USCIRF Delegation Travels to Kazakhstan to Assess Religious Freedom Conditions

Washington, DC - The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Commissioner Nury Turkel and staff traveled to Almaty and Astana, Kazakhstan from May 22-26 to meet with government officials, religious communities, human rights defenders, and other civil society representatives to discuss persistent religious freedom concerns.

“We appreciate the Kazakh government’s continued willingness to engage with international partners, including USCIRF, on religious freedom issues and potential reforms. The Kazakh government must revise its laws and policies restricting this right, such as by repealing or minimizing administrative punishments for various religious ‘offenses,’” said USCIRF Commissioner Turkel. “We will continue to advocate for the United States government to press Kazakhstan to take bolder and more significant steps to bring its current practices in line with international human rights standards.”

Kazakhstan continues to restrict religious activities through a prohibitive religion law, suppress groups and individuals perceived as following “nontraditional” religions, and uphold a state-sanctioned version of Islam that precludes differing interpretations. Authorities have penalized hundreds of individuals with fines for their religious activities and have imprisoned at least ten Muslims on unsubstantiated charges related to social media posts on Islam. The government has also prohibited schoolgirls from attending class with religious head coverings.

“Institutional issues in Kazakhstan remain unaddressed. For example, the Kazakh government continues to arbitrarily apply an overly broad criminal code, resulting in unduly severe prison sentences for online religious activities, particularly of Muslim men. In addition, government surveillance of seemingly all religious communities creates widespread fear that authorities could target anyone, at any time, for ‘violating’ the religion law,” continued Commissioner Turkel. “We call for Kazakhstan to release all those imprisoned due to their religious activities or beliefs immediately.”

Since 2013, USCIRF has recommended Kazakhstan for inclusion on the U.S. Department of State’s Special Watch List or listed it as a “Tier 2” country for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom. Recent USCIRF reporting highlighted these concerns in an Issue Update on Kazakhstan’s Religion Law Amendments, a report on Tolerance, Religious Freedom, and Authoritarianism, and a podcast on Religious Prisoners of Conscience in Kazakhstan.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion or belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].