KAZAKHSTAN: RELIGION LAW PASSES PARLIAMENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 002388 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: RELIGION LAW PASSES PARLIAMENT ¶A. ASTANA 767 ¶B. ASTANA 1107 ¶C. ASTANA 2365 ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: On November 26, Kazakhstan's parliament adopted the amendments to the religion law, and the legislation is now before President Nazarbayev for signature. While the draft is a marked improvement over the original April version, it still contains several problematic provisions, including restrictions on the rights of "religious groups." The Kazakhstani parliament passed the law the day after the government agreed to have the latest draft reviewed by the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Experts Group, who had earlier reviewed the legislation. ODIHR Headquarters expressed disappointment at the hasty passage of the law and urged the President not to sign it in its current form. Civil society and religious leaders plan to petition President Nazarbayev to submit the law for a review to the Constitutional Court, although the government has not yet committed to doing so. END SUMMARY. LAW GOES TO PRESIDENT FOR SIGNATURE ¶3. (SBU) On November 26, Kazakhstan's parliament adopted the amendments to the religion law. The legislation will now be sent to the President, who has 60 days to sign it into law. The legislation, as it stands now, is a marked improvement over the draft originally submitted in April 2007 (ref A),although several problematic provisions remain. As laid out in reftels, the law would: -- mandate a minimum of 50 members to register as a religious organization; -- establish new procedures for registering a religious organization, and divide such organizations into local religious organizations (formed within one administrative unit) and central religious organizations (formed upon the initiative of local religious organizations that exist in at least five oblasts); -- create a new legal entity for groups with less than 50 members, called a "religious group," which would benefit from simplified registration process. The law would also, however, impose significant restrictions on the activities of such "religious groups." They would be banned from proselytizing or renting public facilities for services, and could conduct religious services only among the group's members; -- require that all existing religious groups and organizations re-register within one year of the new law becoming effective; -- require religious organizations, when registering and re-registering, to provide the government with information about the fundamentals of the religion and its associated practices, including its history, methods of operation, and its perspective on marriage, family relations, and education; -- establish that registration of a religious group previously unknown in Kazakhstan may be suspended for up to six months; -- require, in the event of a denial of registration, that the government provide a written explanation justifying the denial; -- define missionary activity as religious-educational activity on behalf of a religious organization "beyond the territory where it is registered," and require that "missionaries" register with the authorities. (NOTE: The law does not clearly define "territory," and several religious groups expressed worry that the ambiguity will lead to believers having to register whenever they travel to neighboring oblasts. END NOTE.); -- require oral parental consent for any minor to attend religious events; -- significantly increase fines and penalties for violating the law. ODIHR "DISAPPOINTED ABOUT HASTY ADOPTION" ASTANA 00002388 002 OF 002 ¶4. (SBU) The law's adoption came on the heels of the November 24-25 visit from the Expert Group on Freedom of Belief from OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR),which had authored ODIHR's review of the original draft legislation. Professor Cole Durham, the review's chief drafter, told the Ambassador on November 24 that ODIHR saw numerous issues with the legislation, but could not go into specific detail because the review was being kept confidential at Kazakhstan's request. The Expert Group met with Ministry of Justice's (MOJ) Religious Issues Committee (RIC) on November 25 and agreed that ODIHR would review the latest version of the legislation and publicize its report. Upon the adoption of the law, ODIHR released a statement from its headquarters in Warsaw expressing disappointment that the parliament "approved amendments to the religion law without taking into account ODIHR's recommendations." The statement urged President Nazarbayev not to sign the law in its current form and allow it to be revised to "better reflect international standards." Ambassador Janez Lenarcic, ODIHR's Director, in Warsaw, said, "It is disappointing that the law was adopted in such a hasty way without making full use of broad consultations with civil society and expertise from the international community." CIVIL SOCIETY AIMS EFFORTS AT PRESIDENCY ¶4. (SBU) Civil society leaders were not as surprised as ODIHR's by the law's quick passage. "No one thought the Mazhelis (lower house of the parliament) would take a long time," said Helsinki Committee Chair Ninel Fokina. She told us a group of leading NGOs were preparing a review of the religion legislation, as well as the package of legislative amendments on political parties, elections, and the media, to be presented at the December 4 OSCE Ministerial in Helsinki. Fokina predicted that President Nazarbayev would either sign the legislation into law "immediately" or choose to send the draft law to the Constitutional Court for review, "to be seen as a liberal ruler." She said several NGOs and religious groups would petition the President to send the law for review. ¶5. (SBU) Fokina voiced skepticism that the new ODIHR review would make any difference. The review will not be done in time to affect change, she believes. Director of the Legal Resource Center, Vera Tkachenko, also did not pin her hopes on ODIHR's review. The fact that the original review was kept confidential sent Kazakhstan mixed messages, she said. ODIHR called on Kazakhstan to follow Western norms, but failed to publicize what those norms are, she alleged. (NOTE: OSCE representatives here frequently voiced their frustration about Kazakhstan's condition that the report be kept confidential, but remained bound by the agreement between ODIHR and Kazakhstan. END NOTE.) ¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: It seems unlikely that President Nazarbayev will wait for ODIHR's review before signing the religion bill into law, and civil society groups fully expect that the new legislation will come into force within the next few months. The current draft is a significant improvement over the original April version, and while civil society leaders maintain that some of the controversial provisions were inserted as bargaining chips, it is an encouraging sign that many did not make it into the final draft. Senate Chairman Tokayev assured the Ambassador that the law is aimed specifically against the pernicious influences of "sects" and extremist organizations (ref C). However, many of the provisions that Parliament retained in the current version seem to be aimed specifically at exerting greater government control over smaller "non-traditional" groups. If, as expected, the President signs the existing version into law, experts on religious freedom will be carefully monitoring how the government chooses to implement the new legislation and its effects on religious freedom. MILAS