Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin Speaks at U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on Laws Regulating Religion in Central Asia

Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin KC (Hons), Regents Professor; Robina Chair in Law, Public Policy, and Society; and faculty director of Minnesota Law's Human Rights Center, spoke on a panel this week at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in a virtual hearing on laws regulating religion in Central Asia. 

USCIRF’s visit to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in June 2025 confirmed that both governments continue to use a framework of legislation to restrict peaceful religious activities. Authorities in both countries arbitrarily employ laws on religion and extremism to target minority religious groups and Muslims who deviate from the state’s preferred interpretation of Islam. USCIRF has highlighted similar trends in its reporting on neighboring Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. This hearing will spotlight the legal frameworks regulating religion across Central Asia and how such legislation fails to adhere to international standards of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB).

Witnesses discussed the impact of these laws on individuals, highlighting specific FoRB Victims imprisoned due to their religion or belief, and consider potential policy options the United States government can take to advance FoRB throughout Central Asia.

In its 2025 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan on the U.S. Department of State’s Special Watch List, or SWL, for engaging in systematic and ongoing violations of religious freedom. USCIRF also recommended that the State Department continue to designate Turkmenistan and Tajikistan as Countries of Particular Concern, or CPCs, for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom