In Kazakhstan, Christians And Muslims Punished For Practicing Religion

Courts and police across Kazakhstan have fined at least 15 people — one twice — and three organizations so far in 2021 for holding meetings for worship, hosting such meetings, or maintaining places for such meetings, or holding other religious rituals without state permission. The fines were an average wage of between three weeks' and four months' for those in formal work. In another case, the court closed the case because the alleged offense had occurred one year earlier, beyond the time limit for bringing an administrative prosecution.

In the 19 cases that ended with punishment, courts also handed 14 people and organizations three-month bans on maintaining a place for holding meetings for worship, or a more vague three-month ban on unspecified activity. A March court decision in Aktau also ordered 12 Islamic books and 10 calendars seized from an individual be confiscated.

The government is preparing several sets of legal amendments that may affect the way the state's tight restrictions on who can hold meetings for worship, religious rituals or study — and where — are imposed and what will be subject to punishment. Secrecy surrounds the current status of the amendments. Officials of the lower house of Parliament, the Mazhilis, told Forum 18 that they have not yet arrived there.

The 20 known administrative cases filed between January and August to punish people and organizations for holding meetings for worship, hosting such meetings or maintaining places for such meetings without state permission were among 90 known administrative cases to punish the exercise of freedom of religion or belief. The other known cases were as follows:

— 15 cases punishing the offering religious literature, icons or other items for sale without state permission.
— 13 cases punishing the offering of religious items for sale online without state permission.
— 2 cases punishing the offering of free religious materials without state permission.
— 22 cases punishing the posting of religious materials online without state permission.
— 2 cases punishing the sharing of faith without state permission.
— 8 cases punishing the violation of mosques' internal rules.
— 7 cases punishing religious teaching without state permission.
— 1 case punishing the attempt to import religious literature 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." A Baptist church in Oral that does not seek state permission to meet was fined after a police raid. Officials regularly visit it during meetings for worship, an official told Forum 18: "We go to mosques, churches."

One Baptist told Forum 18, "They send an official who sits at the back and conducts what they call 'monitoring' of what we are doing." He added that "she doesn't intervene but counts how many people are there, watches who is there and records with a device.”

Church members have told the official not to film or record the meeting for worship. "Let her come and hear the word of God," the Baptist continued. "We don't allow her to record, but she still does it."

"This isn't spying — this is monitoring, nothing more," Azat Karatai of the West Kazakhstan Region Religious Affairs Department said to Forum 18.

Among those punished for religious teaching without state permission was a Muslim, Kelir Nusyrov. On July 12, Kordai District Court in Zhambyl Region fined him 100 monthly financial indicators, about 7 weeks' average local wage, for teaching Islam and the Koran to local children in his home. He is the third Muslim from the Dungan ethnic minority known to have been fined for religious teaching so far in 2021 and the 11th since August 2018.

Frequent punishments

Courts have repeatedly heard administrative cases in recent years to punish people and organizations for holding meetings for worship, hosting such meetings or maintaining places for such meetings without state permission. In the whole of 2020, courts prosecuted 19 individuals for meetings for worship without state permission — 37 in 2019, 40 in 2018 and 88 in 2017.

In a case in April 2020, a private school was fined for maintaining a prayer room without state permission. The court also banned the school from operating for three months.

On Sept. 6, a group of 1,640 parents from Nur-Sultan, Almaty and other cities filed a petition on the government's petitions website calling for President Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev to allow prayer rooms in schools. They note that within the Palais des Nations, where the United Nations' office in Geneva is located — which they point out, as a former foreign minister and former director-general of the UN office, Tokayev would be familiar with — there are two prayer rooms. They describe this as "nothing out of the ordinary" and call for Kazakhstan's religion law to be amended to allow this in Kazakhstan.

Fines for holding, hosting or maintaining places for worship

Of the 20 known administrative cases against people and organizations between January and August for holding meetings for worship, hosting such meetings or maintaining places for such meetings without state permission, 19 ended with punishment. Each of the fines was between 35 and 200 MFIs — about three weeks' average wage for those in work to four months' average wage.

Of the 19 cases that ended with punishment, 14 ended not only with fines but also three-month bans on maintaining a place for holding meetings for worship or a more vague three-month ban on activity. In one case — that of Aktau-based Muslim Erbolat Dzhuguniov — the court ordered religious literature seized from him to be confiscated by the state. The court decision, seen by Forum 18, does not say what officials will do with the confiscated books and calendars.

‘Not allowed to pray at any location unless it's approved’

Twice in 2021, the Aktobe Specialized Administrative Court fined local Muslim Mukhammed Toleu — who is now 57 — for holding prayers on his own property.

On Dec. 18, 2020, officials found Toleu leading Friday prayers in the basement of his home. Officials launched cases against him on Dec. 20 and Dec. 21, 2020 for both violating the religion law and conducting unapproved business in relation to people who rented space in his house. Police Captain D. Akhmetov and Inspector Sabr Yeshniyazov led the cases against Toleu.

On Jan. 28, 2021, the court handed Toleu a combined 65 MFI fine — about six weeks' average wage for those in formal work — on the two charges, plus a 3-month ban on maintaining a prayer room.

Officials again brought a case against Toleu for holding Friday prayers on Feb. 12. He told the court that "he did not gather people for a special Friday prayer at his house, that day his relatives and acquaintances came to his house to drink tea, and when it was time for prayer, everyone prayed," according to the court decision seen by Forum 18.

On March 25, the court fined him 200 MFIs — about four months' average wages — as this was a second offense within a year of a previous conviction. The court rejected his appeal on April 12.

Alimbek Turaliyev, head of the Aktobe Region's Religious Affairs Department, declined to comment on the prosecution of Toleu. "It's not we that launched the administrative case — the police did," he told Forum 18 from Aktobe on Sept. 15. He refused to say how many administrative cases his department had launched in 2021 and put the phone down.

An Aktobe police officer told Forum 18 on Sept. 15 that Yeshniyazov had been fired earlier in the year. He declined to put Forum 18 through to Akhmedov.

Asked why cases had been brought against Toleu, the officer responded, "It is not allowed to pray at any location unless it's approved."

‘They waited until the end of the service’

On Jan. 8, police and officials from the West Kazakhstan Region Religious Affairs Department raided the Christmas service of a Baptist congregation in Oral (Uralsk). The congregation — like all Council of Churches Baptist congregations — chooses not to seek state registration.

"They waited until the end of the service, then took several church members to the police station," congregation member Nikolai Novikov told Forum 18 from Oral on Sept. 15. "There they issued summary fines to Dmitry Isayev and Vladimir Nelepin." Police fined each one month's average wage for those in formal work.

"We don't consider we have done anything wrong, so we don't pay such fines," Novikov added. "They took the money for the fine from Isayev's wages." He said the authorities can demand that employers hand over up to half a person's wage to pay off such fines. "Businesses can't refuse such demands."

Karatai said his officials and the police visited the Baptist congregation during their meeting for worship "because they're not registered and they act not in accordance with the law.” He told Forum 18 from Oral on Sept. 16, "We're just fulfilling our job. They must have registration."

Asked why the Baptists cannot meet for worship without state permission in line with Kazakhstan's international human rights commitments, Karatai responded, "If you have questions you should ring our government and ask why." He refused to say how many administrative cases his department had launched in 2021 to punish the exercise of freedom of religion or belief.

‘This isn't spying — this is monitoring, nothing more’?

Officials regularly visit the Baptist congregation in Oral during meetings for worship. "They send an official who sits at the back and conducts what they call 'monitoring' of what we are doing," Novikov told Forum 18. "She doesn't intervene but counts how many people are there, watches who is there and records with a device." Church members have told her not to film or record the meeting for worship.

Novikov said that the official sent to monitor their meetings for worship often changed, but for the last half year, the same woman had been sent. The church does not know whether she works for the city or regional administration or what her role is there. At present she comes to meetings for worship about once a month.

"Let her come and hear the word of God," Novikov told Forum 18. "We don't allow her to record, but she still does it."

"This isn't spying — this is monitoring, nothing more," Karatai claimed to Forum 18 from Oral. "Our official doesn't fine anyone. We go to mosques, churches." He refused to identify the woman who has been visiting the Baptist congregation once a month for the last six months.

Karatai stressed that the Baptist congregation functions without registration: "If they won't abide by the demands of the law, it is our job to follow their activity." However, he denied that the official records the services. "No one makes hidden recordings," he insisted. "All is open."

A Protestant pastor from elsewhere in Kazakhstan notes that visits by individuals they suspect might be officials monitoring their activity used to be more common but now tend to be rarer. "Unknown people sometimes attend services," the pastor told Forum 18. "We don't know who they are or why they come."

‘Maybe it sounds absurd to you’

Individuals are also punished for holding what state officials regard as religious rituals without state permission outdoors.

On March 29, Hare Krishna devotee Timur Seitov was conducting religious chants at a crossroads in central Almaty. As the subsequent court decision — seen by Forum 18 — notes, he "conducted religious rituals by repeating the mantra 'Hare Krishna,' by this violating the demands of the law for conducting religious rites and ceremonies.” A witness said he sang there with an instrument and amplifier for two hours each evening, drawing people to listen. The witness reported this to the Religious Affairs Department "because she thought Seitov was a member of a sect.”

On April 8, after studying photos and video footage of Seitov's activity, officials of Almaty's Religious Affairs Department concluded that he had been conducting religious rituals without state permission. On May 4, Almas Dzhanametov, a religious affairs official from Almaty's Medeu District administration drew up a record of an offense against Seitov.

On May 27, Almaty Interdistrict Specialized Administrative Court found Seitov guilty, fined him one month's average wage and banned him from unspecified activity for three months. Seitov told the court he chants mantras on the street every day and denied committing any offense. Almaty City Court rejected his appeal on July 16, according to the court decision seen by Forum 18.

"Maybe it sounds absurd to you, but Seitov conducted religious rituals — singing mantras," Bakdaulet Abdikhamitov of Almaty's Religious Affairs Department told Forum 18 from Almaty on Sept. 16. "We have a law that places restrictions on conducting religious rituals."

Officials had repeatedly warned Seitov not to conduct such religious rituals, Abdikhamitov added, "but unfortunately he ignored them. We also got complaints." Asked whether officials took action against other events on the street, such as marches commemorating World War II, Abdikhamitov responded, "This is different. We are talking about religious rituals." He then put the phone down.

Why impose state restrictions on meetings for worship?

The government imposes tight restrictions on where people can meet for worship and conduct religious rituals.

Religious communities that have been refused state registration — like Ahmadi Muslims or mosques independent of the state-controlled Muslim Board — or choose not to apply for state registration — like Council of Churches Baptists — are not allowed to exercise freedom of religion or belief. If they hold any meetings for worship or other religious purposes, they risk punishment.

Under Article 7, Part 2 of the religion law, freedom of religion and belief may only be exercised by registered religious communities "in religious buildings and their assigned territory, in places of worship, offices and premises of religious associations, in cemeteries and in crematoriums, and inside homes and dining halls if needed on condition that they respect the rights and interests of nearby residents.” Any new place of worship requires the approval of the local administration.

In 2016, at the end of its consideration of Kazakhstan's record under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Committee expressed concern about "undue restrictions on the exercise of freedom of religious belief," including "the mandatory registration of religious organizations” and “the ban on unregistered religious activities.” The committee added, "The State party should guarantee the effective exercise of freedom of religion and belief and freedom to manifest a religion or belief in practice."

The committee called on Kazakhstan to "revise all relevant laws and practices with a view to removing all restrictions that go beyond the narrowly construed restrictions permitted under article 18 of the Covenant [ICCPR].”

Will legal changes increase, decrease or leave unchanged restrictions on holding meetings for worship?

The government is preparing several sets of legal amendments that may affect the way the state's religious censorship is imposed and what will be subject to punishment.

The Information and Social Development Ministry proposed a new law on social control that would amend a range of other laws, including the religion law. The draft law was published for public consultation on the government's draft law website on Jan. 15. Forum 18 has seen the text of the draft amendments from late July.

The draft amendments in their July version would make holding religious meetings away from state-registered places of worship more difficult. Under a new Article 7-1, any religious communities that do not own their own building, as well as communities that want to hold a pilgrimage or other event away from their own place of worship, would be subject to the new bureaucratic procedures were these amendments to be sent to Parliament and adopted.

Protestant, Jehovah's Witness and Hare Krishna communities are among many that do not own their own buildings and would therefore likely be to be subject to these new bureaucratic demands.

The religion law changes would require registered religious communities to seek permission for such meetings from local administrations at least ten days in advance and provide exhaustive detail about the proposed event — including the date, start and end time, how people will get there, fire and medical precautions envisaged, and how many people will travel in each vehicle — according to the July version of the draft amendments.

Local officials are given many ways to refuse such requests. They have five working days from receiving the application to request extra information if they believe the planned activity or information supplied is not in accordance with procedures. The registered religious community would 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 inconsistencies in the application — in the view of the local administration — officials can withhold permission up to two calendar days before the religious event was due to take place.

"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.

The draft amendments describe seeking permission for such religious meetings from local administrations as "notification.” But given that officials must give permission before such meetings are allowed, this represents a request for permission, one human rights defender told Forum 18 in August.

However, several sources told Forum 18 that on June 29, the prime minister's office sent the draft law for revision, apparently ordering that the provisions amending the religion law be removed.

The Information and Social Development Ministry also prepared separate amendments to the religion law. These have not been made public. Forum 18 has seen a draft text from late July.

The amendments in the July draft to religion law would leave unchanged the restrictions on holding or hosting meetings for worship or for conducting religious rituals, or maintaining places for worship.

The Information and Social Development Ministry also prepared amendments to Article 490 of the Administrative Code, which punishes "Violating the Religion Law.” Forum 18 has seen a draft text from late July.

Under the July draft, punishments would be reduced for individuals exercising freedom of religion or belief, including by "conducting rites, ceremonies and meetings" without state permission. Currently individuals face fines of 50 MFIs — about 1 month's average wage for those in formal work. This would be halved to 25 MFIs, with the new possibility of an official warning instead.

Punishments would be reduced for individuals "building places of worship (facilities), or changing the usage (altering the functional designation) of buildings (facilities) into ritual buildings (facilities)" without state permission. Currently individuals face fines of 50 MFIs, and organizations 200 MFIs. These would be halved to 25 MFIs for individuals and 100 MFIs for organizations. The three-month ban on activity would remain unchanged.

However, it remains unclear how far these three proposed sets of amendments have gotten. Yerzhan Nukezhanov, head of the Religious Affairs Committee, spoke about the proposed religion law amendments at a Sept. 7 government briefing but did not specify which specific amendments he was talking about or give a timescale for adoption.

An official who answered the phone of the Religious Affairs Committee Legal Department on Sept. 14 told Forum 18 that neither its head, Beimbet Manetov, nor chief expert Mirgul Kalabayeva was in the office. The official said no one else could give any information about the proposed amendments. Calls went unanswered on Sept. 15 and 16.

An official of the Social and Cultural Development Committee of the lower house of Parliament, the Mazhilis, told Forum 18 on Sept. 15 that the committee is awaiting the text of the new law on social control from the government. The official could not say when the draft text is likely to reach the Mazhilis or when the committee will begin considering it.

The Social and Cultural Development Committee official had no information about any separate proposed amendments to the religion law or to the Administrative Code.

Punishing meetings, rituals held without state permission

Administrative Code Article 463, Part 1, punishes "engaging in entrepreneurial or other activity, as well as carrying out actions without appropriate registration, permission or sending notification in cases where registration, permission or sending notification is compulsory, if such actions do not contain elements a criminally liable behaviour" with a fine on individuals of 15 MFIs and with possible seizure of property.

Administrative Code Article 489, Part 9, punishes "leadership of an unregistered, halted, or banned religious community or social organization" with a fine of 100 MFIs.

Administrative Code Article 489, Part 10, punishes "participation in an unregistered, halted, or banned religious community or social organization" with a fine of 50 MFIs.

Administrative Code Article 490, Part 1, Point 1, punishes "violation of procedures established in law for conducting rites, ceremonies and meetings.” Punishment for individuals is a fine of 50 MFIs and for organizations is a fine of 200 MFIs and a 3-month ban on activity.

Administrative Code Article 490, Part 1, Point 3, punishes "violating the requirements of the Religion Law for ... import, manufacturing, production, publication and/or distribution of religious literature and other religious materials, and items for religious use.” The punishment for individuals is a fine of 50 MFIs.

Administrative Code Article 490, Part 1, Point 4, punishes "violating the requirements of the Religion Law for … construction of religious buildings, and changing the profile (functional purpose) of a building into a religious building.” The punishment for individuals is a fine of 50 MFIs.

Administrative Code Article 490, Part 3, punishes "carrying out missionary activity without state registration (or re-registration), as well as the use by missionaries of religious literature, information materials with religious content or religious items without a positive assessment from a religious studies expert analysis, and spreading the teachings of a religious group which is not registered in Kazakhstan.” The punishment is a fine of 100 MFIs, with deportation if the individual is a foreign citizen.

Administrative Code Article 490, Part 8, punishes a further offense within one year of an administrative conviction for violating the religion law.

This story originally appeared at Forum 18.

Felix Corley is the editor of Forum 18 News Service, an agency monitoring religious freedom in the former Soviet republics and Eastern Europe.