Tag: freedom of religion

On 9 November 2020, during the Second Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM), our advocacy officer, Katarzyna Szczypska, urged the OSCE bodies to pressure the Polish authorities to stop using blasphemy laws to police speech.

Despite the fact that we do not deal directly with issues related to religious freedom, we consider it to be one of the fundamental human rights. That is why we supported activists from non-governmental organisations, associated in the American group called International Religious Freedom (IRF) Roundtable, which sent a letter to the Australian Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade on the adoption of legislation comparable to the Global Magnitsky Act.

While rejecting criticism from the international community, Kazakhstan is tightening its grip on civil society. However, a desire to preserve its image forces authorities to resort to making some concessions in the cases of political prisoners.

67-year-old pastor, Bakhtyzhan Kashkumbayev, who has health problems, was remanded in custody for nine months.

The public expression of religious views was the reason for the arrest and initiation of a criminal case against Aleksandr Kharlamov, a civic activist from Ridder. He now faces imprisonment or compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital