2. Literature Review

The number of Jehovah's Witnesses in Kazakhstan has been rising by 4 percent annually on average and reached 16203 in 2008. Moreover, almost 32000 people attended Jehovah’s Witnesses meetings in 2008 (Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania [WTBTSP], 2009, p.34). Despite the fact that many organizations claim Jehovah’s Witnesses is a peaceful religious organization, some social activists and politicians in Kazakhstan state that Jehovah’s Witnesses is a destructive sect that poses danger to national security. This research seeks out whether government’s persecution towards limiting activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses is justified and whether Jehovah’s Witnesses is a safe religious organization. The literature under review provided evidence of the fact that Jehovah’s Witnesses is a threat to national security. Additionally, some actions of Kazakhstani authorities towards limiting activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses will be shown. Different sources from the Internet were used. These include: a book by a Russian Orthodox scholar, articles of members of religious minorities and articles of international and local NGOs. A wide range of sources was used in order to get a better understanding of the problem and avoid biases.

In 2010 Tortbaev created Resource Center “Arlan” to assist the successful socio-political and socio-economic development of Kazakhstan by increasing civic activity among the population. Tortbaev is the head of the Discussion Club “Namys” and Resource Center “Arlan”. In one of his articles, Tortbaev raised the issue of religious minorities. Tortbaev (2010) claims that foreign missionaries are active in Kazakhstan; this is due to Kazakhstan's very liberal law on religion, which was adopted in the early 1990s. Tortbaev claims that various “charlatans” from around the world under the guise of freedom of religion came to Kazakhstan, from Jehovah's Witnesses, Hare Krishna’s, to the Witnesses of the End of the World. He suggests that if there is no strict control by the state in the field of religion, this could lead to secession and the war on religious grounds. He says that countries like Bosnia, Sudan, Lebanon and East Timor are clear examples of this (para.6).

Tortbaev (2010) says that in order to achieve their goals foreign missionaries have financial incentives for newly admitted recruits. He claims that they find them jobs; promote employment for their relatives, which is very attractive among people with low educational and cultural level and low material status. He explains that the mechanism for expanding the social base of foreign missionaries is very effective. As an evidence, growing number of people recruited can be shown. He emphasizes that a particular emphasis is made on training of local personnel. For example, most religious communities, such as "Grace", "Agape", "New Life", "Baha'i, Jehovah's Witnesses and some others are not headed by foreign pastors who came to Kazakhstan, but by ethnic Kazakhs (para.10).

Tarzhanov (2006) who is a former member of Jehovah’s Witnesses stated that Jehovah's Witnesses is a religious sect, which is related to one of the recent trends of Protestantism. Charles Russell, haberdasher of Pennsylvania, founded the sect in 1870 in the United States. Tarzhanov claims that the Center of the Organization of Jehovah's Witnesses is in Brooklyn, New York. The source of their teachings are the magazine "Watchtower", the Bible (but in their own translation), as well as the works of the leaders of the organization at the Brooklyn Center. He explains that the main feature of the Doctrine of their Faith is the expectation of the end of the world - Armageddon - and the need to prepare for it. In Kazakhstan, the sect has been operating for several decades after the collapse of the USSR. He suggests that right now it has more than 20,000 followers in Kazakhstan (as cited in Vybornova, 2006, para.6).

In one of her reviews Saldyrbaeva explored the current situation around religious minorities in Kazakhstan. Saldyrbaeva is a current member of the Almaty Helsinki Committee, which is a non-governmental, non-profit advocacy organization. Almaty Helsinki Committee is a member of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights. It performs public monitoring of compliance with the principles of human rights, civil liberties, justice, security arrangements, police, judicial and prison reform, protection of private property rights, minority rights, equal opportunity, and non-discrimination. Its objective is public promotion of the Republic of Kazakhstan's international obligations on human rights, advance of democratic reforms and an open, democratic society. In 2008 Kazakhstan has adopted a new law on religion. Bekzhanov (2008), Deputy of Majilis of Parliament of Kazakhstan stated that the old law on freedom of religion was outdated and required additions, since the activities of some religious groups were against "constitutional order" (as cited in Saldyrbaeva, para.5). Administration of Almaty, public figures, and representatives of major religions are concerned about the activities of non-traditional religious movements, which have a negative impact on the consciousness of citizens. According to the Department of Internal Policy, there are more than 200 religious organizations in Almaty and although only 80 missionaries were registered in the district akimat in 2007, there are approximately one thousand visiting missionaries. Head of the department of philosophy and methodology of Al-Farabi Kazakh National State University, Baitenova believes that in order to counter the "various immoral sectarian tendencies" control over their activities must be strengthened by various legislations (as cited in Saldyrbaeva, 2008, para. 8).

According to the Federal Security Service of Russian Federation, integrated expert opinion on the teachings of the Jehovah's Witnesses suggest that the literature of Jehovah's Witnesses and their documents bear the following signs: A) inciting religious hatred in the form of undermining the respect and the formation of hostility towards other religions, and b) violation of such rights and freedoms as the right to life and medical care and the right to leisure, and freedom of time management. The expert examination of the texts of Jehovah's Witnesses established that they have a negative attitude towards the world, tend to isolate people from the world and to intimidate them. The only way out is to serve Jehovah, which is based on the subordination of man's will to the will of the organization (as cited in Union Public Association [UPA], 2009, para. 11-12). Unity Public Association is a non-profit public association. Its main purpose is to explain to the population about the activities of religious organizations and the negative nature of sects, which illegally carry out their activities and infringe on the rights, freedoms, honor and dignity of citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Bekzhanov (2008) asked the General Prosecutor Tusupbekov to deal with the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, which he claims conducts “subversive” activities against the integrity of the state. As a proof, he quoted passages from intellectuals, political parties, NGOs and youth organizations in South Kazakhstan. By subversion Bekzhanov is referring to denial of the members of the religious organization to go into the army and elections, ignoring the state symbols, statements by the members of "sects" that the only truth is in their religion. He believes that the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses are contrary to the democracy of Kazakhstan, and to preserve national unity and inter-religious harmony "concrete measures" must be taken to stop their activities. Bekzhanov claims, "If the activities of Hare Krishna's are constantly unmasked, Jehovah's Witnesses are still continuing their activities" (as cited in Saldyrbaeva, 2008, para. 33).

Furthermore, Jehovah’s Witnesses are accused of having commercial motives in Kazakhstan. As a proof, Tarzhanov (2006) stated that it is strictly forbidden to borrow money from the cash donations under any reason. However, only community from Zhambyl region sends about 3.5 million tenge annually to the headquarters of the Society in Brooklyn. Tarzhanov claims that there are many approaches that Jehovah's Witnesses use in order to attract new members to their community. He alleges that approaches differ according to social status, age and education. Moreover, Jehovah's Witnesses use the knowledge of psychology. Tarzhanov suggests that Jehovah's Witnesses use the method of hypnosis by psychiatrist Milton Erickson. Tarzhanov reports that Jehovah’s Witnesses have established an unconditional ban on all holidays like New Year's Eve, March 8, professional dates and birthdays. He says, “Even an ordinary tea party with non-members is unacceptable”. Tarzhanov adds that there is a taboo on all public duties: participation in elections, military service and honoring the state symbols. In addition to this, Tarzhanov quotes that communication with relatives who do not accept Jehovah’s Witnesses beliefs is prohibited. He says that it is encouraged to break relations with relatives who are not members of the sect. Janna who is a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, has left not only her husband but also three daughters, but has acquired an aura of martyrdom in the eyes of her community. However, he proclaims that all these bans are not established immediately, but gradually and individually. He suggests that constitutional rights of Kazakhstani citizens are governed from abroad. Under the influence of Jehovah's Witnesses, a person ceases to be a citizen of his country. He claims that according to interpretations of Jehovah's Witnesses all other religions are considered to be satanic (as cited in Vybornova. para.11-20).

In addition to this, Alexandr Dvorkin, a Russian Orthodox scholar of modern religious sects, an activist of anti-sectarian movements in Russia, a church historian, theologian, social activist, and writer, author of 10 books and over 450 publications in 15 languages has written a book where he has provided information that the Jehovah's Witnesses Community is dangerous. In his book he has used many references of various authors. Bergman and Montague reported that many Jehovah's Witnesses suffer from schizophrenia, severe depression, alcoholism and other diseases. The level of mental illnesses among Jehovah's Witnesses is 1.5-10 times above the average (as cited in Dvorkin, 2002, para.1). Bergman added that the number of suicides among Jehovah's Witnesses is two to three times higher than among non-members of the sect (as cited in Dvorkin, para.2). Many American scholars believe that the criminal cases in the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses are based on the teachings of the organization. For example, a researcher Cohn (1954) wrote that high crime rates are a consequence of the theological teachings of the "Watchtower Society". At the same time, he analyzed the literature of the organization, which is replete with bloodthirsty images and scenes of violence (as cited in Dvorkin, para. 10).

On the other hand, in order to justify some actions by government authority they must be analyzed. For instance, Yakubov (2010) stated that it took almost two years for Jehovah's Witnesses, to abolish a court decision to expel from the territory of Kazakhstan their co-religionists from the U.S. and Canada. Citizens of the United States and Canada, John Theodore and Yarocha Kikot were deported and deprived of the right of entry to the territory of all countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States for five years (para. 6-8). However, according to the chairman of the religious center of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Kazakhstan Polat, the General Prosecutor's Office Supreme Court of Kazakhstan "has restored the good name and found the visit within the law" (as cited in Yakubov, 2010, para. 6-8). Similarly, in the Atyrau, Jehovah's Witnesses community could not register for seven years. The community has repeatedly been fined for unlawful assembly and only in 2009 could Jehovah's Witnesses get state registration (Yakubov, 2010, para. 12).

Moreover, Chairman of the religious center of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Kazakhstan, Polat believes that Kazakhstan's press releases defamatory information that has nothing to do with the truth (as cited in Yakubov, 2010, para. 12). According to Klyushev (2010) currently, the media publishes unverified and biased information that creates a negative image in the eyes of Kazakhstan's citizens towards evangelical churches and other religious minorities, through a series of public associations, which stay unpunished (para.1). Furthermore, the representative of the Association of Religious Communities in Kazakhstan, Osvyannikov stated that from 1 October 2008 to 20 February 2009, almost two thousand articles were written on a religious theme. 332 articles were devoted to religious groups that are referred as non-traditional. More than ninety of the articles had headlines with alarming names (as cited in Klyushev, 2010, para.1). However, doubt can be cast on Klyushev's and Osvyannikov's objectivity on the issue of religious minorities as they are also pastors of the “New Life” church which has constantly been persecuted by the authorities. Moreover, they did not present the reason for publishing biased information by the media.

Ashimov who handled the position of akim of South Kazakhstan District in 2008 discussed with representatives of political parties and public associations the refusal of some students of a school to sing national anthem of Kazakhstan as it contradicted their religious beliefs (the children - members of a religious association of Jehovah's Witnesses). Ashimov says that representatives of non-traditional religious movements are very active in the involvement of citizens of Kazakhstan to "sects" and pose danger to public safety (as cited in Saldyrbaeva, 2008, para. 29). For instance, on October 1 2009, the Court of Gorno-Altaisk made the decision to recognize 18 publications distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses as extremist. Representatives of Jehovah's Witnesses called this decision a "massive violation of human rights to freedom of conscience and totally unjustified and illegal". Jehovah's Witnesses claim that they are an open world religion, which has demonstrated its peacefulness and kindness to people of all nationalities. The prosecutor of the city of Gorno-Altaisk applied to the court, which has designated "complex psycho-linguistic religious expertise." As a result, experts have found in the publications of sects, "signs of incitement to religious hatred" and the court fully agreed with the conclusions of the examination (as cited in UPA, 2009, para. 2).

The regional court of the district of South Kazakhstan upheld the decision of the Saryagash specialized administrative court to suspend the activities of “Saryagash” Jehovah's Witnesses for conducting religious ceremonies outside the place of registration. The court imposed a fine of 116000 tenge on the community. Community activities were suspended for six months. Currently, only one religious community of Jehovah's Witnesses is serving in the South Kazakhstan Region that is registered in the village Aksukent Sairam district. Similarly, specialized administrative court in Shymkent suspended the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses for six months. Praliev states that the residents of the Kaynar-Bulak village filed a lawsuit against the religious community. Prosecutor's inspection found that the Jehovah's Witnesses hold meetings outside the place of registration of the community. The case was filed on the article 375 Administrative Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Even though representatives of the community appealed to the regional court, the regional court left the decision of the administrative court of Shymkent unchanged (UPA, 2009, para.24).

According to Tortbaev (2010), every country must protect its citizens from various sects and denominations, which are far from safe. He admitted that it is quite difficult to deny the fact that international religious organizations steal human resources, and therefore represent the greatest threat to national security. He says that every nation has its own customs, its own mentality, based on which any country is built (para.14). This part of the report has shown that Jehovah’s Witnesses is a dangerous religious organization and has given examples of government’s actions towards limiting activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The importance of this issue cannot be denied and further research is required. Kazakhstani authorities must work harder on this issue in order to create a better future for the young generation of Kazakhstani citizens.