Kazakhstan faces UN Human Rights Committee review

ASTANA, Kazakhstan — The human rights record of Kazakhstan faced reviews by the United Nations Human Rights Committee on Oct. 30 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Nurlan Bizhanov, a deputy prosecutor of East Kazakhstan Region, warned local officials in mid-September about the “activity of nontraditional religious movements which is not declining,” citing Grace Church, a Baptist church in the country, as “non-traditional.” However, no definition of “traditional” or “non-traditional” religions appears to exist in Kazakhstan’s published laws.

Bizhanov insisted that new forms and methods of countering religious activity by nontraditional religious movements need to be prepared and implemented. The instruction came in a secret mid-September letter.