OSCE Find Problems With Kazakhstan's Religion Law

On January 31, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights released a lengthy opinion (full text) on the proposed amendments to Kazakhstan's Religion Law. The amendments, passed by Kazakhstan's parliament last month, have been sent by the country's president to the country's Constitutional Council for review. (See prior posting.) The OSCE memo says that while Parliament met some of the concerns about the law, the law still does not meet Kazakhstan's OSCE commitments. The memo identifies eleven remaining areas of concern, ranging from problems in the provisions on registration of religions to overly-rigid parental consent provisions. Forum 18 yesterday posted a long report on the OSCE opinion.