The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief
15 November 2024
KAZAKHSTAN: Court bailiffs burn book seized at border, owner fined
On 12 July, border guards seized "Selected Hadiths" by Muhammad Yusuf Kandhlawi from Russian-based Kyrgyz citizen Sardor Abdullayev. The same day a court fined him 6 weeks' average wages for the book containing "social, national, clan, racial, or religious discord" and ordered it confiscated "with subsequent destruction". Asked what had happened to Abdullayev's book, Raikhan Nurzhalpova, head of North Kazakhstan Regional Justice Department's Implementation of Court Decisions Department, responded: "It was burnt." Under the strict religious censorship system, travellers can import only one copy of any religious book.
14 November 2024
KAZAKHSTAN: Religious Affairs Department "fighting against a quote from the Koran?"
Astana's Religious Affairs Department is seeking to punish Nurtas Adambay for quoting from the Koran in a video discussion on Islam on Instagram. "Frankly, I didn't know that in our country it is not allowed to quote a translation of the Koran," he wrote. Astana Inter-District Specialised Administrative Court has not yet heard the case. Department Head Kairolla Keshkali would not say why Adambay should be punished. Courts in Atyrau Region fined two people 3 weeks' average wage each for quoting from the Koran online.
7 November 2024
KAZAKHSTAN: Constitutional challenge to sharing faith ban
Courts have twice fined Zhangazy Biimbetov, a Jehovah's Witness from Oskemen, 2 months' average wages for sharing his faith. In July he challenged the constitutionality of the ban on and punishments for sharing faith. The Constitutional Court accepted the case on 4 October but has not yet set a date for a hearing, which will be held in public. No one was available at the regime's Religious Affairs Committee to explain why individuals continue to be punished for talking to others about their faith. Regime-sponsored warnings against so-called "destructive religious movements" and sharing faith are widespread in advertisements – including on bills for utilities and on public transport.
27 May 2024
KAZAKHSTAN: Regime ignores UN alternative service recommendations
"The law does not directly recognise the right of an individual to refuse to carry out military service on religious or other grounds," Kazakhstan told the UN Human Rights Committee on 2 April in response to questions about progress on an alternative to compulsory military service. The regime did not explain why it does not recognise this right. The regime's Human Rights Commissioner Artur Lastayev did not answer Forum 18's questions. Conscription Offices often pressure young men who refuse to serve in the armed forces on grounds of conscience.
24 May 2024
KAZAKHSTAN: Conscientious objector's 6 months in military detention
In autumn 2022, Jehovah's Witness Daniil Smal presented the Conscription Office a certificate from the Jehovah's Witness Centre that he is a "religious minister". This should have exempted him from conscription. He was summoned on 17 May 2023, and forcibly transferred to a military unit. He was freed only in November 2023 when Almaty Military Garrison Court ruled his conscription illegal. The Military Court rejected the military's appeal in April 2024. Smal's conscientious objection "may lead to mass negative consequences and wide public resonance", the military claimed.
3 May 2024
KAZAKHSTAN: One district, 4 police raids, 7 fines
Police in Shu District of southern Kazakhstan raided four meetings for worship of three unregistered Protestant communities and issued six summary fines in March and April. A local court handed down another fine. The leader of one church, 76-year-old Pastor Andrei Boiprav, awaits a court hearing, despite his health condition. Church members say the situation is causing "a threat to his life and health". Forum 18 could not reach the police involved in the raids and fines. "The police are to blame," says regional religious affairs official Saule Baibatshayeva.
5 April 2024
KAZAKHSTAN: List of 203 known 2023 administrative prosecutions
The 203 known administrative prosecutions in 2023 for exercising freedom of religion or belief are listed here. More than one third punished individuals for posting religious materials on social media without state permission. A quarter punished individuals for offering religious literature for sale - in shops or online - without state permission. One individual and one charity were prosecuted for having religious books, although this is not an offence. The Culture and Information Ministry (of which the Religious Affairs Committee is a part) claimed wrongly that there were only 139 such cases in 2023.
4 April 2024
KAZAKHSTAN: 203 known administrative prosecutions in 2023
A third of the 203 known administrative prosecutions in 2023 for exercising freedom of religion or belief punished individuals for religious posts on social media without state permission. Nearly a quarter were punished for offering religious literature for sale - in shops or online - without state permission. One individual and one charity were prosecuted for having religious books, although this is not an offence. The Culture and Information Ministry (of which the Religious Affairs Committee is a part) claimed wrongly that there were only 139 such cases in 2023. Long-promised amendments to Administrative Code Article 490 ("Violating the Religion Law") to reduce some punishments were presented to the non-freely-elected Parliament in July 2023, but have not yet been considered.
16 February 2024
RUSSIA: 42 on Federal Wanted List for exercising freedom of religion or belief
Russia's Interior Ministry Federal Wanted List includes: 3 opponents of Russia's war against Ukraine on religious grounds; 6 Muslim Nursi readers from Russia; 16 Jehovah's Witnesses from Russia, 4 from Russian-occupied Crimea; 3 people wanted by Belarus; 3 wanted by Kazakhstan; 2 wanted by Tajikistan; 5 wanted by Uzbekistan. The Interior Ministry did not respond to Forum 18's question why it includes people who peacefully exercised their right to freedom of religion or belief. Interpol would not say for how many of them Russia had sought Red Notices.
24 January 2024
KAZAKHSTAN: "Harsh" Religion Law changes to reach parliament soon?
A draft Amending Law (seen by Forum 18) amending nine Codes and Laws on the exercise of freedom of religion or belief would, if adopted in its current form, impose new restrictions on the exercise of freedom of religion or belief. The head of the NSC secret police, Yermek Sagimbayev, has told deputies of the non-freely-elected parliament: "The initiative on the need to harshen legislation in the area of regulating religious activity has more than once been discussed at a government level."
27 September 2023
KAZAKHSTAN: Prisoners of conscience refused conditional early release
At least 3 of the 8 current known prisoners of conscience jailed for exercising freedom of religion or belief have had applications for conditional early release rejected on grounds their families regard as arbitrary. In June, a Kyzylorda court rejected Dadash Mazhenov's request, apparently citing his unpaid fees for the "expert analyses" used to convict him. "These fees were just an excuse," his family told Forum 18. The Head of Labour Camp No. 68, Kaiyrbek Ilyasov, refused to discuss why Mazhenov was refused conditional early release.
26 September 2023
KAZAKHSTAN: Still jailed despite 2021 UN "immediate" release call
In September 2021, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention called for 9 Muslims jailed for participating in an online religious discussion group to be "immediately" freed and compensated for their imprisonment. Two years on, none has been freed or compensated. The General Prosecutor's Office, the Religious Affairs Committee, the Foreign Ministry and the government-controlled National Human Rights Centre all failed to explain why. Officials say they regard such UN opinions as "recommendations which they are not obliged to implement", says human rights defender Yevgeny Zhovtis.