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Religion in Kazakhstan: a General View Roman Podoprigora View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Brigham Young University Law School BYU Law Review Volume 1999 | Issue 2 Article 5 5-1-1999 Religion in Kazakhstan: A General View Roman Podoprigora Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/lawreview Part of the Religion Commons, Religion Law Commons, and the Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies Commons Recommended Citation Roman Podoprigora, Religion in Kazakhstan: A General View, 1999 BYU L. Rev. 581 (1999). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/lawreview/vol1999/iss2/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Brigham Young University Law Review at BYU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in BYU Law Review by an authorized editor of BYU Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. D:\ 1999-2\ FINAL\ POD-FIN.WPD Ja n. 8, 2001 Religion in Kazakhstan: A General View Rom an Podoprigora* I. INTRODUCTION The Repu blic of Kazak hstan is one of the largest states in Asia. With respect to religion, Kazakh stan is often regarded as part of the Moslem world, a lth ough t his is debat able. Kazakhstan can hardly be called a Moslem country; it is neith er purely Asian nor European; it is a place where East and West are closely intermingled . Th is factor in flu en ces va riou s processes which take place in this country, including those affect in g r eligion . It is necessary to note that Kazakhstan has never been a country affect ed by p articu la rly s trong r eligiou s s en tim en ts or powerful religious forces. Religious orga nizations have a lways been ra th er passive and do not claim a ny political r ole in the state. In contrast to those in neighbor in g countries , r eligiou s groups in Kaza kh stan gener ally do not str ive to exercise th eir influence upon political or social events. The vast m ajority of religiou s organizations in Kazakhstan pursue their own practical aims and try n ot to go beyond the limit s of their legal activities. Some occasional attempts by Islamic fundamentalists to become more politically active have been quickly stopped by the state. The religious situation in Kazakhstan has changed ra dically since the collapse of the Communist system. Today there is growth in religious freedom tha t would have been im possible under the Soviet regime. Some examples include: rapid growth in the number of believers1 and religious organiza tion s; 2 cre- * Head of Administr at ive La w Depa rt men t, H igher Law S chool “Adilet,” Almaty, Kazakhstan. 1. It is difficult to give an accurate est ima te on th e nu mber of believers in Kazakhstan due to th e lack of av ai la ble sou rce s of in form at ion . E xis ti ng sociol ogica l re sear ch indicates tha t about 35-40% of the people in Kazakhstan consider themselves believers, ab out 15-20% of whom consider th ems elves d eeply r eligious people. See Ur oven religioznosti i religioznye orientatsii v Kazakhstane [Level of Religiousness and Religi ous Orientations in Kazakhstan], ALMATY, 199 6, a t 7 ; Religioznaya situatsiya v Cen tra ln o-Azi ats kom region e [Religious S itu ati on i n t he C ent ral -Asi an Reg ion ], 581 D:\ 1999-2\ FINAL\ POD-FIN.WPD Ja n. 8, 2001 582 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [1999 ation of certain conditions for believer s to sat isfy their religiou s needs;3 legalization of previously banned religiou s organ izations;4 absen ce of state con trol over all r eligiou s orga niza tion s and individual believers;5 rise of n ew religiou s orga niza tion s (nontraditional for Kazakhstan) including many foreign religious organ izat ion s; 6 an d growth of Islamic fundamentalism. The relationships between the state and religious orga niza tion s have also chan ged greatly. The former attitu de of stubborn and active opp osition aga in st all r eligiou s orga niza tion s which was characteristic of the Soviet period has been replaced with an attitude of mutual respect and cooperation .7 In general, the religious situation in Kazakhstan can be chara cterized as calm . Throughout the period of political PANORAMA, Nov. 11, 1997. No resear ch was done on t he n um ber of believers in Kazakhstan during the Soviet period. In 1987, the num ber of believers in the USS R was est imat ed at 10-20% of th e tot al popu lat ion. See Konstan tin Kh archev, Garantii svobod y [Gu ara nt ees of Freed om ], N AUKA I REL IGI YA, 1987, #11, at 23. 2. In 1990, ther e were 676 religious or gan izat ions in Kaza kh sta n. See Artur Artemieve, Atheizm religiya, lichnost [Atheism, Religion Personality], ALMA-ATA, 1990 at 50. I n 1 996, th er e we re ab out 3,00 0 r eligi ous orga niz at ions includin g 1,5 03 w hi ch were regis ter ed by t he s ta te bodies. S ee YUR IDI CH ES KAYA GAZETA, Dec. 16, 1998. 3. Believers have received more rights under the new legislation. Many prohibitions of ri tu al ist ic, m iss ion ar y, a nd cha ri table activit ies; religious tea ching; conducting of re ligious me et in gs a nd confe re nce s; organizing of religious associations; and the like have been eliminated. 4. Some organizat ions wh ich wer e proh ibited u nder th e Soviet r egime h ave been recently registered. Examples include th e Jeh ovah’s Witnesses and several Baptist, Advent ist, a nd P ent ecosta l churches. 5. Religious organizations and believers today are relatively free from state control in compa rison with th e Soviet period. Special permission from the sta te to cond uct religious meet ings or conferen ces or to const ru ct religious buildin gs is not requ ired. Religious orga nizat ions can act wit hout official registra tion. Th e officials cannot dismiss th e mem bers of the execu tive bodies of the r eligiou s or gan iza tion s or forbid missionary activity in Kazakhstan. None of these activities were possible during the Soviet period. 6. There ar e m an y nont ra dit iona l re ligiou s organizations in Kazakhstan: Presbyterian and Charismatic churches, Hare Krishna, Un ifica ti on C hu rch , Ch ur ch of Scientology, etc. Some of them were create d after t he growing activity of foreign missionaries. 7. Pr esen tly, the sta te provides mat eria ls, as well as fina ncial a nd ot her aid to religious organizations in the construction, restoration, and maintenance of religious buildings. It finances the organ izing of pilgrimages and gives them a rticles of religious significance. In turn, religious organizations help the s tat e in charita ble, elucidative, and medical activities. D:\ 1999-2\ FINAL\ POD-FIN.WPD Ja n. 8, 2001 581] RELIGION IN KAZAKHSTAN 583 independence in Kazakhstan, there have been no noteworthy conflict s n or any ot her nega tive eve nts on religiou s grounds . The legal fou nda tion for the exis ten ce of a ctivity for religiou s organizations has changed as well. Several regulatory documents legalizin g va riou s r eligiou s a ctivities wer e recently approved and passed in to la w. R egist er ed religiou s orga niza tion s are n ow r ecogn ized a s lega l en tit ies and ca n take part in lega l tr an sactions. Religious organizations have expanded righ ts a nd m ay n ow particip ate in civil n egot ia tion s on th eir own behalf; in many r espects t hey d o not differ from other legal organizations.8 II. SHORTCOMINGS IN THE LEGAL FOUNDATION Everything mentioned above can be referred to as the general social a nd ju ridica l sph er es of religiou s or ga niza tion s’ functioning. But upon closer examination of religious issues, there are at least seven shortcomings that are not evident at first sight. In the future, these shortcomings may present a consider able problem that could influence the develop men t of the religious situation in Kazakhstan. First, despite some positive changes in Kazakhstan’s religiou s legislat ion, ma ny troublesome questions rema in unanswered. Very often the la w r ega rds religiou s or ga niza tion s as commer cial enter prises, with all the consequences of this assumption. This assumption ignores the peculiarities inherent in the structure and management of religious organizations and handicaps the ve ry existen ce a nd p ractica l activity of these organizations. For example, in some cases religiou s orga niza tion s were required to have the same institutional st ructure a nd execu tive bodies as for -pr ofit orga niza tion s. Second, som e for eign religiou s or ganizations and missionaries from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Lebanon are operating in Kazakhstan. Most of them represent radical Moslem gr oups.
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