UKRAINE DESCRIBES FOR O.S.C.E. RELIGIOUS PERSECUTIONS IN OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
In the occupied territories of Crimea and the Donbass, all religious communities are being persecuted except the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
This was stated on Thursday (18 October) by the permanent representative of Ukraine in international organizations in Vienna, Igor Prokopchuk, at the 1198th session of the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a correspondent for Ukrinform reports.
"In Crimea there are observed continuing repressions on the part of the occupying authority, taking the form of attacks and harassment of priests of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate," he declared.
Prokopuchuk also noted that raids and searches in Crimean Tatar mosques and madrasas and restriction of the distribution of Muslim religious literature under the false pretense of the struggle with extremism "are accompanied by gross and systematic violations of human rights."
The Ukrainian diplomat informed the audience of representatives of the member countries of the OSCE that to the present Russia is opposing the temporary measures against it, adopted by the International Court of the United Nations in the case about Russian violations of the International Convention on Liquidation of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. In particular, the ban on the activity of the mejlis of the Crimean Tatar nation has still not been lifted.
"In territories of the Donbass under the occupying authority of the Russian Federation, all religious traditions, except for the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, are being infringed by means of persecutions, robberies, illegal detention, torture, and cruel actions, and even murders of members of the clergy and believers and also the seizure of church property," Prokopchuk emphasized.
The permanent representative of Ukraine in international organizations in Vienna decisively condemned these manifestations of religious violence and discrimination. "The joint efforts of the international community, including the OSCE, are necessary for restoration of respect for human rights and basic liberties in these regions," he added. (tr. by PDS, posted 19 October 2018)
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/.