Protests

U.S. LAWMAKERS LOBBY YELTSIN OVER RELIGION BILL

MOSCOW -- A group of U.S. Congressmen sent a letter to President Boris Yeltsin on Wednesday urging him to veto a bill they believe will curtail religious freedom in Russia and possibly damage its ties with the United States.

In a press statement faxed to Reuters, one of the lawmakers, Gary Ackerman, said they were protesting against a bill entitled "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Association" already approved by Russia's two houses of parliament.

"This law would create a chilling atmosphere and perhaps even reverse the tremendous steps towards democracy and freedom that Russia has taken over the past several years," Ackerman said.

"This legislation conveys an attitude of intolerance towards religious organizations unmatched since the peak of the anti-religious policies of the Soviet Union."

The bill has also been condemned by human rights activists and many religious groups as discriminatory. It will become law if Yeltsin signs it.

"If he signs the bill into law, it could certainly set a very bad precedent in U.S.-Russian relations," Ackerman said.

The bill, which has been welcomed by the Russian Orthodox Church, says only denominations that have operated in Russia for at least 15 years can set up new religious organizations. It also imposes new curbs on religious activity by foreign groups.

Ackerman said thousands of churches, schools and religious institutions amounting to more than two thirds of those registered today would lose their current legal status and would have to cease normal operations.

"Faiths that would be stripped of their legal status include Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Adventists, the Salvation Army and newer denominations of Judaism," Ackerman said.

Supporters of the bill, who include Russia's most senior Orthodox clergyman Patriarch Alexiy, say it will help halt the division of Russians along religious lines.

They also say it will protect people against destructive cults like Japan's doomsday sect Aum Shinri Kyo, which had many followers in Russia.

The Orthodox Church has been alarmed by the post-Soviet explosion of religious sects, which have fed on Russians' poverty, spiritual hunger or desire for the new and exotic.

Critics say the bill goes much further than that and contravenes Russia's constitution. They point out that 15 years ago religious groups were still tightly controlled by the officially atheist Communist state. (Reuters)

RUSSIA: SENATOR URGES YELTSIN TO VETO RELIGION LAW

by K.P. Foley

Washington, 8 July 1997 (RFE/RL) - An influential U.S. senator has asked Russian President Boris Yeltsin to veto a new law that the senator says threatens religious freedom.

Senator Richard Lugar (R-Indiana), vice chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says if the law is enacted, human rights in Russia will suffer a serious setback.

A spokesman for Lugar says the senator appealed to Yeltsin in a letter sent to Moscow today. There was no immediate word on whether Yeltsin is yet aware of the letter.

Lugar called on Yeltsin to veto a law on religious association which has been approved by both chambers of the Russian parliament. The law says religious organizations must wait 15 years after first registering before they can be officially established. It also imposes new curbs on religious activity by foreign groups.

Lugar says the law violates human rights covenants that Russia has signed.

08-07-97

RIGHTS ACTIVISTS LOBBY YELTSON ON RELIGION

MOSCOW -- Russian human rights activists said on Thursday they had sent a letter to President Boris Yeltsin urging him to veto a controversial bill which they say will enflame religious tensions.

They said the bill, entitled "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Association," would also harm Russia's relations with the United States if signed into law by Yeltsin.

"The bill effectively fans religious war between traditional confessions and non-traditional ones that will be subject to discrimination," the activists said in their open letter, a copy of which was faxed to Reuters.

Their appeal came a day after a group of U.S. congressmen sent a similar letter to Yeltsin warning him that the bill posed a threat to U.S.-Russian ties.

The lawmakers said in letter that the bill, already approved by Russia's two houses of parliament with government support, would push the country back towards Soviet-style curbs on religion.

Supporters of the bill say it will help halt the division of Russians along religious lines and will protect people against destructive cults like Japan's doomsday sect Aum Shinri Kyo, which had many followers in Russia.

But critics say the bill contravenes Russia's constitution. They point out that 15 years ago religious groups were still tightly controlled by the officially atheist Communist state.

The Russian human rights activists, who included parliamentarian Valery Borshchev and veteran dissident campaigner Larisa Bogoraz, said the bill would also cast doubt on Russia's membership in the Council of Europe.

"We consider that the acceptance of this bill will prove a turning point in the development of the democratic process in Russia," their letter said.

"It is noteworthy that the battle for this bill has united the communists and your government," it said. (Reuters)

PARLIAMENT'S BILL DOES NOT MEET EUROPEAN STANDARDS

by Lawrence A. Uzzell, Keston News Service

Human Rights Watch/Helsinki, the largest U.S.-based international human-rights organization, has released an 8 July letter to PRESIDENT YELTSIN calling on him not to accept the legislation on church-state relations recently passed by the Russian parliament. DIEDERICK LOHMAN, director of the group's Moscow office, told a 9 July press conference that parliament's bill 'in no way meets European standards' and that if Yeltsin signs it Russia's membership in the Council of Europe will become 'senseless'.

The group's appeal to Yeltsin, signed by Human Rights Watch executive director HOLLY CARTNER, called special attention to a crucial amendment which was quietly slipped into the text of the bill between its 18 June 'second reading' and 23 June 'third reading' in the lower house of parliament, and never debated on the floor of either house. The earlier version would have granted to so-called 'religious groups' - the less privileged of the two new categories of religious association created by the bill - the right to engage in charitable activities and 'other activities' even though these groups would not have the status of 'legal personalities' under Russian law. But the final version omitted that phrase, giving 'religious groups' only the right to conduct 'worship services, religious ceremonies and rituals'. The Human Rights Watch letter said that the specific omission of the phrase 'other rights' before final approval 'indicates the clearly expressed intent of the State Duma to limit the activities of religious groups to the performance of worship services, religious ceremonies and rituals'.

Human Rights Watch suggested that the differences between the rights of 'religious groups' and of 'religious organizations' which would be established by the parliament's bill contradict the European Convention on Human Rights - particularly that document's Article 14 on religious discrimination and Article 9 on limits on the free expression of religious convictions.

The letter to Yeltsin also drew attention to the vagueness of some of the provisions in the parliament's bill, warning that these provisions could be 'interpreted by local authorities in such a way as to violate rights and freedom of conscience. Such lack of clarity in a law is especially dangerous in the conditions of Russia, where as is known in general are laws are poorly implemented, and where local authorities are inclined to interpret laws in a much more limited sense than the legislators intended'.

Human Rights Watch pointed out that all members of the Council of Europe are obliged to observe the European Convention on Human Rights, and noted that Russia is also bound by the religious-freedom provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Lohman predicted a 'stormy protest' in Europe if Yeltsin signs the bill.

POWER AND FAITH

RUSSIAN RELIGION: ORTHODOX CHURCH TRIES TO RECOUP THE EXCLUSIVE STATUS IT HAD UNDER CZARS

Baltimore Sun - July 6, 1997 - editorial page

The push by parliament in Moscow to restrict the Russian Orthodox Church's rivals is a serious threat to freedom of religion. That the church would seek such recognition is not surprising. From Russia's early history, the Orthodox religion has been not only "the one and only true church," but also an active player in politics. True, it was bloodily suppressed after 1917. But that did not prevent the church from becoming Stalin's ally in the World War II effort against Hitler. In the waning years of communism, prominent clergymen - many of whom were KGB agents - also routinely promoted the Kremlin's peace initiatives throughout the world. The collapse of commmunism six years ago recognized freedom of conscience in Russia. The communist-dominated elected parliament's action restricts it by curtailing the activities of confessions other than Orthodoxy, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism, which are classified as "traditional" religions in Russia. Baptists and Pentecostalists - that were fiercely persecuted throughout the communist rule - would again have to operate without official recognition. Many other groups - from Mormons to movements outside the Jewish mainstream - could be oppressed. The parliament's action comes as the Orthodox church is seeking to re-establish itself as the predominant state religion in Russia and to gain a voice in matters of policy. Its People's Council recently expressed alarm at "our national spiritual and bodily health," while advocating the reunion of Russia and Belarus. Meanwhile, there has been a demand that the Orthodox church be permitted to open chapels in embassies abroad. The collusion between the communists and the Orthodox hierarchy springs out of their common belief that nontraditional religions are agents of alien ideas and could pose a threat to Russia. That view well serves the interests of the church but not of freedom in Russia.

RELIGIOUS GROUPS CALL ON YELTSIN TO REJECT LAW

(Interfax, Reuters)

MOSCOW -- Members of several religious denominations in Russia are calling on President Boris Yeltsin to reject legislation on religious associations passed by parliament.

The law, passed by the Duma on June 23 and approved by the Federation Council last week, would permit only those groups that have been in Russia for at least 15 years to set up new religious organizations. It also imposes curbs on religious activity by foreign groups.

Russian Baptists, Roman Catholics and the Church of the Union are asking the president to reject the bill. The bill "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations," must be signed by Yeltsin before it becomes law.

Critics say it contravenes Russia's constitution and revives Soviet-style limits on religion. They point out that 15 years ago religious groups were still tightly controlled by the officially atheist Communist state.

Nikolai Yepishin, a spokesman for the Baptist faith, said the bill infringes on freedom of conscience.

"The basic weak point of the bill is that it gives some Christian religious associations advantages over others," he said, referring to the Russian Orthodox Church, which stands to benefit if the bill is passed.

Roman Catholic priest Father Victor Bartsavich said: "It effectively hits the Protestants, Roman Catholics and those Orthodox Christians not connected with the centralized religious structures which existed before the democratic reforms of the 1990s."

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexiy II, who has condemned missionary activity in Russia, has praised the bill, saying it was long overdue and will provide freedom for all religious associations.

Other traditional faiths including Islam have welcomed the bill, saying it will protect Russians against destructive cults. (Interfax, Reuters)