Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has today welcomed a landmark decision made by Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Council to reject as unconstitutional a restrictive draft law which seriously threatened to further restrict freedom of religion and belief in the country.
Wednesday’s decision by the Constitutional Council was in part made on the grounds of article 39, paragraph 3 of the Constitution which states that the ‘rights and freedoms stipulated by’ various specific articles of the Constitution ‘shall not be restricted in any way.’ This includes Article 14.2 which states; ‘no one shall be subject to any discrimination for reasons of origin, social, property status, occupation, sex, race, nationality, language, attitude towards religion, convictions, place of residence or any other circumstances.’
The announcement follows much lobbying from CSW and other human rights organizations hoping to prevent the proposed draft bill (Law on Amendments and Additions to Several Legislative Acts on Questions of Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations,) from progressing.
According to the head of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, the judgment also implies that the current Religion Law is unconstitutional. Religious communities in Kazakhstan already regularly face violations of their right to freedom of religion and belief, in defiance of international human rights standards which the country is party to.
The President now has one month to respond to the decision but is likely to face international pressure, particularly from other states within the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which Kazakhstan is due to chair in 2010.
Harsh and restrictive measures within the draft legislation included a requirement for permission from both parents for children to attend religious events, while increasing the punishment for individuals found guilty of conducting charitable work, importing, publishing or distributing religious literature, or building or opening places of worship in violation of “demands established in law”. Large fines were expected to be imposed upon members of unregistered churches.
Similar legislation passed unanimously through Kyrgyzstan’s Parliament on 6 November 2008. However the decision in Kazakhstan may yet impact the progress through Parliament in Tajikistan of new legislation on religious freedom which threatens loss of legal status for many mosques and churches in 2009 if passed. This is despite commitments made by Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and indeed other Central Asian states such as Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as members of the OSCE. Officials across the region continue to place routine and unlawful restrictions on citizen’s basic freedoms of association, assembly and religion through church raids and media intolerance.
Alexa Papadouris, CSW’s Advocacy Director, said: “CSW welcomes the ruling of Kazakhstan Constitutional Council over this draft law, but despite this announcement, we continue to retain focused on the day to day practices of Kazakhstan’s Officials with regard to religious freedom. The unconstitutionality of the draft law appears to be symptomatic of a lack of respect for the rule of law in Kazakhstan. Despite this, we hope the Constitutional Council’s decision will also lead to a review of the constitutionality of the current restrictive legislation, and we trust that this decision will send a message to other Central Asian states who are committed to upholding international standards on human rights through their membership of the OSCE and their ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It is imperative that the international community now call on the authorities in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to ensure their treatment of religious communities accords with international standards of freedom of religion and belief”.
Notes to Editors:
The OSCE Legal Opinion – prepared by the OSCE/ODIHR Advisory Council on Freedom of Religion or Belief – highlights many provisions of the proposed Law which severely restrict freedom of religion and belief, please see Forum 18’s news report.
To see Forum 18 news latest report on the draft law, please click here.
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