Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BISHKEK1135
2008-11-06 11:47:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bishkek
Cable title:  

KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT PASSES LAW ON RELIGION,

Tags:  PGOV PREL KIRF KDEM KG 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 001135 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN (GORKOWSKI)
DEPT FOR DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL KIRF KDEM KG
SUBJECT: KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT PASSES LAW ON RELIGION,
REJECTING PROPOSED REVISIONS

REF: A. BISHKEK 143

B. BISHKEK 946

C. STATE 118112

BISHKEK 00001135 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Ambassador Tatiana C. Gfoeller for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (
d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 001135

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN (GORKOWSKI)
DEPT FOR DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL KIRF KDEM KG
SUBJECT: KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT PASSES LAW ON RELIGION,
REJECTING PROPOSED REVISIONS

REF: A. BISHKEK 143

B. BISHKEK 946

C. STATE 118112

BISHKEK 00001135 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Ambassador Tatiana C. Gfoeller for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (
d).


1. (C) Summary: After years of debate and numerous
revisions, the Kyrgyz Parliament passed a controversial law
on religion on November 6. The law has been forwarded to the
president for signature. Minority Christian leaders
continued to raise concerns about the restrictions and
lamented that the law's implementation would severely hamper
freedom of religion. During several earlier roundtables,
government officials and parliamentary advocates had defended
the law, arguing the need to improve upon religion laws to
prevent religious conflict and curb extremism. In a final
twist on the day of the vote, the Ak Jol faction rejected
proposed changes to the law that would have loosened
registration restrictions previously pledged by the
parliamentary committee chairman. End summary.

EXPRESSIONS OF DESPAIR FROM THE CHRISTIANS
--------------


2. (C) Baptist Pastor and head of the Union of Churches of
Evangelical Christians Alexander Shumilin told Poloff that
his attempts to influence the government in favor of more
liberal restrictions had failed. The draft law on Freedom of
Religion and Religious Organizations (ref B) prohibits
proselytizing, unregistered religious activity, and private
religious education. Shumilin, a staunch opponent to the law,
said that the government had invited him to participate in
the working group established to draft the law on religion.
However, he said that the invitation merely allowed the
government to argue that it supported an open dialogue on the
issue and included the minority Christians in the drafting
process. Shumilin said that during a recent working group
meeting, he tried to convince Osmonaliyev to loosen
restrictions proposed in the draft law, but his pleas were
"met with the same rhetoric heard in previous roundtables."


YET ANOTHER ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
--------------


3. (C) On October 31, at the fifth roundtable discussion on
the draft religion law, Kyrgyz government officials said that
a proposed Law on Religious Freedom was necessary to prevent
religious conflict and combat the spread of extremism but
conceded to loosen some of the key restrictions.
Representatives from the Kyrgyz Parliament, State Agency for
Religious Affairs (SARA),Muftiate, Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),and civil society attended
and expressed views, both positive and negative, about the
draft law and government controls. Government officials
presented a united front in support of the draft law.
Shailobek Urkunbaev, the SARA representative, stated that the
new law would more clearly define the regulations for
registering religious organizations, establish controls over
religious educational institutions, and set parameters for
the operation of missionary centers and missionaries'
activities.

MP KURMANOV PROMISES FEWER RESTRICTIONS
--------------


4. (C) During the roundtable, the lead advocate for the draft
law, Parliamentarian Zainidin Kurmanov, argued that the
current law was outdated and failed to govern properly
religious entities but, in an effort to soothe the critics,
revealed a number of changes to the text based on the

BISHKEK 00001135 002.2 OF 002


recommendations of the OSCE Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Advisory Council on
Freedom of Religion and Belief. He noted that relaxed
requirements for registration from 200 members to 50 were
among the amendments to the draft law. Kurmanov said that
the Bible, Torah, and Koran imported into the country would
be exempt from examination by government censors. He also
claimed that some provisions considered by the Advisory
Council to be ambiguous would be clarified, thus reducing the
possibility of broad interpretation on the part of the
authorities. (Note: Kurmanov's office and other contacts in
parliament and the SARA have not responded to requests for
copies of the final draft by Post, the OSCE, religious
organizations, and civil society groups. End note.)

PARLIAMENT PASSED LAW WITHOUT LOOSENED RESTRICTIONS
-------------- --------------


5. (C) On November 6, Parliament passed the law on religion
without opposition and forwarded the legislation for
President Bakiyev's signature. During the October 9 plenary
session, Parliament had approved the first reading of the
draft law and returned it to the drafters with limited
suggested changes to the text. On October 31, MPs held a
second reading but lacked a quorum to pass the law. Finally,
on November 6, 81 out of 82 MPs present voted in favor of the
draft law (the remaining MP abstained) and recommended it for
signing by President Bakiyev. According to a press report,
the ruling Ak Jol party held a meeting on November 5 to
discuss the draft law and decided to retain the original
200-member requirement for registration. Prior to the vote,
Ak Jol members confirmed that the draft contained this
provision. (Note: Until Parliament releases a copy of the
final draft, Post is unable to confirm this or other
amendments to the law. End note.)

COMMENT
--------------


6. (C) Throughout this process, Post has expressed concerns
to a wide range of Kyrgyz officials about the restrictions
contained in the law. We also passed to the Kyrgyz
government A/S Kramer's letter to FM Karabayev urging further
work with the OSCE on the law's provisions. If signed by
Bakiyev, this religion law will present obstacles for
smaller, minority religious groups and organizations. Five
days before the October 31 roundtable, Pastor Shumilin
predicted that the government had set severely restrictive
provisions in the original draft law only to back down from
them slightly and appear to be giving in to the pressure of
international organizations. On October 31, Shumilin
concluded that the government would still have ample tools to
persecute the Christian groups. On November 6, Pastor
Shumilin conceded that the Kyrgyz government was unaffected
by the pressure of international organizations and foreign
governments on this issue. One question left unanswered is
whether existing organizations would have to re-register
under the new regulations. The Embassy will continue to
track this issue closely, including the beginning stages of
the law's implementation.
GFOELLER