Kazakhstan Recommended for U.S. Watch List as Vorontsov Case Draws New Attention

The U.S. Commission proposed adding Kazakhstan to a watch list over violations of freedom of religion. This came amid news that the well-known Kazakh «rebel» priest Yakov Vorontsov had been added to a separate register of people persecuted for their religious beliefs, Orda.kz reports.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended that Kazakhstan be included on the U.S. Department of State’s watch list. In its review, the commission pointed to «ongoing and systematic violations» of freedom of religion in the country. It said that Kazakhstan’s law on religious activity effectively prohibits any unregistered religious practice and sets high thresholds for registration.

For example, the Word of Life Church in Astana submitted eight applications for registration between March 2024 and June 2025. The authorities rejected each of the applications due to concerns about the number of members and other bureaucratic details.USCIRF said. 

The authors of the review also criticized the ban on face-covering clothing in public places. The commission believes that, in practice, the ban targets outward expressions of religiosity rather than simply face coverings. It also noted that there is already a ban on religious symbols in schools, which particularly affects Muslim women who wear headscarves.

But according to USCIRF, this does not change the essence of the problem, since the state still punishes what the commission considers peaceful religious practices.

What does a Kazakh priest have to do with it?

In March 2026, it became known that the «rebel» priest Yakov Vorontsov had been added to a separate register of people persecuted for their religious beliefs in Kazakhstan.

 Today, Vorontsov’s page in the USCIRF database states that he was detained for expressing his religious views.

Yakov Vorontsov was detained for his religious activities and leadership role. In February 2025, authorities arrested Vorontsov, a priest of an unregistered Orthodox church, during a nighttime raid on his home. Vorontsov was an outspoken critic of Russia’s war against Ukraine, saying that it ‘has nothing to do with Christianity’.USCIRF wrote.

Earlier, we reported that Yakov Vorontsov was officially detained by police on February 13. He was arrested for 10 days under Article 440-1 of the Administrative Code for the alleged illegal use of narcotic substances. However, after he served that term, the Almaty Investigative Court extended his detention until April 23. The prosecutor’s office now accuses Vorontsov of organizing a so-called «drug den» in his home, where, according to investigators, members of his community gathered.

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