IRFN (March 12-20): Kazakh President Will Not Challenge Amendments to Religion Law

Mar 20, 2009

Feature: A new report released jointly by Georgetown’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs and the Center on Faith and International Affairs is urging for a change in US international religious freedom policy.  The report titled The Future of U.S. International Religious Freedom Policy: Recommendations for the Obama Administration can be found here.

1.  Russia: President Steers Young People in Religious Choice

MOSCOW – In order to instill moral and religious values in young people, President Medvedev will personally lead the Council on Cooperation with Religious Associations, AsiaNews reported on March 17.  The Council will be officiated by the president of the Council of Muftis, Ravil’ Gajnutdin, chief rabbi Berl Lazar, and the president of the traditional Buddhists, Damba Ajušeev.  The head of the Kremlin has affirmed that Russian youth must rediscover their religious roots after the vacuum of values generated by the Soviet era, which void was then reinforced during the 1990's.  In the Year of Youth, which is being celebrated in 2009, the state wants to develop a more effective youth policy, taking advantage of the collaboration of religious associations on both the federal and regional level, and continuing the cooperation already established in the area of the family.  For various commentators and experts, Medvedev's statements on the importance of religion in the life of the country and his direct involvement with various representatives of the traditional confessions document the intention of the Kremlin to take a step forward in relations between the state and the Orthodox Church, to confirm the Patriarch of Moscow as a point of reference for all the religions in the Federation, and to attribute a strong political value to his position. 

2.  Kazakhstan: President Will Not Challenge Findings on Amendments

ASTANA – Human rights defenders and religious communities have cautiously welcomed the decision by President Nursultan Nazarbaev not to challenge the finding of the Constitutional Council that the proposed new law amending various laws on religion is unconstitutional, the Forum 18 reported on March 17.   The Council reported "The Law violated the rights of Kazakh citizens, foreign citizens and people without citizenship in the area of freedom of religion. The President agrees with this assessment."
 On February 11, 2009 the Council had announced the finding that the restrictive "Law on Amendments and Additions to Several Legislative Acts on Questions of Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations" violated the Constitution.  President Nazarbaev had up to one month to challenge or accept their finding.  On March 11, 2009 the Constitutional Council noted in a terse announcement on its website that it had already ruled that the Law approved by Parliament was "not in accord with the Constitution."  It quoted the Presidential Administration as stating that President Nazarbaev agreed with the Constitutional Council decision and "does not intend to present an objection to it." However, as of March 17 the Presidential website has made no mention of the President's decision not to challenge the Constitutional Council's findings.

3.  Egypt: School Refuses Admittance to Transsexual Student

CAIRO –Al-Azhar University officials expelled Mursi, a transsexual, saying she couldn't go to the men's classes because she was impersonating a woman — or to the women's classes because she was actually a man, Bloomberg News reported on March 17. Twenty-one years ago, Mursi, now 43, went through a sex-change operation, as she was about to enter her fourth year at Al-Azhar's medical school, where classes are segregated by gender under Muslim traditions of piety. Al-Azhar University is the most prestigious Islamic school in Egypt and the Middle East.  Al-Azhar has refused to abide by repeated court orders to readmit Mursi, filing appeals. The contest has become a battle between civil law and religious fiat, reflecting conflicting attitudes about sexuality in an increasingly pious country. "Mursi is suffering from being the first Egyptian transsexual to go public, combined with the fact that Egypt has not worked out the relation between state and religion," said Hossam Baghat, 29, a legal officer for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, an independent civil rights organization. In the Muslim Middle East, the issue of transsexuality is far from settled. The Kuwaiti Parliament passed a law in 2007 that makes it a crime to imitate or dress like a person of the opposite sex, while the Iranian government, by contrast, subsidizes sex-change operations, considering transsexuality a medical condition.

4.  Burundi: ‘Albino Killers’ Arrested

BUJUMBURA – At least eight people have been arrested in Burundi in connection with a trade in human body parts from people with albinism, the BBC reported on March 16. Witchdoctors in the region tell clients that potions made with albino body parts will bring them luck in love, life and business. At least 10 albino people have been killed in Burundi in recent months and more than 40 in neighboring Tanzania.  Kazungu Kassim, the head of a Burundi albino association, said the authorities were now taking the killing of albinos seriously but that more needs to be done. "We urge the government to double efforts in protecting albinos, because what we are witnessing here is a planned extermination of the albino community," Kassim said.  At least 200 people have been arrested over the trade in Tanzania but none have been convicted, raising fears that senior officials could be involved.

5.  Egypt: Baha'is IDs No Longer Require Indication of Religion

CAIRO – An Egyptian court on Monday ordered the government not to force the Baha'is to indicate a certain religion on their official documents, Gulf News reported on March 16. The Supreme Administrative Court upheld an earlier ruling, which gives this minority the right to get their identification cards without having to mention Islam, Christianity and Judaism - the only three faiths recognized in Egypt. The ruling puts an end to a five-year legal battle between the Egyptian government and the followers of Bahaism in this predominantly Muslim country.  "This ruling scraps the governmental policies, which used to force Bahais to change their faith in order to get official documents," said Adul Ramadan, an official at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a non-governmental group, which filed the lawsuit. The number of Bahais in Egypt is estimated at 2,000. Due to their faith, they were unable to get official documents, including IDs and birth certificates, which are necessary in Egypt to have access to healthcare and education.

6.  Pakistan: Sharia Law Implemented

SWAT VALLEY – Sharia courts have re-opened in four administrative areas of the troubled Swat valley in northwestern Pakistan, officials in the area say, the BBC reported on March 12.  All the four areas are considered to be Taliban strongholds.  The judges of the courts were formally inaugurated on March 12 by cleric Sufi Mohammad in front of a large gathering of spectators from all over Swat. The cleric signed the Sharia deal with the government last month and is now mediating between it and the Taliban.  Sufi Mohammed was instrumental in the campaign for Sharia law to be imposed in parts of Swat in 1994.  The four courts which re-opened on March 12 are in the regions of Khwazakhel, Kabal, Varikot and Matta.  In February 2009 the North West Frontier Province government signed an agreement with Sufi Mohammad's proscribed Tanzim-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM) for the implementation of the Sharia justice system in Swat.  Sufi Mohammad, who opposes militancy, led thousands of TNSM workers into Swat to set up a peace camp there and to start talks with Maulana Fazlullah.  More than 1,000 civilians have died in shelling by the army or from beheadings sanctioned by the Taliban in Swat and thousands of people have fled the former tourist haven.