Religious Freedom and Human Rights in Kazakhstan

The Republic of Kazakhstan became an independent country on 16 December 1991. Territorially it is the ninth largest country in the world, but its population is comparatively small and ethnically diverse. Preliminary results of the census of 1999 reveal a population of something over 14,450,000 people, compared with 16,199,000 in 1989. Of these, 53.4 per cent are Kazakhs and 30 per cent Russians (Kazakhstanskaya, 2000b). The other main ethnic groups in Kazakhstan are Ukrainians, Germans, Uzbeks, Tatars, Uighurs and Koreans. Like any other country, Kazakhstan has a distinctive religious character produced by historical, geographical, ethnic, political and other factors, which should be taken into consideration when analysing religious freedom and human rights as well as the status of religious organisations. Three important features of the religious character of Kazakhstan are as follows. First, religion has played an insignificant role in the country during various periods of its history, and this has resulted in the underdevelopment of religious institutions and of church-state relationships. Second, there is no one dominant religion, because the country has been a place of migration and deportation of many peoples with a variety of religious faiths. Third, the intensive struggle against religion during the Soviet period has produced a predominantly secularised society. Largely because of its geographical location, Kazakhstan is often considered to be a Muslim country, or a country under strong Muslim influence. This is an inaccurate impression. Although Kazakhstan does indeed lie in the area of traditional Islamic influence, it is located far from major Muslim centres. Historically, Islam appeared and spread in the territory of Kazakhstan much later than in other Asian countries. In general, the Islamisation of the peoples of Central Asia was completed by the end of the eighth century, but the establishment of Islam as the main religion in Kazakhstan, especially in its northern regions, was not completed until the nineteenth century. The slow pace of this process can be explained by the remoteness of Kazakhstan from the Muslim centres and by its vast, thinly populated territory and the prevalent nomadic way of life of its population, which was incompatible with the establishment of centralised religious institutions. At different periods of history, tribes, dynasties and ethnic groups, confessing various pagan religions, Buddhism and Christianity, achieved temporary influence, and they helped to determine the religious atmosphere of the country. In the first two decades of the twentieth century the territory of Kazakhstan