New legislation in Kyrgyzstan has increased restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, including a ban on sharing faith in public.

It was announced on January 21 that President Sadyr Japarov had signed into law the new Religion Law (effective as of February 1) and accompanying Amending Law (effective as of February 3).

Among numerous restrictions, the Religion Law maintains the ban on all unregistered religious activities.

Churches and other religious groups must be approved by the State Commission for Religious Affairs (SCRA) to legally exist and hold meetings. In order to be registered, all local religious organizations must now provide evidence of at least 500 adult founder members resident in a single region (the previous law stipulated a minimum of 200).

The Amending Law authorizes sharp increases in fines for groups that violate such restrictions.

The Zhogorku Kenesh (Parliament) in the capital Bishkek gave final approval to the two new laws on December 26.

Christians have expressed concerns that the new law will force churches to close down. “The new law does not make anything better or easier for us to practice our faith, but makes it more difficult,” commented one church leader. “I have stopped believing in any improvements in the laws or in the attitude of the government towards us Christians.”

Another Christian agreed, saying, “It will be almost impossible to register new churches with 500 founders.”  

Objections to the legislation were raised by legal experts. Chinara Musabekova, a lecturer at the Higher School of Justice under the Supreme Court and an official in the Association of Women Judges, argued that there was no need for such stringent regulations.

“[We] must distinguish between those who want to be a regular religious organization, and small numbers of people who want to meet in private,” she said, adding that compulsory state registration for a group to exist “is not right in terms of jurisprudence.”