18.
Already tight restrictions on exercising freedom of religion or belief
Against international law, the regime bans the exercise of freedom of
religion or belief without state permission
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
religious communities have described the state registration process as
"complex", "burdensome", "arbitrary", "unnecessary" and "expensive".
Even communities that have state permission need permission for the
location of where they hold meetings for worship. Those who violate these
provisions, and those who choose to meet for worship without seeking state
permission, face punishment.
In February 2019, police raided a group of Hare Krishna devotees as they
were meeting for devotional chants
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
The Regional Religious Affairs Department drew up a record of an "offence"
against the community and sent it to court. However, the court sent the
case back. The Department later withdrew the case. The raid came four
months after the Hare Krishna community had gained state registration.
The regime also imposes tight restrictions on religious literature and
other materials (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Religious literature is subject to compulsory pre-publication censorship
and – together with icons, pictures and jewellery with religious
inscriptions - can be distributed only in state-approved venues. Sharing
faith with others without state permission is also banned.
In January 2021, a court in Pavlodar fined Alyona Aidina for offering a
copy of the Koran for sale online
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
The regime has used state "expert analyses" of religious texts to target
religious communities. Claims that reading Jehovah's Witness texts harms
mental health led to Jehovah's Witness communities in March and April being
ordered to pay over three years' average wages to plaintiffs. A Justice
Ministry "expert analysis" was used to make the claims
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
despite 63 per cent of the "analysis" being plagiarised and an academic
analysis finding it "cannot be accepted as comprehensive, complete,
scientifically based, or in accordance with the normative demands presented
to the specialists for investigation".
New restrictions on religious meetings
The changes to the Religion Law make the ability of state-registered
religious communities to hold events away from their state-registered
places of worship more difficult.
Under a new Religion Law Article 7-1, any religious community which wants
to hold a pilgrimage or other event away from their own place of worship
must now get state permission for the event in advance.
A provision (added while the text was in the Senate) specifies that this
permission requirement does not apply to religious events specified in
Religion Law (https://www.forum18.org/archi
7, Part 2. This states: "Religious services, religious rituals, ceremonies
and meetings can be held unobstructed in places of worship and at sites
assigned to them, in shrines, in institutions and premises of [registered]
religious associations, at cemeteries and in crematoria, homes, public
eating venues in cases of necessity on condition of observing the rights
and interests of people living nearby."
The Religion Law changes require state-registered religious communities:
- to seek permission for such events from local administrations at least 10
working days in advance;
- and provide precise and exhaustive detail about the proposed event, some
of which the religious community will find difficult to provide in advance.
The precise details required include the date, start and end time, how
people will get there, whether loud speakers will be used, and how many
vehicles will be used as well as their travel route.
Officials given many ways to arbitrarily ban religious meetings
Local officials are given many ways to arbitrarily refuse requests for
permission to hold meetings. They have five working days from receiving the
application to request extra information if they think the planned activity
or the information supplied is not in accordance with state requirements.
The state-registered religious community would then have two working days
to submit a revised application. If the community fails to lodge the
revised application on time, or fails to remove any unspecified
inconsistencies in the application, officials can withhold permission up to
two calendar days before the meeting or event is due to take place.
Decisions on whether an application does not meet state requirements, has
unspecified inconsistencies, or the information supplied is incomplete or
unacceptable in any way, are made by state officials. The only possibility
of appeal is to resubmit an application.
"Communities would have arranged transport and amplifying equipment, and
advertised the event, and then at the last minute receive news that the
local authority had banned it, when it would be too late to get their money
back," one religious leader told Forum 18 in August 2021
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
The amendments describe seeking permission for such religious events from
local administrations as "notification". But as officials must give
permission before such events are allowed, this represents a requirement
for advance state permission to exercise human rights
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
defender told Forum 18 in August 2021.
The legal specialist also questioned why one-off religious events on the
streets, away from a place of worship a community normally uses, require a
special type of permission. "Such events would be more akin to
demonstrations or processions," the legal specialist noted. "And for this
we already have a Law on the Procedure for Organising and Holding Peaceful
Meetings".
"They did not need to make the new rules"
"Actually, they did not need to make the new rules," the legal specialist
told Forum 18. "They just needed to apply the existing procedures for
public gatherings (which are also problematic) to religious events in
public and open spaces."
The Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law
has documented, in a report published on 6 April 2021
(https://bureau.kz/wp-content/
regime repeatedly severely restricts exercise of the right of peaceful
assembly and to hold demonstrations.
Between 1 January and 31 August 2021, the regime fined at least 15 people
(one twice) and three organisations for holding meetings for worship,
hosting such meetings, maintaining places for such meetings, or holding
other religious rituals without state permission
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
fined for leading Friday prayers, a police officer told Forum 18: "It is
not allowed to pray at any location unless it's approved." Challenged about
open surveillance of Baptists meeting for worship, an official claimed:
"This isn't spying, this is monitoring," adding "we go to mosques,
churches."
How will new amendments be implemented?
A legal specialist says everything will depend on how the police and other
state agencies enforce the new law. "If they apply these new rules only in
cases of religious services in public and open spaces (such as events in
public squares or big congresses at a stadium), I do not see serious
problems," the legal specialist told Forum 18 from Almaty on 5 January. "If
they apply these rules to regular religious services in rented buildings or
offices, it will negatively impact many religious communities."
Many Protestant, Jehovah's Witness, and Hare Krishna communities are among
those which do not own their own buildings and meet in such premises.
The legal specialist also questioned whether ordinary police officers would
know that the new requirements would not apply to religious communities
meeting in rented premises. "Much will depend on the instructions of
religious affairs authorities and the discretion of local or national
officials."
Violating human rights obligations
Kazakhstan's international human rights obligations require the regime to
protect the right to freedom of assembly, and of the interlinked freedom of
religion and belief. "The right to freedom of peaceful assembly can be
enjoyed and exercised by individuals and groups (informal or ad hoc), legal
entities and corporate bodies, and unregistered or registered associations,
including trade unions, political parties and religious groups," states the
Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly
(https://www.venice.coe.int/we
produced by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
and the Council of Europe's Venice Commission.
"A prior notice requirement is a de facto interference with the right to
freedom of assembly, and any such requirement should therefore be
prescribed by law, necessary and proportionate," the OSCE/Venice Commission
Guidelines add. "A notification regime should never be turned into a de
facto authorization procedure. The procedure for providing advance
notification to the public authorities should not be onerous or overly
bureaucratic."
Similarly, the OSCE / Council of Europe Venice Commission Guidelines on the
Legal Personality of Religious or Belief Communities
(https://www.osce.org/files/f/
international human rights law: "State permission may not be made a
condition for the exercise of the freedom of religion or belief. The
freedom of religion or belief, whether manifested alone or in community
with others, in public or in private, cannot be made subject to prior
registration or other similar procedures, since it belongs to human beings
and communities as rights holders and does not depend on official
authorization."
The Guidelines also note that this includes "pilgrimages and participation
in assemblies and other religious events," and in paragraphs 5 to 9 outline
the only legally permissible grounds on which the freedom can be limited.
The regime's Visual Information and Religious Activity amendments ignore
these grounds.
Separate proposed Religion Law amendments still current?
The Information and Social Development Ministry has separately prepared
other draft amendments to both the Religion Law and the Administrative
Code.
According to July 2021 drafts
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Religion Law changes would remove the requirement for religious objects
(such as icons, prayer mats, Koran stands, religious pictures or jewellery)
to need state approval before they can be sold or distributed. Many people
have been fined for offering such items for sale without state permission.
The requirement for religious literature published by state-registered
religious organisations to undergo state censorship before it could be
published, distributed or imported would be removed. However, anyone else
producing written religious materials would have to submit them for prior
compulsory state censorship.
According to July 2021 drafts
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Administrative Code changes would halve fines for some "offences" for
violating the Religion Law under Article 490 of the Administrative Code,
and the possibility of a warning on the first occasion would be introduced.
The Information and Social Development Ministry also prepared these
amendments, and in August 2021 a Justice Ministry official told Forum 18
that "these amendments haven't been discussed and approved yet".
Officials at the Information and Social Development Ministry's Religious
Affairs Committee were unavailable in January 2022 to answer questions, so
it is unclear if the July 2021 changes to the Religion Law and
Administrative Code are still being considered. If they are, other
ministries and then the government as a whole would have to approve any
draft laws before they are sent to Parliament for adoption. (END)
Full reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Kazakhstan
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
For more background, see Forum 18's Kazakhstan religious freedom survey
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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