Religion Of Kazakhstan

Oil and gas is the leading economic sector. Production of oil and gas condensate in Kazakhstan amounted to 51.2 million tons in 2003, which was 8.6% more than in 2002. Kazakhstan raised oil and gas condensate exports to 44.3 million tons in 2003, 13% higher compared to 2002. Gas production in Kazakhstan in 2003 amounted to 13.9 billion cubic meters, up 22.7% compared to 2002, including natural gas production of 7.3 billion cubic meters, Kazakhstan holds about 4 billion tons of proven recoverable oil reserves and 2 trillion cubic meters of gas. Industry analysts believe that planned expansion of oil production, coupled with the development of new fields, will enable the country to produce as much as 3 million barrels per day by 2015, lifting Kazakhstan into the ranks of the world's top 10 oil-producing nations. Kazakhstan's 2003 oil exports were valued at more than $7 billion, representing 65% of overall exports and 24% of GDP. Major oil and gas fields and their recoverable oil reserves ... [Read More]

Kazakhstan

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the various religious communities worship largely without government interference; however, local officials attempt on occasion to limit the practice of religion by some nontraditional groups. Such attempts are often corrected upon the intervention of higher-level officials or courts.The overall status of religious freedom improved during the period covered by this report. President Nursultan Nazarbayev began an initiative to promote dialog among religions; an international conference drawing regional dignitaries and religious figures was held in February. However, the President and other senior officials also spoke out on the need to contain religious extremism, and officials at all levels continued to regard religious extremism with concern. Followi ... [Read More]

Kazakhstan

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the various religious communities worship largely without government interference. Although local officials attempt on occasion to limit the practice of religion by some nontraditional groups, such attempts are usually corrected upon the intervention of higher-level officials or courts. The overall status of religious freedom improved during the period covered by this report. President Nursultan Nazarbayev continued an initiative to promote dialogue among religions; a second international conference drawing regional dignitaries and religious figures was held in September 2003. However, the President and other senior officials also spoke out on the need to contain religious extremism, and officials at all levels continued to regard religious extremism with concern. Instances of harassment of religious organizations by local officialsdecrease ... [Read More]

2004 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Kazakhstan

In September, Aitkul Samakova, Chairwoman of the National Commission on Women and Family Affairs and Minister of Environmental Protection, reported that in 2003, over 25,000 crimes against women were officially reported to law enforcement and that the actual number of crimes was higher. In 2003 in the capital, Astana, on average 6 women appealed to police each day as a result of violence. In June 2003, the National Commission on Women and Family reported that 64 percent of women have been victims of violent crime. A 2002 MVD survey found that 52 percent of women had reported some form of domestic abuse, with the highest incidence in rural areas, and only 30 percent of domestic violence cases were prosecuted. Police often were reluctant to intervene in domestic disputes, considering them to be the family's business, unless they believed that the abuse was life threatening. The MVD stated in November 2003 that spousal rape incidents, in particular, increased each year for the past severa ... [Read More]

Kazakhstan

Government officials acknowledged the seriousness of the problem of police abuse and undertook some efforts to combat it, for example, by punishing violators through the criminal justice system. According to the Government, during the first 9 months of the year, courts considered 41 criminal cases, involving 63 law enforcement officers, for violations of citizens' rights. Of those cases, 19 law enforcement officers were convicted, with sentences ranging from fines to imprisonment. Human rights observers believed that these cases covered only a small fraction of the incidents of police abuse of detainees, which they characterized as routine.  Training standards and pay for police were very low, and individual law enforcement officials often were supervised poorly. Minimum pay for law enforcement during the year was $40 (5,600 Tenge) per month, while average salaries were $130 (18,288 Tenge). Law enforcement officers noted in 2001 that beatings by officials were common ... [Read More]

Kazakhstan

Government officials acknowledged the seriousness of the problem of police abuse and undertook some efforts to combat it, for example by punishing violators through the criminal justice system. According to a Vice Minister of Interior, 100 criminal charges were placed against police officers for the unlawful use of physical force against citizens during the first 8 months of the year. According to the Deputy Prosecutor, 38 of these were new cases filed during the year. Human rights observers believed that these cases covered only a small fraction of the incidents of police abuse of detainees, which they characterized as routine.  Training standards and pay for police were very low, and individual law enforcement officials often were supervised poorly. Law enforcement officers participating in a government conference on pretrial detention facilities in 2001 noted that beatings by officials were common in such facilities (see Section 1.d.).  ... [Read More]

Kazakhstan

The lower house (Majilis), consisting of 77 members, was elected directly in October 1999.  Under amendments to the Constitution passed in 1998, membership in the Majilis elected in 1999 included 10 new seats assigned proportionally to political parties based on the percentage of votes they received nationally (with a minimum vote threshold of 7 percent).  The other 67 seats were attributed by single mandate districts.  The upper house (the Senate) consists of 39 members, 32 of whom are elected directly by members of oblast and city parliaments; the President appoints the remaining 7 senators.  Elections were held in September 1999 for 16 Senate seats.  The election law requires candidates for both houses to meet minimum age and education requirements and to pay a nonrefundable registration fee of 25 times the minimum monthly wage of $500 (approximately 70,000 tenge).  This fee represented a 75 percent decrease over previous registration fees, which opposi ... [Read More]

Kazakhstan

Representatives of Jehovah's Witnesses alleged incidents of harassment by a number of local governments. They claimed that city officials in Astana, Almaty, and Shymkent sometimes blocked the group from renting stadiums or other large public or private sites for religious meetings. In other cities, officials allowed the church to rent facilities for such gatherings. Church representatives alleged in March that the director of one facility in Almaty told them that city officials had given instructions not to rent space to Jehovah's Witnesses. A city official denied the allegation. Church representatives also alleged that the Prosecutor's Office in Kostenai requested information from the church about its clergymen, organizational structure, and schools, and that in April documents of Jehovah's Witnesses congregations in Taraz and Abay were inspected. The church faced difficulties registering communities of church members in Petropavlovsk, where registration has been denied several times, ... [Read More]

Mongolia

Under the law, the Government may supervise and limit the number of places of worship and clergy for organized religions; however, there were no reports that the Government did so during the period covered by this report. The registration process is decentralized with several layers of bureaucracy, in which officials sometimes demand payments in exchange for authorization. In addition, registration in the capital may not be sufficient if a group intends to work in the countryside where local registration also is necessary. Some groups encountered harassment during the registration process, including demands by midlevel city officials for financial contributions in return for securing legal status. When registration was completed, the same authorities threatened some religious groups with withdrawal of approval. In general, it appears that difficulties in registering primarily are the consequence of bureaucratic action by local officials and attempts to extort financial assistance for p ... [Read More]

Mongolia

Under the law, the Government may supervise and limit the number of places of worship and clergy for organized religions; however, there were no reports that the Government did so during the period covered by this report. The registration process is decentralized with several layers of bureaucracy, in which officials sometimes demand financial benefits in exchange for authorization. In addition registration in the capital may not be sufficient if a group intends to work in the countryside where local registration also is necessary. Some groups encountered harassment during the registration process, including demands by midlevel city officials for financial contributions in return for securing legal status. When registration was completed, the same authorities threatened some religious groups with withdrawal of approval. In general it appears that difficulties in registering primarily are the consequence of bureaucratic action by local officials and attempts to extort financial assistan ... [Read More]