OSCE/ODIHR event in Bishkek brings together authorities and religious or belief communities to discuss challenges to freedom of religion or belief

Issues related to the legal recognition of religious or belief communities in Kyrgyzstan and possible mechanisms of co-operation between state authorities and those communities to address the existing challenges were the focus of an ODIHR roundtable event in Bishkek on 3 February 2016.

The event, organized in co-operation with the office of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Kyrgyz State Commission on Religious Affairs, brought together some 60 representatives of state authorities, religious or belief communities and civil society organizations from Bishkek and Osh, and the Jalalabad and Issyk-Kul regions.

The discussions aimed to raise awareness of minimum international standards and good practices on freedom of religious or belief, as articulated in the Guidelines on the Legal Personality of Religious or Belief Communities, which were developed jointly by ODIHR and the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission. The event also served to identify the main challenges facing religious or belief communities in accessing legal personality in Kyrgyzstan.

“The elaboration of concrete recommendations for all relevant actors on how to tackle challenges related to the legal personality of religious or belief communities in Kyrgyzstan was a welcome outcome,” said Katarzyna Jarosiewicz-Wargan, Head of the ODIHR Human Rights Department. “ODIHR firmly believes that the implementation of these recommendations, along with further state-civil society dialogue, can advance freedom of religion or belief in the country if an all-inclusive, collaborative approach is taken by all.”   

Uran Tursunaliev, a lawyer at the Bir Duyno-Kyrgyzstan human rights organization, said: “Existing legislation on religious organizations in the Kyrgyz Republic places a high minimum membership requirement for state registration of religious or belief communities and requires double-stage registration, with both the State Committee on Religion Affairs and the Ministry of Justice. It is important that various state and non-state actors work together to address these challenges.”

The roundtable event was organized as part of ODIHR’s project on promoting international standards of freedom of religion or belief in Central Asia. The event builds upon a number of ODIHR activities in this field in Kyrgyzstan in 2015, including training events, a small grant project, and roundtable discussions on the topic at the national and regional levels.