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DE RUEHTA #1044/01 1700936
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 190936Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5645
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE 1687
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
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RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC 1160
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RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 001044 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KIRF KDEM KZ
SUBJECT:  KAZAKHSTAN:  USCIRF'S COSMAN HEARS DIFFERENT VIEWS ON 
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Catherine Cosman, Senior Analyst for the U.S. 
Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), met June 4 - 
11 with Kazakhstani civil society and religious leaders and 
government officials, to discuss the country's policy on religious 
freedom.  The representatives of the "traditional" religions 
predictably highlighted Kazakhstan's track record of religious 
tolerance, while representatives of "non-traditional" groups 
asserted that the government's policy towards them was growing more 
hostile.  Meetings with the government proved somewhat contentious, 
with the representatives of the MFA and the MOJ's Religious Issues 
Committee arguing that some of USCIRF's reporting can be "biased" 
and unbalanced.  END SUMMARY. 
TWO VIEWS ON FREEDOM OF RELIGION 
 
¶3.  (SBU) During her June 4 - 11 trip to Almaty and Astana, USCIRF's 
Cathy Cosman met with leaders of civil society, representatives of 
religious organizations, and government officials.  As has been the 
case in the past, the representatives of "non-traditional" religious 
groups, like the Ahmadi Muslims, Protestants, and Scientologists, 
gave a vastly different assessment of Kazakhstan's record on 
religious freedom than their counterparts from the Orthodox Church 
and the Spiritual Association of Muslims of Kazakhstan (SAMK). 
While welcoming the recent decision of the Constitutional Council to 
overturn the draft law on religion, the smaller religious groups 
were unanimous in asserting that the government's policy toward 
"non-traditional" religions was growing more hostile.  Ahmadi 
Muslims and Protestants reported several instances of local law 
enforcement representatives attending services, writing down the 
names of the participants, and asking the congregation members 
whether they joined the religious community freely or were 
"coerced."  The representative of the Church of Scientology outlined 
the several administrative cases facing the church, including a case 
for tax evasion and for unauthorized pharmaceutical activities.  On 
a more positive note, the Almaty Hare Krishnas told us that the 
local and oblast (region) authorities seem to be committed to 
finding an appropriate land plot as a substitute for the contested 
land plot where the community is now.  Apparently, as the Krishnas 
told us, the oblast akim (regional governor) flies to Astana on a 
monthly basis to update the Presidential Administration on the 
progress of the dispute. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In contrast, the representatives of SAMK, the Orthodox 
Church, and the Jewish community shared their belief that the 
government is wholeheartedly committed to promoting religious 
tolerance.  All three highlighted their "open dialogue" with other 
confessions and cited the upcoming Congress of World Religions -- an 
international forum that takes place in Astana every three years -- 
as proof of President Nazarbayev's commitment to religious 
understanding.  Father Andrey of the Orthodox Church told us that he 
supported the draft law on religion because it would have 
established greater control over "foreign pseudo-religions which 
lack certain morals." 
 
THE GOVERNMENT TAKES ISSUE 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In Astana, Cosman met with representatives of the 
Religious Issues Committee (RIC), the President's Human Rights 
Commission, and the MFA's America's Directorate.  The head of the 
RIC Ardak Doszhan showed great familiarity with USCIRF's most recent 
report on Kazakhstan.  He thanked USCIRF for its "frank" reporting, 
but noted that several aspects of the report "did not present both 
sides of the story."  In particular, he asserted that USCIRF's 
report "shows bias" when it criticizes the government for the 
failing to resolve the Hare Krishna land dispute or for the fines 
that are imposed on Baptists who refuse to register on principle, 
but fails to point out that both the Hare Krishnas and the Baptists 
"did not follow the law." We heard similar comments from Askar 
Tazhiyev, the Head of MFA's America's Directorate, who proceeded to 
go through the report and challenge particular choices of phrasing. 
For example, he argued that USCIRF's assertion that Protestant 
groups sometimes face harassment from the government is "patently 
untrue" because the number of registered Protestant groups greatly 
 
ASTANA 00001044  002 OF 002 
 
 
outnumbers the Orthodox and Muslim religious entities.  He also took 
issue with the report's coverage of the cases against the Church of 
Scientology -- "This is a group that is banned in Germany, France, 
and Belgium!" he argued passionately.  We countered that the report 
does not aim to judge the merit of the cases against the 
Scientologists, but rather to highlight certain inconsistencies and 
the lack of transparency in the investigation.  Tazhiyev agreed that 
the actions of law enforcement "sometimes fell short of 
international standards." 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Catherine Cosman did not/not clear this cable. 
 
HOAGLAND