06/24/2022 Kazakhstan (International Christian Concern) – “Freedom of religion and belief, with interlinked freedoms of expression, association, assembly, and other fundamental freedoms, remain seriously restricted in Kazakhstan.” This update on the Central Asian country was reported recently by Forum 18, the Norwegian religious freedom advocacy group. Forum 18’s extensive June 2022 report highlighted various ways that the government of Kazakhstan persecutes religious minorities. In Kazakhstan, the government is dominated by wealth and corruption, and it uses legal tools to surveil, censor, arrest, and abuse religious groups.

This suppression of religious freedom directly affects Christians in Kazakhstan. Kazakh officials regularly visit places of worship to record, observe, and count attendance at Christian and other religious gatherings. The report quotes one government official who said, “This isn’t spying. This is monitoring, nothing more.” In addition to surveillance, censorship is commonplace as well. For example, some Christian publications have been placed on “extremist” lists assembled by the state’s General Prosecutor’s office. In another acute instance of persecution, three Pentecostal church leaders were handed jail sentences in absentia in 2019 for charges including “causing psychological harm.” Many in Kazakhstan who do face jail time must also contend with mistreatment while in prison and social sanctions after being released.

Unfortunately, the situation in Kazakhstan is becoming worse. This year in January, the government amended the state’s Religion Law to expand its own censorship capacity and its ability to restrict religious meetings, moves which in part sparked nationwide protests. Despite this devolving state of affairs, the United Nations inexplicably chose to elect Kazakhstan to the UN Human Rights Council in October of last year, disregarding multiple recommendations from UN special rapporteurs, the UN Human Rights Committee, and other advocates. Without broader awareness of human rights and religious freedom violations in Kazakhstan, persecution will likely escalate. We pray that Christians in Kazakhstan will resist and find success against their abusive government.

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