COUNCIL ASKS PROSECUTOR GENERAL TO VERIFY LEGALITY AND REASONABILITY OF CRIMINAL PROSECUTION OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
Website of the CDCSHR , 20 June 2018
The Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights [CDCSHR] under the president of the Russian Federation has sent to the prosecutor general's office a request to verify the legality and reasonablity of the criminal prosecution of citizens who profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Information about the massive prosecution of believers was stated in a collective appeal that arrived at the CDCSHR. On the basis of the results of a study by rights advocates, the current situation was established to be the following:
On 20 April 2017, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation issued a decision for the liquidation of the religious organization "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" and the local religious organizations that are members of its structure. Said decision of the court contains an exhaustive list of the legal entities that are subject to liquidation. At the same time, the court's decision did not contain conclusions regarding a prohibition of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses as such. A similar conclusion also was formulated in an appellate determination of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 17 July 2017 regarding this case, where it was noted that the court of the first instance did not evaluate the legality of the religious convictions of Jehovah's Witnesses and the means of their expression (page 43 of determination).
Upholding this same position, the government of the Russian Federation, in its response to the ECHR [European Court of Human Rights] of 23 March 2018 on the question of the admissibility of the appeal of the religious organization "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia," declared that the government of the Russian Federation proceeds from the fact that the aforementioned acts of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation do not give an evaluation of the doctrine of the Jehovah's Witnesses and they do not contain a restriction upon or ban of individual confession of the aforementioned doctrine (paragraph 91).
In addition, on 25 May 2017, the government of the Russian Federation assured the Committee of Human Rights of the United Nations that the aforementioned acts do not restrict the right of citizens to the freedom of religion, and that members of a liquidated organization have the possibility of independently practicing their beliefs, provided that they do not distribute literature of an extremist nature or in any other way participate in illegal activity. In this way, the government of the Russian Federation has consistently declared the necessity of observing the constitutional rights of persons who profess the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses.
However, in practice, operational services and investigation agencies of the Investigative Committee of Russia, the Russian MVD, and the Russian F.S.B. are using the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 20 April 2017 for criminal prosecution of believers.
According to available information, at least 17 criminal cases have been opened, with a reference to this decision of the court, against persons professing the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses in the following cities:
*Belgorod (SU UMVD of Russia for Belgorod oblast),
*Birobidzhan (SO UFSB of Russia for the Jewish autonomous oblast),
*Vladivostok (SO UFSB of Russia for Primorie territory),
*Kazan (no information about agency opening the criminal case),
*Magadan (SO UFSB of Russia for Magadan oblast),
*Naberezhnye Chelny (SU SK of Russia for the republic of Tatarstan),
*Orel (2 cases: SO UFSB of Russia for Orel oblast and SU SK of Russia for Orel oblast),
*Orenburg (SU SK of Russia for Orenburg oblast),
*Perm (SU SK of Russia for Perm territory),
*Polyarny (SU SK of Russia for Murmansk oblast),
*Prokhladnyi (SU SK of Russia for Kabardino-Balkaria republic),
*Pskov (SO UFSB of Russia for Pskov oblast),
*Tomsk (SU SK of Russia for Tomsk oblast),
*Ufa (SU SK of Russia for the republic of Bashkortostan),
*Shuya (2 cases, SU SK of Russia for Ivanovo oblast).
On the basis of the aforementioned criminal cases, 19 persons have been arrested; one of them has been in custody for more than a year now. More than 20 persons are held under house arrest or are under a promise not to depart.
The charges lodged against the believers in all cases are based on the allegation that a group of believers conducted a worship service.
The accusation of citizens that they read the Bible and pray to God jointly is being interpreted as "continuing the activity of an extremist organization." The CDCSHR considers that such an interpretation does not comport with the legal position of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
It is evident that there is a contradiction between the stated position of the government of the Russian Federation and law enforcement practice. This cannot but evoke concern, inasmuch as criminal prosecutions and arrests have acquired a systematic nature. The situation evokes associations with the soviet period when the Jehovah's Witnesses were subjected to unreasonable repressions on the basis of their religious confession, as a result of which the effect of law of the Russian Federation of 18 October 1991 "On rehabilitation of victims of political repressions" was applied to them.
In this regard, the CDCSHR asks the prosecutor general of the Russian Federation to order the conduct of a verification of the legality and reasonability of the criminal prosecution of believers and to take measures to protect their constitutional right to freedom of religious confession. (tr. by PDS, posted 22 June 2018)
Abbreviations:
SO UFSB: Investigation Department of the Directorate of the Federal Security Service
SU SK: Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee
SU UMVD: Investigation Department of the Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
Editorial disclaimer: RRN does
not intend to certify the accuracy of information
presented in articles. RRN simply intends to certify the
accuracy of the English translation of the contents of the
articles as they appeared in news media of countries of
the former USSR.
If material is quoted, please give credit to the
publication from which it came. It is not necessary to credit
this Web page. If material is transmitted electronically, please
include reference to the URL,
http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/.