ICC NOTE: Seven members of a small Baptist church are the latest victims to Kazakhstan’s continued crackdown of Christians and other religious groups. An anonymous call was made while they were meeting for worship in one of the individuals households. Each were fined according to the law for conducting religious activities without being registered. In the coming weeks, Kazakhstan will also likely sign off on new sweeping changes to the already restrictive religion law enacted in 2011. The changes will include “other individuals” as not being allowed to spread “religious teachings”. Before hand the law merely focused on missionary activity, but with the latest change the average citizen can now be considered for arrest and subsequent punishment under the law. 

9/1/2016 Kazakhstan (Forum 18) – On 29 August a Judge in East Kazakhstan Region fined seven members of a small Baptist church for meeting for worship in a home without state registration. The punishments came a week after one of those fined celebrated her 79th birthday, and less than three weeks before another is due to celebrate her 79th birthday.

The congregation is a member of the Baptist Council of Churches. They have adopted a policy of civil disobedience, refusing to pay the many fines handed down in Kazakhstan and other countries of the region for exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief.

Meanwhile, the government is likely to sign off within days a draft anti-“extremism” Amending Law to be presented to the Majilis (parliament) in the capital Astana for consideration in September. The Amending Law is set to amend six Codes and 18 individual laws.

While many provisions of the draft currently available would widen or increase punishments for those involved in violence – such as attacking foreign diplomats, distributing illegal weapons or committing acts of terrorism that kill or maim people – some provisions appear unrelated to the stated goal of “countering extremism and terrorism”.

Among the wide-ranging proposed amendments are increases in state-imposed pre-publication censorship of all literature about religion. Further restrictions would be imposed on the import or distribution of literature about religion, including by allowing individuals to bring into the country only one copy of any uncensored book about religion. “Religious tourism” – such as the haj pilgrimage to Mecca – is also set to come under tighter state control (see below).

Harsher version of Amending Law to come?

This draft text of the Amending Law was published on the National Security Committee (KNB) website on 7 July. However, observers warn that the text due to reach the Majilis within the next days might be different and contain much harsher provisions. “This is a trick they often pull off,” one observer told Forum 18 from Astana. “They publish a mild text and then, when it reaches parliament, the text is harsher. Then deputies add even more provisions at the government’s behest.”

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