Kyrgyz Officials Reject Muslim Sect

December 30, 2011

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyz Officials Reject Muslim Sect

BISHKEK – Kyrgyz religious authorities have refused to re-register the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reports.

Sagynbek Toktorbaev, a representative of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Kyrgyzstan, told RFE/RL on December 29 that the government’s State Commission on Religious Affairs rejected their re-registration.

He said the commission’s decision violates the rights of the some 1,000 members of the Kyrgyz branch of the Ahmadiyya community, an Islamic revivalist movement founded in India in the late 1800s by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Some of the Ahmadiyya community’s beliefs are considered controversial with mainstream Muslims.

Yusub Baltabaev, an official with the State Commission on Religious Affairs, told RFE/RL that the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kyrgyzstan (SAMK) proposed that the activities of Ahmadiyya in Kyrgyzstan be suspended because of its alleged “threat to religious security” in the country.

SAMK official Zhorobay Shergaziev told RFE/RL on December 29 that the Ahmadiyya Muslim community is controversial and does not comply with Shari’a law.

The activity of the Ahmadiyya community, which has its main office in London, was first registered in Kyrgyzstan in 2002.

Ahmadiyya representatives translated the Koran into Kyrgyz and published 3,000 copies of their interpretation, which was not approved by the official Kyrgyz Muslim clergy.

URL: www.rferl.org/content/kyrgyz_officials_reject_muslim_sect/24438562.html

28 July 2011

KAZAKHSTAN: “One nation – one religion”?

By Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service <http://www.forum18.org>

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbaev has called for increased surveillance of religious communities. Earlier, the head of the new state Agency of Religious Affairs (ARA) stated that the country had chosen “one nation – one religion” and that the ARA will “prepare a concept on the ‘Development of moderate Islam in Kazakhstan’”. This may echo Muslim Board calls to “restrict permitted Islam to the Hanafi school”. Local people have told Forum 18 that the ARA is also expected to work on legislation further restricting freedom of religion or belief in the country. Yesterday (27 July), a ban on Shymkent’s Ahmadi Muslim Community’s right to use its mosque was upheld, but the community can continue to use the building until an appeal is decided. “The authorities are not just going against us”, an Ahmadi commented. Changes have also been made to the Criminal and Administrative Codes, whose overall impact is – a legal expert stated - to “give more freedom to state agencies to interfere with freedom of religion or belief and go unpunished”. “Who will now protect us from ‘law-enforcement’ agencies breaking the law?“ a Kazakh religious believer, who wished to remain unnamed, asked Forum 18.

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbaev has called for increased surveillance of religious communities and for unspecified “extremist religious ideology” to be “strictly suppressed”. Yesterday (27 July), Southern Kazakhstan Regional Court upheld an earlier ban on the Ahmadi Muslim Community’s mosque and suspension of its rights to use its land for religious purposes, Forum 18 News Service has learned. Official’s have refused to discuss these matters, along with calls by the Chair of the newly formed Agency for Religious Affairs (ARA) for “one nation – one religion”.

Changes have also been made to the Criminal and Administrative Codes. Their overall impact is to “give more freedom to state agencies to interfere with freedom of religion or belief and go unpunished”, an independent legal expert told Forum 18.

“It is necessary to strictly suppress..“

President Nazarbaev has followed his April speech, calling for greater controls on unspecified religious communities, with a further call for action against unspecified “extremist religious ideology”. The April speech – and a subsequent speech by the Mayor of Almaty - was followed by smaller religious communities experiencing greater pressure including police and KNB secret police raids, as well as hostile media campaigns led by state-funded so-called anti-sect centres (see F18News 6 May 2011 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1568).

On 22 July President Nazarbaev, according to his Press Service, stated that: “It is necessary to strictly suppress the spread of elements of extremist religious ideology in the country, especially, open actions which are aimed at undermining the constitutional system and which pose a threat to citizens’ lives and health”.

After praying for sick person, one Protestant pastor is currently facing criminal prosecution for allegedly endangering their health (see F18News 5 July 2011 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1590).

President Nazarbaev was addressing a meeting of the country’s Security Council, which was discussing what were described as discussed “further measures to strengthen stability in the religious sphere”. The Presidential Press Service quoted Nazarbaev as saying that: “The mayors of Astana and Almaty as well as regional governors should step up educational and preventive measures, as well as keep a close watch on religious associations’ strict compliance with the existing legal norms. The Agency for Religious Affairs is entrusted with a huge number of practical tasks”.

“We are not authorised to comment on the President’s statements”

Marat Raimkhanov of the Presidential Press Service refused on 27 July to comment on President Nazarbaev’s statements. “We are not authorised to comment on the President’s statements, I recommend that you talk to the Agency for Religious Affairs,” he said.

Merekegul Karabayeva of the ARA, who handles media relations, claimed that the ARA was still in the process of reorganisation, and that its officials could not make comments. When asked whether or not the law-enforcement and other state agencies would target peaceful religious communities when suppressing “extremist religious ideology”, she replied: “the questions needs to be asked to the law-enforcement agencies not to us,” she told Forum 18 on 28 July. She then refused to talk further.

Ban on Ahmadi Muslim mosque upheld

Yesterday (27 July), Southern Kazakhstan Regional Court upheld a 12 May Economic Court decision to fine the the southern city of Shymkent’s Ahmadi Muslim community, and suspend its rights to use its mosque and land. Judge Sabit Zhaksylykov ruled that the suspension applies until the alleged violations of land usage claimed by the joint Zhambyl-Kyzylorda-South Kazakhstan inter-regional Land Inspection Agency are “eliminated”, according to the verdict seen by Forum 18 (see F18 News 7 June http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1577).

Aygul Tilhodjayeva, Secretary of the Court’s Panel, on 27 July told Forum 18 that the Court will not make any comment on the decision. However, she said that “the Ahmadiyya Community may within a year file a cassation appeal”. She also stated that the Appeal Court’s decision will not enter into force until after the case is heard by Cassation Court” This means that the community can for the moment continue to use the building.

Ahmadi Muslims from Shymkent, who wished to remain unnamed for fear of state reprisals, told Forum 18 on 28 July that “as soon we receive a copy of the Court decision, we will prepare our appeal and file it”. Tilhodjayeva of the Court’s Panel told Forum 18 that the Ahmadi’s will soon receive a copy of the decision.

“The authorities are not just going against us”

Asked why the authorities are trying to stop the Ahmadi’s using their mosque, community members said that: “Perhaps they want to stop our activities. The authorities are not just going against us. They are also nationwide going against Jehovah’s Witnesses, many Protestant churches, and other minority religions” (see eg. F18News 5 July 2011 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1590).

Karabayeva of the ARA did not want to comment on the case. When Forum 18 asked how long the ARA’s re-organisation will continue, and who is going to defend the right to freedom of religion or belief in the meantime, she put the phone down.

Church forced to move

Shymkent authorities in 2010 also banned the local New Life Protestant Church from using its registered building. As with the Ahmadi’s, the authorities claimed that the building could not be used for religious purposes (see F18 News 31 March 2011 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1557).

Church members told Forum 18 on 28 July that the Church had to move to a new location in Shymkent and receive a new registration. But they received this “only a few days ago”. “So far we have not had any problems meeting in the new place”, they told Forum 18.

New state Agency of Religious Affairs

Following President Nursultan Nazarbaev’s April speech calling for greater controls on unspecified religious communities, statement that the Minister of Education and Science should take charge of this, and pressure on smaller religious communities, an Agency of Religious Affairs (ARA) was established by Presidential Decree on 18 May. The new Agency reports direct to the Prime Minister, Karim Masimov, and replaced the Committee for Religious Affairs. The Committee itself, in what some saw as a downgrading of its importance, was moved to the Culture Ministry from the Justice Ministry in March 2010 (see F18News 18 June 2010 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1458).

Kairat Lama Sharif, a career diplomat and previously Kazakh Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Emirates, was on 7 June appointed Chair of the ARA by the Prime Minister.

Forum 18 repeatedly tried to find out whether the ARA intends to act against violations of freedom of religion or belief, but has received no answer despite submitting written questions on 8 July. On that day Karabayeva of the ARA told Forum 18 that “the Agency is only being formed, and it would not be appropriate to answer questions over the phone”.

Local people have told Forum 18 that ARA officials say that the new body will prepare a policy document on relations between Islam and the state, then work on long-threatened legal changes to restrict even further the exercise of freedom of religion or belief.

A 2010 document of the ruling presidential Nur Otan Party, a member of the Senate who was in 2010 working on legal changes, and the country’s 2009 “National Human Rights Action Plan” have all indicated that proposed restrctions – rejected to avoid bad publicity while the country was Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Chair-in-Office – will return (see F18News 30 September 2010 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1493).

“One nation - one religion”

ARA Chair Lama Sharif himself on 17 June claimed in a press conference that: “each citizen of Kazakhstan has a right to freedom of conscience and choice, and we have made our own choice. Our choice is objective and based on the principle of ‘one nation – one religion’, and it is exactly this principle that makes us one nation. In this context, we will prepare a concept on the ‘Development of moderate Islam in Kazakhstan’.“

The newly-formed ARA will also, Lama Sharif stated, “develop proposals to improve legislation on religious associations” and “organise and conduct activities to promote the stability and spiritual enlightenment of Kazakhstan’s society”. He went on to state that “particular emphasis will be placed on preventing religious extremism”.

Prime Minister Masimov was reported in the Kazakh media as introducing Lama Sharif to ARA personnel on 8 June with the comment that “we have to have a responsible policy so that all religion-related issues are well-coordinated”. He also claimed in relation to Islam that “we have to dot all the ‘i’s, so that there are no misinterpretations. Islam is a clear and correct religion. It just needs to be interpreted correctly.”

Lama Sharif defended his “one nation – one religion” comment by stating that “many secular states give preference to one religion, if the majority of its population confess that religion. Majority confessions in Kazakhstan are Islam and [Russian] Orthodox”. He also claimed that “we acknowledge the beneficial role of Catholicism, Protestantism and Judaism. These confessions were given opportunities to realise their activity more freely in Kazakhstan after the country’s independence”.

He also stated that society needs to supports the secularity of the State, “the foundation of stability and prosperity of Kazakhstan”.

Ninel Fokina of the Almaty Helsinki Committee told Forum 18 on 11 July that the establishment of the ARA indicates that the state will increase control over religious activity in the country. Lama Sharif “is the protégé of Absattar Derbisali [Head of the Muslim Board and Chief Mufti], and his successor as the ambassador to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Countries”.

She described his first statements as showing that “he does not have any understanding of freedom of conscience and religion. I do not see anything, which would give hope for future in this appointment.” But, she continued, “we will have to wait and see what happens.”

“Careless statements”

Lama Sharif’s comments stirred some controversy. On 29 June a deputy of the ruling presidential Nur Otan Party – the only party in the Majilis (Lower House of Parliament) – criticised Lama Sharif’s comments. “Careless statements of responsible state officials, who are not only scholars of Arabic studies, may disturb public stability and inter-religious accord in Kazakhstan,” Serik Temirbulatov told the Majilis on 29 June. “Why do persons representing the state and government in relations with religious communities publicly express preference for one religion, and give state support to one religion to the detriment of all others?“

He was also reported as asking: “Why does the [religious affairs] Agency of a multi-confessional country, against its mandate, want to prepare a concept of developing one concrete religion?“

Temirbulatov also reportedly claimed that Lama Sharif’s statement “contradicts the Constitution of Kazakhstan, and violate the principle of non-interference of the state in the affairs of religious communities”. He went on to claim that: “It is necessary to take measures that in the future leaders of state agencies, whose competence is to implement state policies in the sphere of ensuring rights of citizens to the freedom of religion, do not allow statements or actions, which undermine inter-religious accord in the country.”

Temirbulatov has previously stated that if the Majlis votes to retain articles in the Code of Administrative Offences which violate Kazakhstan’s international human rights commitments, this vote will prevail (see F18News 24 June 2010 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1460). Government plans to revise the entire Administrative Code were postponed when the draft was withdrawn in August 2010. It remains unclear when – or if - the entire Code will be revised.

Muslim Board pressure for restrictions

The state-backed Muslim Board has long been pushing for a more restrictive Religion Law, its spokesperson Ongar Omirbek told the Russian news agency Interfax on 13 July. Its particular desire is for a Law that would restrict permitted Islam to the Hanafi school, the school mostly represented in Kazakhstan. “We hope that it will be adopted this year.”

Muhammadhuseyn Asylbekov, Deputy Chief Mufti of Kazakhstan, on 27 July refused to comment on Omirbek’s statement, and referred Forum 18 to Omirbek whose phones went unanswered on the same day.

Forum 18 was unable to find out whether the threatened legal changes will aim to ban versions of Islam other than the Hanafi school. ARA officials and officials of the Justice Ministry declined to discuss the content of the promised amendments with Forum 18.

Pressure has been exerted on independent Muslim communities to join the Muslim Board (see F18News 14 October 2010 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1498), and both Sunni and Shia Muslims from Kazakhstan’s ethnic minorities have told Forum 18 of great difficulties they face from the state and the Muslim Board in opening mosques (see F18News 4 November 2010 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1506).

Changes to the Criminal and Administrative Codes

However, parts of the Criminal and Administrative Codes were changed by Parliament on 18 January. As part of a large package of changes, the Criminal Code article supposedly defending parts of the internationally recognised right to freedom of religion or belief was abolished. Article 149 (“Obstructing the realisation of the right to freedom of conscience and religious confession”) read:

“Obstructing the legal activity of religious organisations or the performance of religious rituals is punishable with a fine of 50 to 200 times the minimum monthly salary, or of the level of pay or of other income of the sentenced person for a period of one to three months, or of corrective labour for a period of up to one year, or arrest for a period of up to three months.”

State officials were “never” convicted

Article 149 is not known to have been ever used during its existence. Talgar Akhmetov, Deputy Chair of the Justice Ministry’s Penal System Committee, did not want to discuss the question with Forum 18 on 11 July. He would only comment that state officials were “never” convicted of such a crime. When asked why, he quickly put the phone down. Subsequent calls to him went unanswered.

Asan Sagadiyev and other officials of the Justice Ministry’s Press Service, who did not give their names, also refused to discuss with Forum 18 on 11 July whether anyone had ever been prosecuted under this Article.

Marat Ahmedjanov, Head of the Prosecutor General’s Department of Legal Statistics, told Forum 18 on 11 July that he could not answer the question immediately. He asked Forum 18 to call another number to receive the answer. The number Ahmedjanov gave was a private telephone number, and subsequent calls to his office went unanswered.

Jandos Umiraliyev and another official who would not give his name, both from the Chancellery of the Prosecutor General, also said they could not answer the question and referred Forum 18 to Ahmedjanov.

Unused Administrative Code article?

The only remaining article in the Criminal or Administrative Codes which specifically supposedly defends freedom of religion or belief is paragraph 2 of Article 375 (“Violating the Religion Law”). Paragraph 2 of this Article reads:

“Obstructing the performance of religious rites, other religious activity carried out in accordance with the law, the violation of the rights of physical persons based on their attitude to religion, desecrating objects, buildings and places venerated by followers of one or another religion, and offending the religious feelings of a physical person carries a fine on physical persons of up to eight times, and on officials up to 15 times, the minimum monthly salary.”

Just as with Criminal Code Article 149, no official is known to have been prosecuted, convicted, and punished under Administrative Code Article 375 Paragraph 2, and no official was willing to discuss this with Forum 18. But other parts of Article 375 have been used by officials to prosecute people exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief (see eg. F18News 23 June 2010 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1459).

Administrative Code change

Also on 18 January, parliament added an extra clause to Article 375 of the Administrative Code. A new Paragraph 2-1 reads:

“Obstructing the legal activity of religious organisations carries a fine on physical persons of 200 to 500 times the minimum monthly financial salary, or administrative arrest of up to 45 days.”

It remains to be seen whether any officials will ever be prosecuted or convicted under Paragraph 2-1.

“More freedom to state agencies to interfere”

An independent legal expert in Kazakhstan, who wished to remain unnamed for fear of state reprisals, told Forum 18 on 8 July that the removal of Criminal Code Article 149 is “a serious deficiency” in the law. “Public officials must be made more responsible in law for any violations they commit.” The expert was unaware of any occasion when an official had been prosecuted, convicted, and punished for violating the right to freedom of religion or belief.

The expert commented that Administrative Code Article 375 does not “technically” provide for serious punishments to be imposed on state officials who violate the right to freedom of religion or belief. The overall impact of the Criminal and Administrative Code changes is to “give more freedom to state agencies to interfere with freedom of religion or belief and go unpunished”.

There have been increasing violations by state officials of the right to freedom of religion or belief (see eg. F18News 5 July 2011 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1590). “Who will now protect us from ‘law-enforcement’ agencies breaking the law?“ a Kazakh religious believer, who wished to remain unnamed, asked Forum 18 on 4 July. (END)

URL: www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1599

KYRGYZSTAN: Legal status applications almost impossible

---Forum 18 News, Norway

13 November 2009

KYRGYZSTAN: Legal status applications almost impossible

By Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service

Although unregistered religious activity in Kyrgyzstan is now banned, against international human rights standards, religious communities also cannot gain legal status, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. However, two mosques do appear to have been registered. The State Commission for Religious Affairs (SCRA) says that religious communities must wait for the Regulations to apply a restrictive new Religion Law, which came into force in January 2009. SCRA officials told Forum 18 that “the Regulations have been prepared but not signed into force.” Meanwhile, SCRA officials have contradicted themselves on whether or not existing registered communities need to be re-registered. Officials claim to have made the text of the Regulations available for public discussion, although no-one who Forum 18 has spoken to – apart from officials – has seen the text. For the proposed controversial new Religious Education Law, officials claimed to have invited some named religious communities to a roundtable discussion, although the same religious communities told Forum 18 they were unaware of any invitation. Some Protestant churches have decided to protest at the restrictions in the Religion Law by refusing to apply for registration.

Although unregistered religious activity is now banned under the restrictive new Religion Law which came into force in January 2009, religious communities still cannot gain legal status, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. The State Commission for Religious Affairs (SCRA) says that religious communities must wait until the Regulations to apply the New Law are in place. SCRA officials told Forum 18 that “the Regulations have been prepared but not signed into force.” Meanwhile, SCRA officials have given Forum 18 contradictory information on whether or not existing officially registered communities will need to be re-registered.

Although the officials said that the text of the Regulations enacting the Law has been made available in gov.kg, Kyrgyzstan’s state web portal, for public discussions for “more than a month,” Forum 18 could not find the text of the Regulations in the web portal. SCRA officials failed to respond to Forum 18’s request to receive the text of the Regulations.

Despite widespread protests by religious communities and human rights defenders, the controversial new Religion Law came into force on its official publication on 16 January. Officials have claimed that some provisions will be amended, but this has not happened (see F18News 27 May 2009 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1301).

For several years before the new Law was adopted, registration applications were rejected as officials insisted communities wait for the new Law (see F18News 28 May 2009 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1302). Religious communities have also complained that the authorities are using extra-legal property Regulations as an excuse to avoid registering them (see F18News 21 August 2009).

A group of local Protestant churches have made a joint decision not to apply for re-registration even if they are required to do so, several Protestant leaders told Forum 18 in early November.

What will happen if communities won’t register or re-register?

Lack of registration now potentially has serious consequences. The Law’s Article 8 bans all unregistered activity and subjects it to prosecution (see F18News 5 November 2008 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1213).

Communities of Protestant Christians, Hare Krishna devotees and Ahmadiya Muslims have all been ordered by the authorities to stop meeting for worship (see F18News 13 August 2009).

Asked what will happen to religious communities which are unable or do not want to register or re-register, Kumar Dushenbaev, the SCRA official in charge of registering religious communities, told Forum 18 on 28 October from Bishkek: “We will deal with them in accordance with the Law of Kyrgyzstan.” He would not specify what actions the state authorities would take.

Almost no religious organisations registered since Law’s adoption

Dushenbaev of the SCRA told Forum 18 that as of late October no new religious communities had been registered since the adoption of the new Religion Law. “We have not been registering new communities, because the Regulations to apply the law have not been signed into force,” he explained.

Even if religious communities could now submit applications, groups without registration face much tougher conditions which few can meet. For instance, Jehovah’s Witnesses and many Protestant churches complained to Forum 18 that they cannot gather the 200 adult citizen founding members now required before each congregation can apply for registration.

Hare Krishna devotees had told Forum 18 earlier in August that they are not even intending to “bother the authorities on anything soon in the near future” since they were “summoned and pressured” by the National Security Service (NSS) secret police when they applied for registration in earlier years (see F18News 13 August 2009).

However, Kubat Imarov, Assistant to Rahmatulla Egemberdiyev, Deputy Head of Kyrgyzstan’s State-backed Muslim Board, told Forum 18 on 13 November that two new mosques – Ismet-Kagyr and Agturpak – in Batken region’s Kadamjay district were registered by the SCRA two days earlier. He could not explain to Forum 18 how it was possible to register the mosques while non-Muslim communities have been told to wait until after the Regulations were enacted. Asked if the mosques had collected 200 signatures, he claimed: “This rule applies only to medreses not mosques.”

Is re-registration necessary?

Unlike in other countries of the region, Kyrgyzstan’s new Religion Law does not specifically demand re-registration for all religious communities. However, Article 30 point 3 of the new Law points out that “charters and other founding documents of religious organisations and missions are effective only in that part, which is not in contradiction to this Law.” Article 9 point 3 declares that “there shall be no norms in the charter of a religious organisation or mission contravening Kyrgyzstan’s Constitution or Law.” Officials had apparently hoped that this de facto re-registration demand would not be noticed (see F18News 5 November 2008 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1213).

Kanybek Osmonaliev, Head of the SCRA, and his Deputy Kanatbek Murzakhalilov have given Forum 18 contradictory information on whether religious communities registered under the old Religion Law will need to re-register. In late October Osmonaliev assured Forum 18 that “there will be no re-registration since the law is not retroactive”.

However Murzakhalilov, giving his opinion of the Religion Law, told Forum 18 that religious communities which need to make changes to their charters in order to bring them into harmony with the Law will need to be re-registered. Murzakhalilov did not say whether all the registered communities will need to re-register.

Zainiddin Kurmanov, a Parliamentary Deputy who was one of the initiators of the new Religion Law, told Forum 18 on 13 November that religious communities whose charters are not in accordance with the Law “must necessarily” amend their charters, which, in its turn, “definitely” entails re-registration.

Forum 18 notes that Article 12 Part 1 of the Law on State Registration of Legal Persons and Branches (Representations), which came into force on 1 April 2009, specifies that religious organisations are among those that require re-registration if their statute is amended.

The authorities have in the past required registered religious communities to make changes to their charters to bring them in harmony with the Religion Law (see eg. F18News 13 August 2009). This in turn, in the opinion of many religious communities, will require re-registering the amended charters.

Commenting on the contradictory remarks from SCRA officials on whether or not re-registration will be necessary, Father Igor Dronov of the Russian Orthodox Church in Bishkek told Forum 18 on 11 November: “I tend to believe Osmonaliev since he is the Head of the State Commission.” He added that he believed that the Orthodox will not need to re-register as the law is not retroactive.

His view was echoed by Imarov of the Muslim Board, who told Forum 18 that already registered mosques will not need re-registration.

Jehovah’s Witnesses lawyer Mikhail Kokhanovsky told Forum 18 from Bishkek that his organisation will not need to re-register since “their charter is in harmony with the New Law”.

One Protestant leader from Bishkek, who asked not to be identified, explained to Forum 18 that “in fact all the communities will need to re-register since they will all need to make changes to their charters.” He gave the example that under the old Law 10 founding members were needed but the new Law requires having 200 founding members.

Murzakhalilov said that there will be no deadline for re-registration process. “It will not be a hassle though, we will re-register them no problem,” he claimed.

Decision to protest by not registering

Aleksandr Shumilin of the Baptist Union told Forum 18 on 4 November that “all the evangelical churches [of Kyrgyzstan] have made a unanimous decision not to apply for re-registration or register their new congregations.”

“First of all the Bible tells us to share the good news with all people,” Shumilin said giving the reasons for the decision. “Why should we agree with the new Law, which does not allow us to freely share the good news?” he asked. “Second of all to register our many un-registered congregations we need to give the names and personal data of 200 members as founders, which we will not do.”

Several Protestant leaders, including Bishop Alfred Eicholz of the Lutheran Church, confirmed the joint decision to Forum 18.

A Protestant leader from Bishkek told Forum 18 that the agreement between the group of Protestant churches was “achieved orally but if it is necessary all the churches will sign a written paper” of refusal to register or re-register.

“If the requirements of the New Law were feasible we should have no problems re-registering,” Bishop Eicholz told Forum 18. “But for instance notarising 200 signatures of church members and giving their personal data to the State Commission is not feasible.”

Have Regulations enacting Law been published?

Murzakhalilov, Deputy Head of the SCRA said that based on the new Law on By-Laws adopted in August, any Regulations to apply new Laws must be publicly discussed for a month before being signed. “So we prepared the Regulations to the new Religion Law and they were published in the state web portal for public comments,” he told Forum 18 on 11 November from Bishkek.

Asked if he could provide Forum 18 with the link to the text of the Regulations in the web portal or the text itself, Murzakhalilov responded: “It is there in the portal. I don’t understand how you cannot find it while everybody else can easily do so.” Despite a repeated request to the SCRA, Forum 18 has received no response.

Father Dronov of the Russian Orthodox Church, Bishop Eicholz of the Lutheran Church, and several other Protestant Church leaders have told Forum 18 that they have not seen the Regulations published nor have they received the text of the Regulations to make comments.

Bishop Eicholz told Forum 18 that he believes the Regulations are not even ready. “Although we have tried but have not been able to obtain the text of the Regulations from the State Commission so far,” he told Forum 18 on 12 November.

“The State Commission promised to publish the Regulations but until recently they had not done so,” Father Dronov told Forum 18.

“We have not seen those Regulations,” the leader of a Protestant Church in Bishkek, who wished to remain unnamed for fear of reprisals from the authorities, told Forum 18 on 11 November. “Even if they were published somewhere, it would be a formal step of the State Commission. Our voices will not be heard anyway.”

Told that many religious communities were not aware of the publication, Sharsheke Usenov, Head of the Legal Support Department of the SCRA, told Forum 18 on 11 November: “We have announced about it in the media and at press conferences.” Asked if he could even say when this was announced, he said, “I don’t remember now.”

This lack of openness mirrors a similar official attitude over the controversial proposed new Religious Education Law. Only some religious communities have been invited to discuss the draft text and religious communities were only given one week to submit comments. The SCRA has so far refused to allow the legal review it requested from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to be published (see F18News 6 November 2009 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1373).

When will Regulations be signed?

None of the several SCRA officials Forum 18 talked to could say when the Regulations will be signed. “The State Commission itself is going through structural changes so I cannot tell you when it will happen,” Murzakhalilov explained.

However, Usenov said that the signing should take place soon. “I can’t say how soon it will happen though,” he told Forum 18. “The religious communities have had more than a month to respond, and it cannot be put on the back burner for long.” (END)

URL: www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1375

KYRGYZSTAN: New Law to introduce sweeping controls on religious education?

Forum 18 News, Norway

7 September 2009

KYRGYZSTAN: New Law to introduce sweeping controls on religious education?

By Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service

The draft text of a proposed new Law on Religious Education and Educational Institutions seen by Forum 18 News Service would impose sweeping controls on who can open religious educational institutions, would ban all but approved and licensed institutions and ban individuals from seeking religious education abroad without state approval. Yet Kanybek Osmonaliev, Head of the State Agency for Religious Affairs, and his deputy, Kanatbek Murzakhalilov, adamantly denied that if adopted it would restrict religious education. “The Law will not be restrictive but promote orderliness in the sphere of religious education,” Osmonaliev told Forum 18. Two Muslim leaders declined to comment on the draft, or on Osmonaliev’s claims that there are “too many” Islamic schools in Kyrgyzstan and the number needs to be reduced. Baptists, Lutherans, Ahmadiyya Muslims and Baha’is expressed concerns over the draft Law’s provisions.

Kyrgyzstan’s State Agency for Religious Affairs (SARA) is developing a new Law on Religious Education and Educational Institutions which, if adopted in its current form, would impose further restrictions on the activities of religious organisations and educational institutions, Forum 18 News Service has learned. The draft seen by Forum 18 would impose sweeping controls on who can open religious educational institutions, would ban all but approved and licensed institutions and ban individuals from seeking religious education abroad without state approval.

Despite this, Kanybek Osmonaliev, Head of the State Agency, and his deputy, Kanatbek Murzakhalilov, adamantly denied to Forum 18 that the Law would further restrict religious organisations. “The Law will not be restrictive but promote orderliness in the sphere of religious education,” Osmonaliev told Forum 18 from the capital Bishkek on 1 September.

Osmonaliev said that the SARA has presented the draft Law to religious organisations for comments, as well as to the Bishkek office of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The OSCE confirmed to Forum 18 that it had received the draft Law and is working on an Opinion to be submitted to the government.

Asked when the proposed law will go to Parliament, Osmonaliev responded: “The law is being discussed in the public and religious organisations. After the discussions are over we will take comments from all the interested parties, and introduce the law with the comments to the Parliament.” He would not give any deadlines.

Murzakhalilov told Forum 18 on 3 September that the licensing of religious educational institutions until now has been done on the basis of a provisional statute ratified by Presidential decree No. 319 signed on 14 November 1996.

Kyrgyzstan has been steadily tightening controls on religious activity in recent years. A new, highly restrictive Religion Law came into force in January 2009. Since then, officials of the Prosecutor’s Office, Police, National Security Service secret police, local Executive Authorities and the SARA have checked up on many religious communities. Unregistered religious communities of Protestant Christians, Hare Krishna devotees and Ahmadiya Muslims in many parts of Kyrgyzstan have been told to halt worship. New difficulties are emerging for religious communities seeking registration (see F18News 21 August 2009).

Why is a Religious Education Law needed?

Explaining what he sees as the need for such a Religious Education Law, Osmonaliev complained that “too many Islamic religious educational institutions with no licence exist” in the country and their number needs to be reduced, the AKIpress news agency reported on 20 August. Osmonaliev pointed to Uzbekistan, “where there are only eight medreses (Islamic secondary religious schools)”, and said that the existing sixty or so medreses in Kyrgyzstan is “too many”.

Osmonaliev also pointed to what he said was the need to adapt the curriculum of Islamic higher education institutions “by strictly observing the ratio between the theological and secular subjects”. He insisted such examples exist in Kazakhstan, Russia and Western countries — “the whole world has experienced it,” AKIpress quoted him as saying.

Asked why such a law was needed, Osmonaliev told Forum 18 to read the text of the draft law, and “everything would become clear”. Asked why he says the number of medreses in Kyrgyzstan should be reduced, he told Forum 18 that “indeed the number of the medreses is too many”, but refused to explain why he believes this. Asked whether it will be obligatory for religious education institutions which have been licensed to renew their licences, he was categorical. “As far as I know, no religious education institution in Kyrgyzstan has a licence.”

However, the interdenominational Protestant United Bible Seminary and Protestant Silk Road Bible Institute were quick to respond to the claim, each telling Forum 18 on 3 September that they have been registered by the SARA and licensed by the Education Ministry.

Murzakhalilov said that when the new Law is adopted, licensed religious educational institutions will have to renew their licences “in cases where parts of their existing charters do not correspond to the requirements of the new Law”.

Proposed new restrictions in draft Law

The draft Law presented by the SARA to some religious organisations, a copy of which Forum 18 has seen, declares in the preamble in Article 1 that the Law is aimed at “the preservation of the religious and spiritual culture of the people of the Kyrgyzstan Republic”. It is unclear what this means: whether or not the doctrines and teachings of faiths such as State-controlled Islam and the Russian Orthodox Church would be protected and whether others would be closely scrutinised and restricted.

Article 11 would oblige all religious education institutions to register with the SARA and be licensed and accredited by the Education Ministry. Article 6.5 would entitle the “authorised appropriate state bodies in the spheres of education and religion to carry out oversight of compliance with the Law on Religious Education and Educational Institutions.”

Asked what will be the procedure for the authorised state bodies to check up on the activity of the educational institutions, Murzakhalilov told Forum 18: “This will depend on the regulations to come after this Law is adopted. It may be once a year or once a semester for instance, or if any violations are reported to us.”

Article 7 would require religious educational programmes also to include general secular subjects. The Article would entitle the authorised state bodies for education and religion to check up on religious education institutions’ activity, order the elimination of exposed “violations”, and order institutions to suspend their activity if they do not teach exactly what was in their educational programmes and conditions of education established while registering.

Told of the discontent of the religious organisations over the enforced inclusion of secular subjects into their educational programmes, Murzakhalilov responded: “The Education Ministry’s recommendation is that thirty percent of the subjects taught should be secular. We will consider the comments from religious organisations as the draft Law develops.”

Article 8 would allow registered religious organisations to be founders of a religious educational institution, subject to compliance with state educational programmes and having appropriate approval to open and maintain an educational institution. In the draft seen by Forum 18, this Article also says that foreign citizens may not be founders of a religious educational institution, though Murzakhalilov claimed that this clause has been removed. The draft Law does not, however, specify who else might be founders.

Article 10 declares that religious education may only be in the form of full-time tuition, no other forms are provided for: “Religious education at home as well as organisation of religious training courses outside facilities for religious purpose is not allowed.” Asked whether this means that individuals or religious communities will be punished for religious education classes — whether formal or informal, large or small — at places of worship or in private homes, Murzakhalilov responded: “It must be done in an official way.” He declined to say what would happen to those who conduct such education without state approval.

The Silk Road Bible Institute and others told Forum 18 that this could create problems for students who have to travel all the way to the capital Bishkek for studies. Murzakhalilov dismissed such concerns. “What kind of religious education can one receive from distance?” he told Forum 18. “It would not be real. You have to participate in person to understand religious teachings.”

Article 10 also tries to determine the number of students in the secondary and higher religious education institutions. This number “is defined according to Kyrgyzstan’s Law on Education and the Law on Licensing”.

Aleksandr Shumilin of Kyrgyzstan’s Baptist Union complained that by putting a threshold on the number of students the authorities are trying to “limit us so we could not raise” future leaders for churches. “What if we have only ten students, does that mean now that we cannot operate a Bible institute, which could raise and license preachers and pastors?” he told Forum 18 on 3 September from Bishkek.

Murzakhalilov said he is “not sure” whether the Education Law sets a minimum required number for students.

Article 12.5 would require adult Kyrgyz citizens leaving the country to receive religious education abroad to obtain agreement from the authorised state bodies for religious affairs and education. Underage citizens would not be allowed to study religion abroad.

Article 12.6 would require those teaching religious subjects to have higher or secondary religious education. This could be a problem for many religious educational institutions as they do not have many teachers with such qualifications, several institutions and communities told Forum 18.

Murzakhalilov also touched on educational institutions such as courses teaching the Koran or the Bible. “Those will not need licensing from the Education Ministry but a notification to SARA would do,” he told Forum 18, but did not explain how this would not conflict with the ban on such activity that would be imposed under Article 10 or with his earlier comments that all religious education would need a licence.

Murzakhalilov declined to further comment further on the draft Law, insisting it is “too early” to discuss specific provisions since it is still being shaped.

Will medreses be closed down?

Despite his assertion that there are “too many medreses”, Osmonaliev, the head of SARA, refused to say whether the authorities will close down any of them - or any other religious education institutions. “I do not have time for a discussion over the phone, and I am having a meeting,” he told Forum 18.

“We will not close down any medreses but we just want to bring some order to them,” Murzakhalilov told Forum 18. “Most of the existing medreses do not correspond to the standards of architecture, sanitary-epidemiological rules. Some of them do not even have chairs, and the students sit on the floor during classes. Some of them can evolve into real educational institutions, and some can become simple courses of the Koran.”

Lugmar Aji Guahunov, Deputy Head of Kyrgyzstan’s state-sponsored Muslim Board, said he has not heard of any official intentions to close down medreses. “I have not heard such official statements,” he responded to Forum 18 on 3 September when told of Osmonaliev’s opinion on the number of medreses. “Of course if they [SARA] give us any instruction on medreses we will make the necessary changes but I don’t think the authorities will close down any medrese.”

Religious communities’ concerns over state interference in religious education

Asked his opinion of the draft Law, Lugmar Aji of the Muslim Board said he could not comment at the moment since it is “still being developed”. Ravshanbek Akymbayuulu, Vice Rector of Kyrgyzstan’s Islamic University in Bishkek, told Forum 18 on 2 September that he had not seen the draft Law, and the Islamic University has “not had any discussion of it yet”.

However, Shumilin of the Baptist Union complained of State interference in what is considered by them as an “internal matter” of religious communities. “How can the state bodies license us and examine our curriculum if they do not even have any experts on Christianity?” he asked Forum 18. The government wants to make religious education an “alternative to the secular” one by including secular subjects in the curriculums, he said. “Our students already have secular secondary or higher education, and they do not need to take secular subjects once again,” Shumilin insisted.

Alexandr Shants of Kyrgyzstan’s Lutheran Church pointed out that this proposed Law, combined with the new Religion Law, would create problems for raising new, especially Kyrgyz-speaking leaders for Protestant Churches in the country. “Lutheran Churches lack leaders as many Russian-speaking leaders are emigrating from Kyrgyzstan,” he told Forum 18. “We are trying to fill this void by teaching local Kyrgyz leaders, but with these laws the authorities are trying seriously to restrict us from doing so.”

Kyrgyzstan’s Ahmadiyya Muslim Community said that they do not have formal education programmes for their believers in Kyrgyzstan but “send local believers to study abroad if need be.” Receiving official approval for this could be “difficult” if the draft Law was adopted in its current version, an Ahmadiyya Muslim told Forum 18 on 2 September.

Aida Ibrayeva of Kyrgyzstan’s only Baha’i community, said that their “only” concern with the proposed Law would be if the authorities interpreted teaching or explaining the Baha’i faith to members of their community as giving religious education. “We do not have a religious education institution, do not give our believers an official or formal education, do not give out certificates of education, and neither are we planning to do so,” she told Forum 18 on 3 September from Bishkek.

Akymbayuulu of the Islamic University said they that they are working on getting an official license for the university at the moment. “Four years ago we were told by the Ministry that we could function without a licence,” he told Forum 18. “Now, we have to obtain one.” He declined to comment on whether or not it was difficult to obtain the licence.

Is the draft law being discussed?

No public discussions of the law or round tables have yet taken place, Murzakhalilov said, but insisted this would start soon. “It could be very soon if some international donors helped us with the arrangements,” he told Forum 18.

Many Protestant church leaders are “even afraid” to give comments to SARA about the Law “especially” after what happened when the new Religion Law was adopted, Shumilin said. He said SARA took these comments but did not use them. “It seems to us that SARA collects our comments to find out our vulnerable points.”

Both Shumilin and Shants lamented that despite promises earlier this year from SARA, representatives of neither the Baptist Union nor the Lutheran Church were invited to participate in a working group for the new Law. Ibrayeva of the Baha’is told Forum 18 she hopes that her community will also be invited when official round tables and discussions of the Law take place. (END)

URL: www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1345

KYRGYZSTAN: Property obstacles used to stop registrations

--- Forum 18 News, Oslo, Norway

21 August 2009

KYRGYZSTAN: Property obstacles used to stop registrations

By Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service

Some religious communities in Kyrgyzstan are facing problems in registering as they cannot get a certificate from the State Agency for Architecture and Buildings, Forum 18 News Service has been told. In some cases religious communities are told that, on the instructions of the State Agency for Religious Affairs, their building must be 1,000 metres [1,090 yards] away from any school building, and 10,000 metres [10,900 yards] away from any mosque. In another case, an organisation was asked to to build an electricity substation to obtain a certificate. Officials have evaded answering Forum 18’s questions about these problems. Problems in registering are also facing religious organisations which are not communities. An example of this is the Bible Society, which is facing demands that it must register as a religious organisation. The Religion Law requires all religious organisations to have no less than 200 members, yet as Valentina An, Chair of the Bible Society, explained to Forum 18 “we have only 3 employees.”

Some religious communities are facing problems in gaining legal registration as they cannot get a required certificate from the State Agency for Architecture and Buildings, Forum 18 News Service has found. Also, religious societies such as the Bible Society, which does not fit the Religion Laws definitions, face problems in registering.

Unregistered religious organisations and communities in Kyrgyzstan are banned under the restrictive new Religion Law. The restrictive Religion Law demands in Article 10.2 that registration applications must include a: “Document confirming the location (legal address) of the religious organisation to be established at the geographic place (a sales-purchase agreement for the premises, a lease agreement, an agreement on providing premises free of charge, an official letter, etc.)” However, several religious communities — who do not wish to be named — have told Forum 18 News Service that they are having problems in establishing that they use a building in order to apply for registration.

Some religious communities are having no problems in establishing that they use a building. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, own the buildings they use for worship. However, Vladimir Gavrilovski told Forum 18 on 21 August that “we used to have problems when we were refused permission to rent public buildings.” Similarly, the Bahai Community “at the moment has no problem” with using their own building, they told Forum 18 on 21 August.

State Agency for Architecture and Buildings certificate needed

However, this is not the case for some other communities. A particular problem is Article 16 of the Religion Law, which states that buildings can be used “in the order established in Kyrgyz law”. This is taken by the State Agency for Religious Affairs (SARA) to mean that the State Agency for Architecture and Buildings must issue a certificate permitting usage of a building.

The SARA and the State Agency for Architecture and Buildings “play mutual protection,” a lawyer from the capital Bishkek, who is helping some religious organisations to register and wishes to remain anonymous, told Forum 18 on 21 August. In a recent case known to the lawyer, when the State Agency for Architecture and Buildings was asked for a certificate establishing that a religious community used a building, the State Agency replied with a letter from the SARA demanding that the building be 1,000 metres [1,090 yards] away from any school building, and 10,000 metres [10,900 yards] away from any mosque. The lawyer claimed that “SARA requires organisations to produce a certificate from the State Agency for Architecture and Buildings, and then asks the same Agency to obstruct the granting of this certificate.”

The lawyer also stated that the State Agency for Architecture and Buildings also asks religious communities and organisations to produce certificates itself from the Water, Natural Gas and Power Supply Administrations, as well as the the Fire Brigade,” the lawyer explained. The Power Supply Administration in one case asked an organisation to build a power substation, the lawyer said. “It’s exceedingly expensive for any organisation to build it, and the officials are trying to use religious organisations to do work for them.”

Forum 18 has been told by several Kyrgyz sources of these demands being made by the State Agency for Architecture and Buildings. Some sources have pointed out that the large number of mosques makes this condition very difficult or impossible to fulfil.

The lawyer from Bishkek said the Religion Law does not regulate whether or not state-owned buildings may be used for religious purposes, but he said that “there is an official instruction to public institutions not to rent their premises for religious purposes.” Private owners, who in the past have rented premises to religious organisations, are “now afraid” to rent them out. “Officials from the SARA and Prosecutor’s Office demand that they have permission from the State Agency for Architecture and Buildings, which in most cases they do not have.”

Officials evade answering questions

Nurlan (who did not give his last name), assistant to Onushbek Tursunbayev, Head of the State Agency for Architecture and Buildings, said that religious organisations only need supplementary documentation from municipal administrations only if they are building a new building. “For buildings which are already in use, we give permission without any supplementary documents,” he told Forum 18 on 21 August. Asked what Law regulated whether or not state-owned buildings may be used for religious purposes, he said he did not know. “For renting privately-owned halls, no permission from us is necessary unless it is a new building,” he said.

Asked if the Power Supply Administration’s demand to build a power substation was lawful, Nurlan replied that “I am a new person in this job, and I do not know.” Similarly he evaded answering if it was lawful for SARA to demand that a religious building be a long distance from a school or mosque.

Yusupjan Kadyrhojayev of the State Agency for Religious Affairs told Forum 18 on 21 August that “we only ask for two documents from religious organisations — one is the contract of purchase or of rent, and the other is permission from the State Agency for Architecture and Buildingss,” Kadyrhojayev of SARA told Forum 18. When Forum 18 started asking about property problems faced by religious communities, he put the phone down.

Unregistered communities of Protestant Christians, Hare Krishna devotees and Ahmadiya Muslims in many parts of Kyrgyzstan have been ordered by the authorities to stop meeting for worship (see F18News 13 August 2009).

Religious societies which are not communities

Problems in registering are also facing religious organisations which are not communities. An example of this is the Bible Society. The Religion Law requires all religious organisations to have no less than 200 members (see F18News 27 May 2009 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1301). Yet as Valentina An, the Chair of Kyrgyzstan’s Bible Society, explained to Forum 18 on 19 August: “we have only 3 employees. We don’t understand why we have to register as a religious organisation, as we do not fit the Law’s definition of involving ourselves in religious worship, propagation or education. We only translate and produce Bibles.”

The Bible Society was registered as a branch of the Kazakhstan Bible Society, and previously had to re-register it every year as a foreign mission in Kyrgyzstan.

“The Bible Society is involved in religious activity, because they produce and distribute religious literature. Therefore they must also be registered as religious organisation,” Kadyrhojayev of the State Agency for Religious Affairs told Forum 18. He maintained that “they are not a printing-press, they are religious believers, and are a type of religious organisation. The law is the same for everybody. There are Muslim religious societies too, which face the same requirement,” told Forum 18 on 19 August. He refused to discuss the issue further, or name the Muslim organisations he had in mind.

The Law also imposes severe restrictions on religious literature distribution (see F18News 27 May 2009 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1301). It also imposes censorship, stating that “Religious organisations and missions can import religious literature and other printed, audio, and video materials into the Kyrgyz Republic only after passing examination by a state religious expert.”

“At the moment we are continuing our activity, but have been asked by the State Agency for Religious Affairs to bring our activity in compliance with the Law,” An of the Bible Society told Forum 18. “We are uncertain of our future,” she said. (END)

URL: www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1338

KYRGYZSTAN: What will new “Coordinating Council on the Struggle Against Religious Extremism” do?

---Forum 18 News, Oslo, Norway

19 August 2009

KYRGYZSTAN: What will new “Coordinating Council on the Struggle Against Religious Extremism” do?

By Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service

Kyrgyzstan has established a state Coordinating Council on the Struggle against Religious Extremism, Forum 18 News Service notes. The execution of Council decisions will be obligatory for the different parts of the government, but officials are unclear when asked by Forum 18 what they mean by religious extremism and what the Council will do. It will be led by the State Agency for Religious Affairs, the Interior Ministry and the NSS secret police, and will have members from other parts of the government, the Muslim Board, and the Russian Orthodox Church. Civil society and religious organisations have reacted with concern, Raya Kadyrova of the Foundation for Tolerance International pointing out that “unfortunately our laws give a very wide definition of religious radicalism and extremism.” She suggested that the Collective Security Treaty Organisation might be a reason for the Council. The Jehovah’s Witnesses said they needed to wait and see what it would do. They noted that some officials have previously described them as “a destructive movement,” but “hoped” the Council would not listen to such opinions. One Protestant asked why there was a need for the Council, given the other responsible state organisations.

Kyrgyzstan has recently transformed its state Interagency Council on Religious Affairs into a state Coordinating Council on the Struggle against Religious Extremism, Forum 18 News Service has learned. However, although the Council will apparently be powerful, uncertainty surrounds what it will do.

The Decree establishing the Council — signed by Prime Minister Igor Chudinov on 5 August — states that it was established “for the purpose of ensuring concerted action and coordination of activity of State agencies and local governments of Kyrgyzstan in prevention of the spread of and resistance to religious extremism, fundamentalism and conflicts on religious grounds”. The Decree goes on to state that: “Constructive and effective mutual relations between State agencies and religious organisations aimed at efficient solutions of issues related to prevention of the spread of religious extremism, fundamentalism, and conflicts on religious grounds, will allow suppressing the ideas of various extremist and destructive groups.”

Kanybek Osmanaliev, Head of the State Agency for Religious Affairs, told Forum 18 on 18 August that the Secretariat of the Council will be led by himself, the Deputy Interior Minister, and the Deputy Head of the National Security Service (NSS) secret police. The members of the Council will be representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defence, Health, Culture, and Finance, heads of Regional Administrations, as well as representatives from the state-favoured Muslim Board and the Russian Orthodox Church.

It appears that much power will be given to the Council, as the Decree states that Council decisions must be executed by “Ministries, State Committees, administrative units, and other executive authorities, as well as local state administrations and local self-government”.

What issues will the Council address?

“The reason for the decision was to turn the Interagency Council, which was more of an amorphous structure to a more effective one to fight religious extremism,” Osmanaliev of the State Agency for Religious Affairs told Forum 18. “We will meet no less than twice a year and report to the Vice-Prime Minister,” he said. The State Agency will be responsible for preparing the agenda for each meeting. However, Osmanaliev said that he “cannot say what exact issues we will discuss, as we are only in the phase of formulating our policy.” He also did not say what principles would serve as the basis of the Council’s policy.

Father Igor Dronov of the Russian Orthodox Church in Bishkek told Forum 18 on 19 August that he is aware of the new Council, but has not yet accepted the invitation to it. “I cannot say at the moment what issues the Council will be occupied with,” he stated. Reminded that he’d told Forum 18 on 7 August that some Protestant Churches are “aggressive,” Father Dronov said “that’s not religious extremism but aggressive proselytism.” The new Religion Law bans — without defining — “aggressive action aimed at proselytism” (see F18News 13 January 2009 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1240). Asked if he would bring these type of issues at the Council, Fr Dronov repeated his previous answer that he did not know what the Council would be doing.

The Muslim Board and Osmanaliev of the State Agency have, along with Fr Dromov, welcomed the restrictive new Religion Law. In a written explanation of the “need” for a new Law — placed on the parliamentary website — Osmanaliev expressed concern about what he described as the “abnormality” of a rising number of people changing faith, especially young ethnic Kyrgyz joining Christian churches. He also complained of “illegal” activity by “various destructive, totalitarian groups and reactionary sects”, among whom he included the Hare Krishna and Mormon communities, and “uncontrolled” building and opening of mosques, churches and other places of worship (see F18News 2 October 2008 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1197).

Who decided what the Council’s membership is?

Asked why representatives of other religious organisations were not invited as members to the Council, Osmanaliev of the State Agency said the question should be put to the government.

Suyun Musaliyev, who works for the department overseeing religious issues in the Cabinet of Ministers, said that the members from the religious organisations were proposed by the State Agency for Religious Affairs. “If they [the State Agency] would like to propose a representative of Protestants, for instance, they could,” he told Forum 18 on 18 August. “We will make a decision on their proposal.”

What is religious extremism?

Officials were unspecific when asked what they meant by religious extremism, and how the struggle against it would be carried out. “It is the Coordinating Council’s duty to expose destructive and extremist religious movements in the territory of Kyrgyzstan,” Musaliyev of the Cabinet of Ministers responded. Osmanaliev of the State Agency said that “only courts” in Kyrgyzstan can decide which religious movements are extremist. “So far, such decisions have been made on organisations like Hizb-ut-Tahrir” (see http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=170 for an outline of this group’s views), he stated. “None of the existing and registered organisations are considered as extremists here,” Osmanaliev assured Forum 18. He did not discuss the situation of unregistered organisations, or those whose registration the new Law threatens.

Asked what would happen if names of existing organisations were claimed in Council meetings to have negative effects, Osmanaliev would only said that the Council “would need to make a collective decision” on cases of extremism.

Reactions from civil society and religious communities

Raya Kadyrova, President of the Foundation for Tolerance International in Bishkek, pointed to one possible problem in the Council’s work. She told Forum 18 on 19 August that “unfortunately our laws give a very wide definition of religious radicalism and extremism. For instance, any criticism by independent Muslim organisations of the work of the Muslim Board can easily be interpreted as radicalism and extremism.” She also said that she “hoped the Council will also listen to the opinion of Kyrgyzstan’s so-called minority faiths before making any decisions affecting their activity”

Various religious organisations expressed their concerns to Forum 18 about the Council. A Protestant Pastor, who wanted to remain unnamed, said he does not understand why there needs to be such a Council. “We already have law-enforcement agencies in the country to detect who breaks the laws,” he told Forum 18 on 18 August from Bishkek. The Protestant added that the State Agency is also supposed to work with religious organisations. “I am afraid they are trying to tighten the noose around our necks,” he complained. He said he believed that the Council was created to “make life hard” for the Protestant churches in the country.

Vladimir Gavrilovski of Jehovah’s Witnesses said they needed to wait and see what the Council would do. “It has been re-organised very recently, so we have to wait to see,” he told Forum 18 on 18 August. “Some officials have spoken about us as being a destructive movement in the past,” he noted. “When we explained our position on different issues, they told us that they were given wrong information on us.” He said he “hoped” that the Council would not listen to such opinions.

Synarkul Muraliyeva (Chandra Mukkhi) of the Hare Krishna community said she did not know what the position of the Council on their community would be. “The NSS secret police has told us that we are a totalitarian sect, and are in a list with the banned terrorist organisations.”

Why is the Council being established?

Kadyrova of the Foundation for Tolerance International told Forum 18 that the establishment of the Council was “official recognition that the country’s security is under threat from religious extremism.” She thought that a reason for it’s establishment may be that the authorities “need to determine” what the security threats are. She added that the Council may also have been established “to integrate into national policy a policy adopted at a recent meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).” She noted that “the policy of the CSTO is that special attention needs to be given to religious radicalism and new religious movements, as a threat to security in the region.”

The CSTO, consisting of of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, added some Muslim movements to its list of terrorist and extremist organisations in May 2009. These included Tabligh Jamaat and Salafism (see F18News 15 May 2009 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1297), as well as “Nurdzhular” - as it calls followers of the Turkish theologian Said Nursi. Muslims who follow Nursi’s approach to Islam have been attracting increasing state hostility in the former Soviet Union. Increasing numbers of Muslims following his approach have been jailed in Uzbekistan (see eg. 31 July 2009 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1333). Translations of many of his writings are banned in Russia, and those thought to possess them have been raided (see F18News 16 July 2009 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1328).

The Kyrgyz legal background

Since a repressive new Religion Law came into force in January, religious communities of all faiths have experienced increased official hostility. One example of this has been that unregistered communities of Protestant Christians, Hare Krishna devotees and Ahmadiya Muslims in many parts of Kyrgyzstan have been ordered by the authorities to stop meeting for worship (see F18News 13 August 2009).

Officials have claimed to Forum 18 that they have formed a Commission to resolve three controversial provisions of the Religion Law: restrictions on sharing faith and distributing religious literature, and the high threshold of members required before religious communities can register. Separately, a legal challenge to the Law was mounted by Protestants (see F18News 27 May 2009 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1301). The Constitutional Court on 24 July dismissed the complaint, in a ruling signed by Judge Chinara Musabekova. She stated that the “concrete constitutional rights of the applicants have not been violated.” (END)

URL: www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1337