This article was published by F18News on: 18 October 2006
BELARUS: Foreign religious workers out?
The Hare Krishna community is among those unable to invite foreign
citizens as they do not have the required ten registered religious
communities.
While a more recent phenomenon than in neighbouring Russia, an
increasing number of foreign religious workers are finding themselves
barred from Belarus, Forum 18 News Service has found. In addition to
tight legal restrictions on what foreign religious workers may do if
permitted to enter the country, their activity is reportedly closely
monitored by the state authorities. Foreign citizens whose official
reason for being in Belarus is other than religious work run the risk
of being reprimanded or even expelled if they participate in the
organisational life of a religious community.
The 2002 Religion Law contains particular restrictions on the
religious freedom of foreign citizens. Only religious associations –
made up of at least ten registered religious communities, including at
least one active on the territory of Belarus for at least 20 years –
have the right to invite them to conduct religious activity. The
ineligibility of the five registered Belarusian Krishna communities to
do so contributed to their complaint to the United Nations Human
Rights Committee (see 4 November 2005
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=682). In January 2006
the state authorities rejected the UN Committee's conclusion that they
had violated the Krishna devotees' religious freedom, however (see 3
August 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=822).
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=822
This article was published by F18News on: 3 August 2006
BELARUS: Government rejects UN criticism
By Geraldine Fagan, Forum 18 News Service <http://www.forum18.org>
Belarus has officially rejected the United Nations Human Rights
Committee's finding that it has violated its citizens' religious
freedom, by refusing to register a nation-wide Hare Krishna
association, Forum 18 News Service has found. The authorities argue,
repeating arguments they made in 2004, that their refusal was
"justified" because it was in accordance with Belarusian law. Notably,
Belarus fails in its response to address the UN Committee's finding
that a requirement for state-approved physical premises to gain legal
registration is "a disproportionate limitation of the Krishna
devotees' right to manifest their religion," under the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Belarus had been requested by
the UN to publish their response within the country, however Forum 18
has been unable to find any evidence that the authorities have
published their January 2006 response. Hare Krishna devotees in
Belarus were themselves unaware that Belarus had replied to the UN.
Using health and safety criteria to refuse to register a legal address
is a tactic that the authorities have also used against Baptists,
Forum 18 has found.
Belarus has rejected the United Nations Human Rights Committee's
conclusion that it has violated its citizens' religious freedom by
refusing to register a nation-wide Hare Krishna association.
"Competent organs" of the Belarusian government repeatedly argue that
the refusal was "justified" because it was in accordance with
Belarusian law, they claim in a 13 January 2006 response to the Office
of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Belarusian
authorities had been requested by the UN to publish their response
within Belarus, however Forum 18 has been unable to find any evidence
that the authorities have done so (see F18News 24 November 2005
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=695). Hare Krishna
devotees in Belarus were themselves unaware that Belarus had replied
to the UN.
The one-page document, a copy of which has been seen by Forum 18,
explains that a legal personality must indicate its physical location
in its founding documents in accordance with the Civil Code. Also, the
Living Code stipulates that living accommodation may be used for
non-residential purposes only after approval by the relevant Fire
Safety, Hygiene and Architectural departments. The legal address given
by the Krishna devotees – a free-standing residential house in central
Minsk – was found to be in violation of sanitation and fire safety
norms, the submission states, so that the court which upheld the
authorities' refusal to register the nation-wide association there
"made the right decision."
In essence, the Belarusian government's formal response – sent some
two months after the 90-day deadline set by the UN Human Rights
Committee – merely reiterates submissions it made to the Committee in
2004. Notably, it fails to respond to the issue raised by the UN
Committee – that Belarusian legislation's requirement for
state-approved physical premises in order for a religious
organisation's legal address to be registered has in this case
amounted to "a disproportionate limitation of the Krishna devotees'
right to manifest their religion under the ICCPR."
The UN Human Rights Committee's 23 August 2005 conclusion had found
the decision to be in violation of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR), which entered force for Belarus in 1976.
While noting that the requirement for premises adhering to relevant
public health and safety standards is a reasonable limitation of the
right of a religious association to carry out its religious
activities, the Committee pointed out that there is no reason for such
premises to be required for the act of registering such an association
at a legal address: "Appropriate premises for such use could be
obtained subsequent to registration" (see F18News 4 November 2005
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=682).
Under the restrictive 2002 Religion Law, only registered nation-wide
religious associations have the right to establish monasteries,
missions and educational institutions, as well as to invite foreign
citizens to preach or conduct other religious activity in Belarus.
On 17 July, Forum 18 visited the Minsk premises where Krishna devotees
are denied both nation-wide and compulsory local re-registration by
the Belarusian authorities. A spacious, three-storey building, it was
constructed during the early 1990s from modern, western-style
materials and is of a much higher standard than the traditional log
dwellings surrounding it.
One of two Minsk Krishna devotees who filed the original complaint to
the UN, Sergei Malakhovsky told Forum 18 that he has still not seen or
been able to obtain any state response to the Human Rights Committee's
August 2005 conclusion.
Local Krishna devotees have not been disturbed by police for at least
the past year, Malakhovsky added, despite being denied the right to
worship at their own premises. "We are now trying to follow what
officials want. We realised that we were having problems because we
were visible – distributing books and doing street processions right here where government is based. After we stopped doing all that in the
city centre, Alla Ryabitseva [Minsk's top religious affairs official]
urged us to value the fact that they weren't touching us, 'you
tolerate us, and we'll tolerate you'."
This approach by Minsk's state religious affairs officials parallels
continuing state attempts to confine religious activity to
already-state-approved places of worship (see eg. F18News 13 June
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=798 and 28 July 2006
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=819).
Contacted on 24 July, fellow Minsk religious affairs official Yelena
Radchenko said that Alla Ryabitseva was currently away on holiday and
that without her authorisation she could not answer any questions.
Despite attempting to comply with the state's demands for compulsory
re-registration, the local Minsk Society for Krishna Consciousness has
now had several applications rejected and received six official
warnings for unsanctioned religious activity. Malakhovsky told Forum
18 that there has still been no move to liquidate the community,
however: "Liquidation means scandal."
In an experience identical to that of a number of other confessions in
Minsk (see F18News 12 May 2005
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=560), Malakhovsky said
that the community has found a suitable legal address on four
occasions – most recently two months ago - only to find that the
prospective landlord cancels the lease after the city authorities
learn of it through the re-registration application. He showed Forum
18 a 1 December 2005 letter from one such landlord informing the
Department for Ideological Work at the administration of Minsk's
Soviet District that the Latvia-based company "withdraws its letter
concerning the provision of a legal address at premises belonging to
our organisation to a religious community of the International Society
for Krishna Consciousness."
While in Minsk, Forum 18 discovered that the Belarusian authorities'
insistence upon premises meeting health and safety criteria – even if
they are the site of a legal address rather than the physical location
of a religious organisation – is not confined to the Krishna devotees'
case.
The main Baptist Union has been unable to register a new church in
Dzerzhinsk (Minsk Region) for over a year, elder for Minsk Region
Gennadi Brutsky reported on 18 July. In a series of letters spanning
the past six months viewed by Forum 18, Dzerzhinsk district officials
insist to the pastor of Ascension Church that he may not register even
its legal address at his home because "it will harm the living
conditions of your children," "there is no electric illumination of
the territory surrounding the house" and "minimum surface area norms
for each resident will not be observed."
This article was published by F18News on: 4 November 2005
BELARUS: Will UN decision help religious communities?
By Geraldine Fagan, Forum 18 News Service <http://www.forum18.org>
Belarus has yet to meet a 12 November deadline, set by a UN committee,
for confirming the correction of a religious freedom violation against
Hare Krishna devotees, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. In a decision
with implications for other religious communities (such as the New
Life charismatic church), the UN Human Rights Committee found that
Belarus had violated citizens' rights under the International Covenant
for Civil and Political Rights by refusing to register a nation-wide
Hare Krishna association. Two devotees, Sergei Malakhovsky and
Aleksandr Pikul, complained to the Committee, which set a 90 day
deadline from 23 August for correcting the violation. Aleksandr
Kalinov, of the State Committee for Religious and Ethnic Affairs,
initially claimed to Forum 18 that all Krishna communities had
registration, but then, questioned about the nation-wide association,
claimed it did not have the right to register. Sergei Malakhovsky told
Forum 18 that Krishna devotees had taken the UN Committee's decision
to the State Committee and other government departments, "but they
just shrugged their shoulders and said nothing."
Belarus has not yet formally responded to a 12 November deadline, set
by a UN committee, for confirming that the country has corrected a
religious freedom violation against Hare Krishna devotees, Forum 18
News Service has learnt.
In a decision with clear implications for other religious communities,
the UN Human Rights Committee established under article 28 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), found
that Belarus had violated the religious freedom guarantees of Article
18 of the ICCPR. The 23 August resolution (Communication 1207/2003)
came in response to a formal complaint by two Krishna devotees, Sergei
Malakhovsky and Aleksandr Pikul, and the Committee found that their
rights had been violated by Belarus' refusal to their republic-wide
Hare Krishna association. The UN Committee examines alleged violations
of the Covenant, which entered force for Belarus in 1976.
The ninety-day period in which the UN Human Rights Committee specified
that it should receive confirmation from the Belarusian state that it
has taken measures to correct the violation expires on 12 November.
(The 90 days deadline is set from the date of the resolution - 23
August - and not the date of the meeting on 26 July.) On 3 November,
however, UN Committee media liaison officer David Chikvaidze told
Forum 18 from Geneva that it had not yet received a response from the
Belarusian state.
Also asked on 3 November about the state's reaction to the UN
Committee resolution, Aleksandr Kalinov of the State Committee for
Religious and Ethnic Affairs initially maintained to Forum 18 that all
Krishna Consciousness communities in Belarus held registration. Asked
specifically about the republic-wide association, he said that it did
not have the right to register under the 2002 religion law. When Forum
18 pointed out that its registration application was submitted prior
to that law's adoption, he remarked "we are currently examining these
issues." On 28 October Sergei Malakhovsky told Forum 18 that Krishna
devotees had tried taking the UN Committee's resolution to the State
Committee and other government departments, "but they just shrugged
their shoulders and said nothing."
In their complaint to the UN Committee (see F18News 27 January 2004
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=236), Malakhovsky and
Pikul argued that, by refusing to register the Belarus-wide Krishna
Consciousness Society at the building used as a temple by the
500-strong Minsk community since 1992, the state authorities had
denied them "certain activities which are essential to the practice of
their religion," such as establishing monasteries, missions and
educational institutions, and inviting foreign clerics to Belarus to
preach or conduct other religious activity, "resulting in a decline of
spiritual standards due to their inability to associate with more
spiritually advanced believers."
Under the 2002 Belarusian religion law, these rights are not enjoyed
by individual religious communities, only republic-wide associations
with a minimum of ten affiliate communities in at least four out of
six regions, of which one must have conducted its activity for no less
than 20 years. The country's Krishna devotees are unable to meet these
criteria.
Malakhovsky and Pikul submitted their association's registration
application on 10 May 2001 – well before the 2002 religion law came
into effect. They finally received a refusal on 2 August 2002,
however, on the grounds that the temple building was unsuitable for
use as a legal address. Appeals against this refusal were rejected at
all levels of the Belarusian court system (see F18News 27 January 2005
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=500). Like the
charismatic New Life Church in Minsk (see most recently F18News 25
October 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=676), the
Minsk Krishna Consciousness Society does not have the state approval
required by the 2002 religion law to use its own premises for worship,
and was refused re-registration as a result.
In its 2004 submissions to the UN Committee, Belarus insisted that
Malakhovsky and Pikul "are able to practise their religion
unobstructed both personally and in association with others," and that
the authorities' refusal to register their association at the
requested address was justified, since inspection of the premises
revealed violations of sanitary conditions and fire safety. The state
also claimed that the 2002 law's provisions "are not discriminatory in
nature."
However the UN Committee noted in response to these claims that
Article 18 of the Covenant does not permit any limitation whatsoever
to freedom of conscience, but that the right to manifest this freedom
may be subject to limitations "necessary to protect public safety,
order, health or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of
others… directly related to and proportionate to the specific need on
which they are predicated."
Inviting foreign clerics and establishing monasteries and educational
institutions form part of the Krishna devotees' right to manifest
their beliefs, the UN Committee affirmed. While the requirement for
premises adhering to relevant public health and safety standards is a
reasonable limitation of the right of a religious association to carry
out its religious activities, it agreed, there is no reason for such
premises to be required for the act of registering such an association
at a legal address: "Appropriate premises for such use could be
obtained subsequent to registration."
Concluding that the registration refusal thus amounts to a
disproportionate limitation of the Krishna devotees' right to manifest
their religion under the ICCPR, the UN Committee considers that
Malakhovsky and Pikul "are entitled to an appropriate remedy,
including a reconsideration of the authors' application in accordance
with the principles, rules and practices in force at the time of the
authors' request" - that is, prior to the adoption of the 2002 law.
In an individual opinion, committee member Ruth Wedgwood, Burling
professor of international law and diplomacy at Johns Hopkins
University, stated that the issues that the Hare Krishna devotees'
complaint specified were not the only serious problems in the 2002
religion law. She observed that "the right of a religious community to
establish monasteries, educational institutions, or missions, and to
invite foreign religious figures to speak, has been sharply restricted
by the government of Belarus. Only those groups officially registered
with the state as 'religious associations' can enjoy these aspects of
the free practice of religion."
Professor Wedgwood noted, for example, the 20 year registration delay
imposed by the 2002 law and the law's barring of newer faiths from
engaging in religious education. She commented that "it is well to
remember that the Covenant recognizes and guarantees the freedom of
every person 'either individually or in community with others and in
public or private to manifest his religion or belief in worship,
observance, practice and teaching.' See Article 18(1). This right is
not limited to old and established religions, or to large
congregations, and it is fundamental to the freedom of religious
conscience."
The Minsk Krishna community was also refused compulsory
re-registration following the 2002 law's 16 November 2004 deadline
(see 10 November 2004
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=450 and 25 November 2004
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=463), as were for
example autonomous Orthodox communities. The Minsk Krishna community
has since continued to seek re-registration as well as to register a
new local organisation in the city, Malakhovsky told Forum 18. While
the community's charter (which is essential for registering) for the
latter was "practically dictated" by state officials, he continued, it
too was rejected by Minsk City Executive Committee on 4 October 2005.
A copy of the decision, received by Forum 18, lists the charter's
alleged faults, including "numerous contradictions connected with
outlining the competency of administrative bodies of the community"
and "other shortcomings."
Malakhovsky also told Forum 18 that the original Minsk community is
still unable to re-register for want of a suitable legal address:
"Whatever state officials suggest is OK for commercial organisations,
but we can't afford it." The community likewise sought re-registration
at its temple building, in which, according to Malakhovsky, it has
invested tens of thousands of dollars worth of renovation. He added,
however, that there has been no move by the state to liquidate either
the Minsk community or that similarly refused re-registration in
Bobruisk [Babruysk] in Mogilev [Mahilyow] region (see F18News 27
January 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=500).
"Everything is up in the air, and this suits the authorities, I think
– on the one hand we exist, on the other we have no rights."
Aleksandr Kalinov of the State Committee for Religious and Ethnic
Affairs told Forum 18 that the executive committees in Minsk and
Mogilev region were currently dealing with the relevant
re-registration applications.
Religious organisations registered prior to the 2002 law's adoption
are now able to function only to the extent that their charters
conform to its provisions. For fear of heavy fines (which have been
imposed in the similar case of the Minsk New Life Church), the Minsk
Society for Krishna Consciousness is consequently unable to meet for
worship at its temple building (see F18News 11 May 2005
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=558). An 8 October 1997
analysis by experts attached to the State Committee for Religious and
Ethnic Affairs declared the organisation a "destructive totalitarian
sect" and recommended its closure.
Besides New Life Church and the Hare Krishna devotees, other religious
organisations (such as a Baptist church) – particularly in Minsk – are
also unable to worship legally on the grounds that they do not have
suitable premises (see F18News 12 May 2005
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=560 and 28 July 2005
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=619).
24 November 2005
BELARUS: "Just silence" reply to UN deadline
By Geraldine Fagan, Forum 18 News Service
Belarus has not met a 12 November deadline, set by the United
Nations Human Rights Committee, to report its correction of
a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR). In a decision with implications for many religious
communities, Belarus was found to have violated two Hare Krishna
devotees' religious freedom rights by refusing to register
a nationwide Hare Krishna association. Without registration
the association's activity is illegal under Belarus's harsh
religion law. One of the devotees, Sergei Malakhovsky, told
Forum 18 News Service that the only reply the state had given
them was "just silence. They were supposed to respond
and publish what they had done within 90 days, but that period
is over." The devotees have formally asked the Belarusian
Supreme Court to review earlier court decisions violating
their ICCPR-guaranteed religious freedom. The head of the
UN Human Rights Committee's petitions department told Forum
18 that Belarus "will reply – they have said that they
will – but they didn't give a specific date." Aleksandr
Kalinov of the State Committee for Religious and Ethnic Affairs
told Forum 18 that his body was "examining the issues."
Belarus has failed to meet a 12 November deadline, set by
the United Nations Human Rights Committee established under
article 28 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR), to report its correction of a religious freedom
violation identified by the same Committee's resolution of
23 August. Speaking to Forum 18 News Service from Geneva on
23 November, the head of the UN Human Rights Committee's petitions
department thought that Belarus would respond, however. "They
will reply – they have said that they will – but they didn't
give a specific date," Markus Schmidt remarked. Once
a response is received, he added, it will be analysed by a
Special Rapporteur before being referred to the UN Committee.
Asked about Belarus' response to the UN Human Rights Committee's
resolution on 3 November, Aleksandr Kalinov of the State Committee
for Religious and Ethnic Affairs told Forum 18 that his body
was currently "examining the issues" connected with
it.
In a decision with clear implications for other religious
communities, the UN Human Rights Committee found that Belarus
had violated the religious freedom guarantees of Article 18
of the ICCPR. Its 23 August resolution (Communication 1207/2003)
came in response to a formal complaint by two Hare Krishna
devotees, Sergei Malakhovsky and Aleksandr Pikul, and stated
that the pair's rights had been violated by Belarus' refusal
to register their republic-wide Hare Krishna association.
The UN Human Rights Committee examines alleged violations
of the ICCPR, which entered force for Belarus in 1976.
Starting from the 23 August date of the resolution and thus
expiring on 12 November, the UN Human Rights Committee also
specified a ninety-day period for the Belarusian state to
confirm that it had taken measures to correct the violation.
(For full details of the Hare Krishna devotees' original complaint
and the UN Human Rights Committee's decision, see F18News
4 November 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=682).
Speaking to Forum 18 from Minsk on 22 November, Sergei Malakhovsky
said that he has still not received any form of response to
the UN resolution from state representatives. "Just silence,"
he remarked. "They were supposed to respond and publish
what they had done within 90 days, but that period is over."
On 18 November Hare Krishna devotees submitted a formal request
to the Supreme Court to review earlier court decisions violating
their religious freedom as guaranteed by the ICCPR (see F18News
27 January 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=500).
Malakovsky also reported that, while previously assured by
officials at Minsk City Executive Committee that the local
[not republic-wide] Hare Krishna community could be re-registered
as soon as it found a suitable legal address, the city authorities
referred its re-registration application back to district
level when the community recently managed to find such an
address after a year's difficult search. "They were clearly
surprised that we had found somewhere," he told Forum
18, "but it is with a private landlord not so dependent
upon the state." On 16 November, according to Malakhovsky,
officials representing the Soviet District of Minsk – where
the address is located – began to make new demands regarding
the content of the community's re-registration application.
The UN Human Rights Committee's decision has implications
for cases such as the charismatic New Life Church in Minsk
(see most recently F18News 25 October 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=676).
The acquisition of a state-approved legal address – a requirement
for the compulsory registration of religious communities under
the harsh 2002 Religion Law – is notoriously difficult in
the Belarusian capital (see F18News 12 May 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=560
and 28 July 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=619).
While four Hare Krishna communities have successfully re-registered
under the 2002 law, the Belarusian state has made no secret
of its hostility towards the group. In October 1997 an expert
council attached to the State Committee for Religious and
Ethnic Affairs concluded that the Minsk Hare Krishna community
was a "destructive totalitarian sect infringing personality,
health, citizens' rights and the national security of the
Republic of Belarus." A state schoolbook also maintains
that for Hare Krishna devotees "psychiatric help is certainly
required" (see F18News 24 June 2003 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=90).
Some in Belarus have told Forum 18 that the state's hostility
to many religious confessions is closely connected to Soviet-style
militant atheism, which is still propagated by the state and
exerts a strong influence on officials (see F18News 18 November
2003
. (END)
This article was published by F18News on: 24 June
2003
BELARUS: Despite protests, "anti-sect" schoolbook
to remain
By Geraldine Fagan, Forum 18 News Service
Pentecostal and Hare Krishna representatives have so far
failed in their bid to have the education ministry withdraw
a textbook which they say incites religious discord. The book
for 18-year-old children, published by the Education Ministry
last year, warns that Baptist, Pentecostal, Adventist and
Jehovah's Witness activity is a breeding-ground for fanaticism.
It also puts the Hare Krishna and Zen Buddhist movements on
a par with the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo responsible for
the 1995 gas attack on the Tokyo subway, and suggests that
Krishna devotees need psychiatric help. The Orthodox are unhappy
with a quotation that they say "hurts the feelings of
believers". Orthodox Church legal advisor Andrei Aleshko
told Forum 18 News Service that once his Church has studied
the text it will call on the ministry to withdraw the book.
The Ministry of Education has rejected Pentecostal and Hare
Krishna calls for the withdrawal from state schools of a textbook
partially concerning religion which they argue incites religious
discord. Forum 18 News Service notes that the book, "Man
in the World of Culture", warns that Baptist, Pentecostal,
Adventist and Jehovah's Witness activity is a breeding-ground
for fanaticism. It also puts the Hare Krishna and Zen Buddhist
movements on a par with the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo, which
was responsible for the fatal gas attack on the Tokyo subway
in March 1995, and suggests that Krishna devotees need psychiatric
help. Andrei Aleshko, legal assistant to Minsk's Orthodox
diocese, said he is concerned about a quotation in the book
criticising Orthodox worship. "If once we have seen the
text we agree that it hurts the feelings of believers,"
he told Forum 18 from Minsk on 24 June, "the Church will
call on the education ministry to withdraw the book."
The textbook was approved by the education ministry last
year for use by eleventh-grade (18-year-old) pupils in Russian-language
secondary schools, and has a circulation of 147,200 copies.
Most schools in Belarus teach in Russian.
The 3-page section of the book under dispute introduces pupils
to "non-traditional religious organisations and sects".
Although every religion purports to be in possession of absolute
truth, it maintains, "particularly propitious conditions
for the manifestation of fanaticism are created by the activity
of sects," the most widespread in Belarus being Baptists,
Pentecostals, Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses. According
to the book, sects typically claim "exclusivist ideological
principles" and tend towards isolationism, while those
espousing non-traditional doctrines also employ "new
techniques which transform the psyche of the people they recruit".
Turning to non-traditional religious organisations, which
are variously described as "new religious movements,"
"New Age religions," "non-traditional cults,"
"totalitarian sects" and "pseudo-religious
formations," the book lists the International Society
for Krishna Consciousness [Hare Krishnas] and Zen Buddhism
alongside groups such as Aum Shinrikyo and the Russian movement
the White Brotherhood. These organisations are characterised
by unquestioning acceptance of doctrine and blind subordination
to a teacher, guru, leader or prophet, claims the book, as
well as insistence that members "divorce themselves from
the real world".
The textbook also refers to "the common technique of
shutting off the mental faculty of reason by means of endless
rhythmical repetition of the same phrase." Krishna devotees,
it points out, must repeat the 32-syllable Maha Mantra 1,728
times a day, thus leaving little time to think about anything
else. "Religious believers such as these typically feel
the need to be within their community at all times and are
afraid of leaving it," the section concludes. In such
instances, it is alleged, "psychiatric help is certainly
required".
Writing to education minister Pyotr Brigadin on 8 April,
Pentecostal Bishop Sergei Khomich demanded that the textbook
be withdrawn from schools, arguing that it will contribute
to "the continued incitement of interreligious discord
in our country". Since the Pentecostal Union is a registered
religious organisation, he points out, Pentecostals should
not be listed alongside "sects renowned for their destructive
activity, such as the White Brotherhood and Aum Shinrikyo".
In his 7 May reply to the Pentecostal leader, Vladimir Shcherbo
of the education ministry's general secondary education department
claims that the word "sect" is used in the new textbook
as a scientific theoretical term without evaluation or implication
of antisocial tendency. While the current edition of the textbook
will not be withdrawn, "corresponding changes... concerning
the spiritual potential of religion" will be introduced
when it is next published, promises Shcherbo.
In a 15 April letter addressed to the country's general public
prosecutor, members of the Minsk Krishna Consciousness Community
likewise call for the withdrawal of the textbook, since the
information published within it "does not correspond
with reality and damages the reputation of Krishna Consciousness
believers". The Krishna devotees complain in particular
about the book's apparent definition of their organisation
as a sect.
In a 7 May reply to the community, chairman of the State
Committee for Religious Affairs, Stanislav Buko, also maintains
that the term "sect" is used in the textbook as
a scientific term without evaluation or implication that an
organisation so described should lose its state registration.
Making no reference to any of the book's allegations specifically
relating to Krishna worship, Buko concludes that, if Krishna
devotees believe that the textbook violates their legal rights
or interests, they may resolve the issue "in the legally
prescribed manner". On 3 June the Minsk Krishna Consciousness
Community again wrote to the general public prosecutor requesting
that "all legal measures be taken to halt illegal actions
aimed at offending the religious feelings of believers and
the incitement of religious discord in society".
In their original letter to the public prosecutor, the Krishna
devotees pointed out the "atheistic character" of
the textbook. At the end of the disputed section dealing with
sects and non-traditional religious organisations, five quotations
relating to religious belief are printed under the heading
"Let's take note." Four of these are indeed negative
("To believe means to refuse to understand," "Religion
is a weakness...") The final quotation, attributed to
parapsychologist Wolf Messing, is specifically critical of
Orthodox Christian worship: "When that phrase ['Holy
God... have mercy on me'] is repeated hundreds and thousands
of times, a hypnotic state results. On top of that there are
countless prostrations, hammered out before icons."
Aleshko said he had not seen a copy of the book and asked
Forum 18 to supply a copy. "If I ask the education ministry
for it, maybe they won't give it to us," he declared.
So far, however, the Pentecostals and Hare Krishnas are apparently
the only groups to have protested against the new textbook.
Will UN decision help religious communities?
By Geraldine Fagan
[4 November 2005] Belarus has yet to meet a 12 November deadline,
set by a UN committee, for confirming the correction of a
religious freedom violation against Hare Krishna devotees,
Forum 18 News Service has learnt. In a decision with implications
for other religious communities (such as the New Life charismatic
church), the UN Human Rights Committee found that Belarus
had violated citizens' rights under the International Covenant
for Civil and Political Rights by refusing to register a nation-wide
Hare Krishna association. Two devotees, Sergei Malakhovsky
and Aleksandr Pikul, complained to the Committee, which set
a 90 day deadline from 23 August for correcting the violation.
Aleksandr Kalinov, of the State Committee for Religious and
Ethnic Affairs, initially claimed to Forum 18 that all Krishna
communities had registration, but then, questioned about the
nation-wide association, claimed it did not have the right
to register. Sergei Malakhovsky told Forum 18 that Krishna
devotees had taken the UN Committee's decision to the State
Committee and other government departments, "but they
just shrugged their shoulders and said nothing."
Belarus has not yet formally responded to a 12 November deadline,
set by a UN committee, for confirming that the country has
corrected a religious freedom violation against Hare Krishna
devotees, Forum 18 News Service has learnt.
In a decision with clear implications for other religious
communities, the UN Human Rights Committee established under
article 28 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR), found that Belarus had violated the religious
freedom guarantees of Article 18 of the ICCPR. The 23 August
resolution (Communication 1207/2003) came in response to a
formal complaint by two Krishna devotees, Sergei Malakhovsky
and Aleksandr Pikul, and the Committee found that their rights
had been violated by Belarus' refusal to their republic-wide
Hare Krishna association. The UN Committee examines alleged
violations of the Covenant, which entered force for Belarus
in 1976.
The ninety-day period in which the UN Human Rights Committee
specified that it should receive confirmation from the Belarusian
state that it has taken measures to correct the violation
expires on 12 November.
(The 90 days deadline is set from the date of the resolution
- 23 August - and not the date of the meeting on 26 July.)
On 3 November, however, UN Committee media liaison officer
David Chikvaidze told Forum 18 from Geneva that it had not
yet received a response from the Belarusian state.
Also asked on 3 November about the state's reaction to the
UN Committee resolution, Aleksandr Kalinov of the State Committee
for Religious and Ethnic Affairs initially maintained to Forum
18 that all Krishna Consciousness communities in Belarus held
registration. Asked specifically about the republic-wide association,
he said that it did not have the right to register under the
2002 religion law. When Forum 18 pointed out that its registration
application was submitted prior to that law's adoption, he
remarked "we are currently examining these issues."
On 28 October Sergei Malakhovsky told Forum 18 that Krishna
devotees had tried taking the UN Committee's resolution to
the State Committee and other government departments, "but
they just shrugged their shoulders and said nothing."
In their complaint to the UN Committee (see F18News 27 January
2004 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=236), Malakhovsky
and Pikul argued that, by refusing to register the Belarus-wide
Krishna Consciousness Society at the building used as a temple
by the 500-strong Minsk community since 1992, the state authorities
had denied them "certain activities which are essential
to the practice of their religion," such as establishing
monasteries, missions and educational institutions, and inviting
foreign clerics to Belarus to preach or conduct other religious
activity, "resulting in a decline of spiritual standards
due to their inability to associate with more spiritually
advanced believers."
Under the 2002 Belarusian religion law, these rights are
not enjoyed by individual religious communities, only republic-wide
associations with a minimum of ten affiliate communities in
at least four out of six regions, of which one must have conducted
its activity for no less than 20 years. The country's Krishna
devotees are unable to meet these criteria.
Malakhovsky and Pikul submitted their association's registration
application on 10 May 2001 – well before the 2002 religion
law came into effect. They finally received a refusal on 2
August 2002, however, on the grounds that the temple building
was unsuitable for use as a legal address. Appeals against
this refusal were rejected at all levels of the Belarusian
court system (see F18News 27 January 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=500).
Like the charismatic New Life Church in Minsk (see most recently
F18News 25 October 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=676),
the Minsk Krishna Consciousness Society does not have the
state approval required by the 2002 religion law to use its
own premises for worship, and was refused re-registration
as a result.
In its 2004 submissions to the UN Committee, Belarus insisted
that Malakhovsky and Pikul "are able to practise their
religion unobstructed both personally and in association with
others," and that the authorities' refusal to register
their association at the requested address was justified,
since inspection of the premises revealed violations of sanitary
conditions and fire safety. The state also claimed that the
2002 law's provisions "are not discriminatory in nature."
However the UN Committee noted in response to these claims
that Article 18 of the Covenant does not permit any limitation
whatsoever to freedom of conscience, but that the right to
manifest this freedom may be subject to limitations "necessary
to protect public safety, order, health or morals or the fundamental
rights and freedoms of others… directly related to and proportionate
to the specific need on which they are predicated."
Inviting foreign clerics and establishing monasteries and
educational institutions form part of the Krishna devotees'
right to manifest their beliefs, the UN Committee affirmed.
While the requirement for premises adhering to relevant public
health and safety standards is a reasonable limitation of
the right of a religious association to carry out its religious
activities, it agreed, there is no reason for such premises
to be required for the act of registering such an association
at a legal address: "Appropriate premises for such use
could be obtained subsequent to registration."
Concluding that the registration refusal thus amounts to
a disproportionate limitation of the Krishna devotees' right
to manifest their religion under the ICCPR, the UN Committee
considers that Malakhovsky and Pikul "are entitled to
an appropriate remedy, including a reconsideration of the
authors' application in accordance with the principles, rules
and practices in force at the time of the authors' request"
- that is, prior to the adoption of the 2002 law.
In an individual opinion, committee member Ruth Wedgwood,
Burling professor of international law and diplomacy at Johns
Hopkins University, stated that the issues that the Hare Krishna
devotees'
complaint specified were not the only serious problems in
the 2002 religion law. She observed that "the right of
a religious community to establish monasteries, educational
institutions, or missions, and to invite foreign religious
figures to speak, has been sharply restricted by the government
of Belarus. Only those groups officially registered with the
state as 'religious associations' can enjoy these aspects
of the free practice of religion."
Professor Wedgwood noted, for example, the 20 year registration
delay imposed by the 2002 law and the law's barring of newer
faiths from engaging in religious education. She commented
that "it is well to remember that the Covenant recognizes
and guarantees the freedom of every person 'either individually
or in community with others and in public or private to manifest
his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and
teaching.' See Article 18(1). This right is not limited to
old and established religions, or to large congregations,
and it is fundamental to the freedom of religious conscience."
The Minsk Krishna community was also refused compulsory re-registration
following the 2002 law's 16 November 2004 deadline (see 10
November 2004
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=450 and 25
November 2004
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=463), as were
for example autonomous Orthodox communities. The Minsk Krishna
community has since continued to seek re-registration as well
as to register a new local organisation in the city, Malakhovsky
told Forum 18. While the community's charter (which is essential
for registering) for the latter was "practically dictated"
by state officials, he continued, it too was rejected by Minsk
City Executive Committee on 4 October 2005.
A copy of the decision, received by Forum 18, lists the charter's
alleged faults, including "numerous contradictions connected
with outlining the competency of administrative bodies of
the community"
and "other shortcomings."
Malakhovsky also told Forum 18 that the original Minsk community
is still unable to re-register for want of a suitable legal
address: "Whatever state officials suggest is OK for
commercial organisations, but we can't afford it." The
community likewise sought re-registration at its temple building,
in which, according to Malakhovsky, it has invested tens of
thousands of dollars worth of renovation. He added, however,
that there has been no move by the state to liquidate either
the Minsk community or that similarly refused re-registration
in Bobruisk [Babruysk] in Mogilev [Mahilyow] region (see F18News
27 January 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=500).
"Everything is up in the air, and this suits the authorities,
I think – on the one hand we exist, on the other we have no
rights."
Aleksandr Kalinov of the State Committee for Religious and
Ethnic Affairs told Forum 18 that the executive committees
in Minsk and Mogilev region were currently dealing with the
relevant re-registration applications.
Religious organisations registered prior to the 2002 law's
adoption are now able to function only to the extent that
their charters conform to its provisions. For fear of heavy
fines (which have been imposed in the similar case of the
Minsk New Life Church), the Minsk Society for Krishna Consciousness
is consequently unable to meet for worship at its temple building
(see F18News 11 May 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=558).
An 8 October 1997 analysis by experts attached to the State
Committee for Religious and Ethnic Affairs declared the organisation
a "destructive totalitarian sect" and recommended
its closure.
Besides New Life Church and the Hare Krishna devotees, other
religious organisations (such as a Baptist church) – particularly
in Minsk – are also unable to worship legally on the grounds
that they do not have suitable premises (see F18News 12 May
2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=560 and
28 July 2005
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=619).
The UN human rights committee made a decision
on a claim of founders of a religious organization “Krishna
Consciousness” Siarhiej Malahouski and Alaksandar Pikula. International
quasi court declared that the refusal to register this religious
organization in 2002 by the Belarusian authorities was a violation
of an international treaty on civil and political rights signed
by Belarus. This is the first decision of the UN human rights
Committee that was applied to limitation of religious freedom
in Belarus.
According to decision 1207/2003 made by the
UN human rights Committee on August 23, 2005 the Republic of
Belarus violated the rights of founders of Miensk department
of “Krishna Consciousness” protected by clause 18 of International
Treaty on civil and political rights. According to this clause
each person has a right to freedom of thought, conscience, speech.
This right includes the freedom to have or
to practice religion or to have his own views or to share his
views with other people in public or in other way, to conduct
religious ceremonies and educate others. This freedom is to
be limited by the law that protects public safety, order, health
and morals, and rights and freedom of other people. Any other
limitation of religious freedom is inadmissible.
The Belarusian legislation divides religious
organizations in associations and groups. In order to create
association you need 10 groups with 20 year long activity period;
associations have more rights than simple groups. In this way
the groups that did not manage to register an association, do
not have the right to educate, to invite priests from abroad,
publish any editions. The founders appealed to UN Human Rights
Committee because the authorities refused to register their
religious association. At the moment these people who belong
to vishnavy faith (that believe in Krishna) have only a legal
status of a group. The UN human rights committee admitted that
the fact that there is no association of Krishna does not mean
that they have not right for educational activities. Moreover
the founders argued with the ground that was a reason for refusal
to register the organization. The fact is that the organization
intended to register their legal address in a private house.
Nowadays the problem of legal addresses is a barrier for numerous
religious groups, non-governmental organizations and political
parties. The UN Human Rights Committee admitted that the fact
that the premises did not correspond to sanitary norms can not
be a ground for refusal to register an organization at this
legal address, even if the address is at the residential premises.
The Committee states that interpretation of norms of the Housing
Code as a ban on usage of residential premises for religious
necessities infringes human rights and can not be a ground for
limitation of religious activities.
Jury C(avusau( comment the decision: “I would
call this decision extremely important. It is significant not
only because proper assessment of anti legal system (that was
established by repressive law on religions in 2002) is made,
it has an emergency character for the Belarusian people from
the international community. Precisely now we observe a struggle
of Protestant believers for their religious buildings, for their
right tot practice their religion regardless of the wish of
the authorities and position of housing services in respect
of religious buildings”. Now the Belarusian government should
publish the mentioned decision of the UN Human Rights Committee
in the official press promptly and to take measures in order
to improve the situation with the rights of the founders. The
government has to inform the Committee about this within 90
days from the date of the decision.
Except for the decision on the claim the UN
Human Right Committee gave its opinion on the Belarusan legislation
that concerns religion. As they do not have formal grounds to
consider a number of anti legal norms (including requirement
for 20 years period) the members of the Committee underline
its illegal character and in other words encourage citizens
of Belarus to protect their rights by appeal to international
remedial institutions.
”Taking into consideration the expressed opinion
and today Belarusan reality we can expect a wave of appeals
to the UN Committee on practice of violation of religious freedom,
says J.C(avusau(, In fact this case destroys the whole system
of religious pressure in Belarus, at least the mask of democracy
and legality is taken off. Now it is clear that we deal with
persecution in its pure form. The fact that the persecution
is based on law, does not cancel its illegal character”.
Incidents in which Krishna devotees are briefly
detained for distributing religious literature occur two or
three times a week in Belarus, according to the head of their
Minsk community, Sergei Malakhovsky. Annual requests for permission
to distribute religious literature at various sites receive
the same brief response from each of the Belarusian capital's
nine administrative districts, he told Forum 18 News Service:
"The location is deemed inappropriate."
Their action consequently rendered illegal,
Malakhovsky continued on 25 January, Krishna devotees are regularly
detained briefly by local police, less frequently fined up to
20 US Dollars (= 43,330 Belarusian Roubles, 137 Norwegian Kroner,
or 16 Euros) or, if they are Russian citizens, ordered to leave
Belarus. In accordance with the republic's 2002 law on religion,
Krishna devotees have the right – if they obtain permission
- to distribute religious literature only within the limits
of the cities where they are currently registered: Minsk, Grodno
(Hrodna), Gomel (Homyel'), Brest, Vitebsk (Vitsyebsk) and Bobruisk
(Babruysk). If they attempt to distribute it elsewhere, remarked
Malakhovsky, they are commonly ordered to leave town by police.
The leader of the Minsk Society for Krishna
Consciousness also told Forum 18 that its members are permitted
to hold religious processions only in an isolated location in
the Belarusian capital, for which the municipal authorities
charge 100
US Dollars (if on a weekday) [= 216,652 Belarusian Roubles,
682 Norwegian Kroner, or 79 Euros] or 300 US Dollars (if at
a weekend) [= 650,001 Belarusian Roubles, 2,046 Norwegian Kroner,
or 237 Euros] for related police, health and sanitation arrangements.
So far, however, police have turned a blind eye to the small,
unsanctioned summer processions through central Minsk streets
which the community holds instead, he remarked.
Malakhovsky confirmed to Forum 18 that the
Society for Krishna Consciousness in Belarus has asked the United
Nations Human Rights Committee to evaluate the legality of the
state authorities' refusal to register the organisation at the
republican level under the previous law on religion. Krishna
devotees in Belarus are unable to meet the present law's conditions
for this status, he explained, since they do not have at least
10 communities including a minimum of one which has been in
existence for 20 years or more. Under the same law, the group's
existing communities do not have the right..to invite foreign
spiritual leaders or create their own media publications as
a result. While their foreign spiritual leaders are able to
visit Belarus informally, said Malakhovsky, "we can't rent
a public hall for their lectures or publicise the visits in
any way." The 500 active Krishna devotees in Minsk currently
produce only 300 copies of a religious publication for internal
use, he said, since a higher circulation is subject to state
registration.
Due to difficulties acquiring a valid legal
address, Malakhovsky said that the Society for Krishna Consciousness
in Belarus has so far applied to re-register only three of its
communities under the 2002 religion law. While those in Grodno
and Gomel have already re-registered successfully, he said,
those in Brest simply had their documents returned to them and
were denied further explanation. On 27 January, Forum 18 sought
confirmation from the official in charge of religious affairs
in Brest region, Vasili Marchenko, who maintained that the Brest
Hare Krishna community had not been denied re-registration and
that
he had not received any such application: "We have no problem
with Krishna devotees." Unable to locate Sergei Malakhovsky,
Forum 18 was told later the same day by another devotee in Minsk
that the Brest community's re-registration documents had been
returned to them without explanation within the past few weeks.
When devotees asked officials what was wrong with the application,
he said, they were reportedly told that the Council for Religious
Affairs was "not a consultative organ."
Commenting that Forum 18 had previously distorted
information that he had provided, the chairman of the Belarusian
State Committee for Religious and Ethnic Affairs, Stanislav
Buko, stated on 27 January that he would issue a written answer
to a question relating to the Krishna devotees' situation in
the republic within ten days. In October 1997 the committee's
Expert Council – of which Buko is not a member – issued an analysis
of the activity of the Minsk Society for Krishna Consciousness
which concluded that the organisation was a "destructive
totalitarian sect infringing personality, health, citizens'
rights and the national security of the Republic of Belarus."
This article was published by F18News
on: 11 May 2005
BELARUS: Not liquidated, but unable to meet
By Geraldine Fagan, Moscow Correspondent,
Forum 18 News Service
Although the authorities have so far held
off from closing down two religious communities eligible for
liquidation under the restrictive 2002 religion law - the
charismatic New Life church and the are Krishna community
in Minsk – officials have warned both communities not to meet.
"We're afraid to meet at our temple," Sergei Malakhovsky
of the 200-strong Hare Krishna community told Forum 18 News
Service, pointing out that constant police checks would result
in "a huge fine equivalent to approximately 1,500 US
dollars". New Life church and the Hare Krishna communities
in Minsk and Bobruisk are among many religious communities
denied compulsory re-registration and whose activity is therefore
illegal. In April the pastor of an unregistered Baptist church
was also fined.
The Belarusian authorities appear to have
stalled in their moves against the two religious organisations
closest to liquidation under the country's restrictive 2002
religion law – the charismatic New Life Church and the Minsk
Society for Krishna Consciousness. Nevertheless, the Minsk
Society for Krishna Consciousness is currently unable to gather
for worship, Sergei Malakhovsky of the community told Forum
18 News Service on 15 April. "We're afraid to meet at
our temple," he explained, pointing out that constant
police checks would result in "a huge fine equivalent
to approximately 1,500 US dollars".
A fine of this size was handed down to the
administrator of New Life Church late last year for allegedly
organising worship without state sanction (see F18News 29
December 2004 ).
Like New Life, the 200-strong Hare Krishna community has been
refused compulsory re-registration at its house of worship
because it does not have the necessary state approval to use
the building.
The Minsk Hare Krishna temple is technically
a free-standing residential house, although the community
claims to have carried out thousands of dollars worth of improvements
and alterations to the building since receiving initial registration
there in 1992. The Krishna devotees who are registered as
its legal occupants are currently the only people allowed
to use it, Malakhovsky told Forum 18.
Malakhovsky also confirmed that Minsk city
administration has not taken any further action against the
community since issuing two official warnings in mid-November
2004 and on 14 February 2005, even though this constitutes
sufficient legal grounds for liquidation. The first warning
was issued after Minsk's Central District Court found that
a religious meeting had taken place at the temple without
state sanction (see F18News 10 November 2004
).
In the second warning, a copy of which has
been received by Forum 18, vice-chairman of Minsk city administration
Mikhail Petrushin maintains that the community is "still
situated" at the temple even though its legal appeal
against the authorities' refusal to re-register it there has
been rejected at all levels of the justice system. The Minsk
Society for Krishna Consciousness has lodged a further appeal
with the United Nations Human Rights Committee (see F18News
27 January 2005 ).
Malakhovsky also told Forum 18 that he is
unaware of any measures taken by the state authorities against
the Krishna Consciousness community in Bobruisk [Babruysk],
which has also been refused re-registration (see F18News 27
January 2005 ).
Speaking to Forum 18 on 10 May, Vasili Yurevich,
the administrator of New Life Church, also said that the state
authorities have taken no further action against the congregation
since Minsk city administration issued its second warning
to the church on 4 April (see F18News 8 April 2005 ).
So far this year the Council of Churches
Baptists – who refuse on principle to register with the state
authorities in CIS countries – has documented only one fine
against its member congregations in Belarus for conducting
unregistered worship.
Such incidents were more frequent in 2003-4 (see F18News 3
February 2004
and 17 February 2004 ).
On 26 April the association reported that
75-year-old Pastor Yevgeni Shishko refused to pay a fine of
75,000 Belarusian roubles (218 Norwegian kroner, 27 Euros
or 35 US dollars) handed down to him on 21 April by a district
court in the western city of Brest for leading an unregistered
religious organisation. Pastor Shishko confirmed to Forum
18 on 5 May that he had been leading a worship service in
a private house on 28 February when a local policeman called
and drew up a statement against him (leadership of an unregistered
religious organisation is an administrative offence in Belarus).
Sounding unconcerned, he stressed that he had encountered
neither trouble nor further demands from the authorities since
refusing to pay.
While Pastor Vladimir Gritsuk of an autonomous
Baptist congregation in Bereza (Brest region) was similarly
handed down a fine of 240,000 Belarusian roubles (698 Norwegian
kroner, 86 Euros or 111 US dollars) for leading an unregistered
religious organisation on 9 February 2005, this is "no
longer relevant", Pastor Vladimir Zdanevich of a sister
autonomous congregation in Brest told Forum 18 on 5 May. The
two congregations are among five in Brest region who have
roots in the Council of Churches Baptists association but
who accepted state registration in the 1980s on condition
of autonomy.
The five had had their re-registration applications
returned to them after refusing to accept a provision in the
2002 religion law stipulating that a religious organisation
may function only within the limit of the territory upon which
it is registered, such as a city or group of villages (see
F18News 27 January 2005
). However, all five were finally re-registered in late April
with charters stipulating that the territory for their religious
activity is unlimited, Zdanevich told Forum 18. "The
charters were registered in the form we wanted – God has shown
us great mercy."
For more background information see Forum
18's Belarus religious freedom survey at
This article was published by F18News
on: 27 January 2005
BELARUS: Uncertain fate of non re-registered communities
By Geraldine Fagan, Moscow Correspondent,
Forum 18 News Service
After the deadline for compulsory state re-registration,
it is uncertain what will happen to religious communities
who are either still in the process of re-registering or who
have been refused re-registration, Forum 18 News Service has
found. Amongst examples of problems experienced by communities,
that Forum 18 knows of, are that a non re-registered Hare
Krishna community has been given an official warning, after
police saw Krishna devotees praying without state permission.
Two warnings are sufficient for the authorities to begin proceedings
to liquidate a religious community. A Baptist church has had
bank accounts closed, as bank staff told the church that it
has to be re-registered to have an account, and a Reformed
Baptist Church has been refused permission by the local architecture
department to use a private house for worship. Without state
re-registration, it is legally impossible for religious communities
to meet for worship, or to engage in other religious activities.
There are also other ways in which the state monitors, restricts
and prevents the activity of religious communities.
Following the deadline for compulsory state
re-registration on 16 November 2004, under the religious law,
it is uncertain what will happen to a number of religious
communities who are either still in the process of re-registering
or who have been refused re-registration, Forum 18 News Service
has found.
Without state re-registration, it is legally
impossible for religious communities to meet for worship or
to engage in other religious activities. Registered religious
organisations cannot, for example, engage in activities outside
the place where they are registered and violations of the
law can result in a religious community being formally liquidated.
There is a network of officials monitoring religious communities,
atheism and negative views of religion are formally taught
within the education system and there are other ways – such
as fire, health and safety, and planning regulations – also
used to monitor, restrict and prevent the activity of religious
communities.
On 24 January the Belarusian Supreme Court
upheld a 21 December ruling by Minsk City Court, stating that
the Minsk Society for Krishna Consciousness had rightly been
refused re-registration under the 2002 law. Having thus failed
in its appeal against the refusal, Sergei Malakhovsky of the
Society explained to Forum 18 on 24 January, the community
will now lodge an appeal with the United Nations Human Rights
Committee.
Similar to the charismatic New Life Church,
the Minsk Krishna Consciousness Society does not have the
state approval required by the 2002 religion law to use its
own premises for worship, and was refused re-registration
as a result. On 3 November 2004 Minsk's Central District Court
also issued an official warning after a police officer observed
Krishna devotees praying at their temple without state permission
(see F18News 10 November 2004 ).
Two violations of Belarusian law would be sufficient for the
state authorities to file for the Society's liquidation.
Two other Krishna Consciousness communities
in Bobruisk [Babruysk] (Mogilev [Mahilyow] region) and Mogilev
cannot re-register and register respectively, Sergei Malakhovsky
also told Forum 18. He maintained that the state authorities
keep changing the reasons for not re-registering the Bobruisk
group: "First they say the legal address is not in order,
then the charter, then that the application was too late -
but we obtained the necessary approval to use a home address,
changed the charter repeatedly after consulting officials
and submitted before the deadline." The authorities insist
that the Mogilev group seeking initial registration must first
pass expert analysis, said Malakhovsky, and will not accept
confirmation from the Minsk Society that it belongs to the
same religious confession.
Speaking to Forum 18 on 24 January, Mogilev
regional religious affairs official Valeri Vankovich initially
claimed that there were no Krishna devotees in his region.
He then said that the Bobruisk community had been denied re-registration
because it had failed to submit a timely re-registration application
despite being requested to do so and because its documents
did not correspond with the law. "They didn't have the
right legal address," explained Vankovich, "under
the old law, it could be in a block of flats, but that is
forbidden now." He added, however, that the Bobruisk
community could apply for registration as a new religious
organisation. Vankovich also stated that the Mogilev group
was deemed to be liable for expert analysis, although the
2002 religion law stipulates that this is the case only for
religious confessions new to Belarus, since the applicants
had described themselves as "Vaishnavis" rather
than Krishna devotees. These terms are in fact synonymous.
The authorities in Brest have now returned
re-registration applications to six autonomous Baptist churches
in the region, Pastor Viktor Zdanevich of the congregation
on Brest's Fortechnaya Street told Forum 18 on 18 January,
"they won't re-register us." The banks where two
of the six have accounts have closed them at the request of
the authorities, he added, "bank staff said we would
have to be re-registered in order to have an account."
Otherwise, he told Forum 18, there have been no consequences
as yet. The six congregations had refused to accept a provision
in the 2002 religion law stipulating that a religious organisation
may function only within the limit of the territory upon which
it is registered (see F18News 1 December 2004 ).
Contacted by Forum 18 on 24 January, Brest
regional religious affairs official Vasili Marchenko confirmed
that the problem with the six autonomous churches' re-registration
applications was that they refused to accept the restriction
to the territory of religious activity. Maintaining that a
similar restriction exists for all legal personalities in
Belarus, Marchenko specified that the territory in question
constituted the limits of a town or city if that was where
an organisation was registered or the several neighbouring
small settlements or villages where founder members live in
other cases. As he was "still trying to explain this"
to the autonomous Baptists, he told Forum 18, he could not
say what the consequences for them of rejecting it would be.
Two Reformed Baptist congregations denied
re-registration (see F18News 17 November 2004 )
are so far able to gather without obstruction, their pastors
told Forum 18 on 17 January. Pastor Georgi Vyazovsky of Minsk
Reformed Baptist Church explained that he had received legal
advice to the effect that, since the church previously held
registration, this remained valid until the local executive
committee filed for liquidation, "whereas they consider
that we have already 'self-liquidated'." Speaking from
the settlement of Gatovo outside Minsk, Pastor Vladimir Bukanov
told Forum 18 that his Reformed congregation had become caught
in a vicious circle. "We couldn't get approval from the
local architect to use a private house as worship premises
– he said he wouldn't give it to us as we were apostates and
chased me out of his office." On appealing at the district
level, Bukanov continued, various officials simply referred
him back to the architectural department.
The pastor of a Calvinist congregation in
Minsk which refused to re-register "as our form of protest,
we have not agreed with the new religion law ever since its
draft stage," Lyavon Lipen told Forum 18 on 19 January
that, although there had been no consequences so far, "I
think there will be, but it is only a short time since the
deadline" (see F18News 17 November 2004 ).
The outcome of re-registration applications by a second Calvinist
church and the Zion-Jerusalem Messianic Jewish community are
still being decided by the Minsk city authorities, their pastors
told Forum 18 on 24 January.
August 2002 Belarusian Authorities Groundlessly Refuse to Krishna
Societies
On August 9 a number of Belarusian Krishna
societies had to apply to Miensk Tsentralny borough court
with the demand to obligate the Committee on religions and
nationalities at the Soviet of Ministers to register the republican
association of the believers who belong to this confession.
Belarusian Krishna believers think that the refusal to register
their organization is illegal and groundless. For instance,
the claims of the authorities to Belarusian adherents of Krishna
Consciousness correspond with the new law about freedom of
consciousness and religious organizations. This law hasn’t
been enforced yet as it hasn’t been approved by the Council
of the Republic and signed by the President. Chairman of the
abovementioned committee Buko and Head of the department of
religions Kalinau demand from founders of the new association
the norms that limit the believers’ rights and don’ correspond
with the present legislation – for instance, to include in
the statute the norm that the association can act only if
it has not less than 10 registered local societies each of
which has not less than 20 people. This demand is obviously
based on the new draft law as there’s no such norm in the
acting law about denomination. Besides, the committee for
some strange reason refuses to acknowledge the legality of
the juridical address of the association of Krishna Consciousness,
officially and legally given to this religious organization
by Miensk Tsentralny borough administration. The authorities
obviously have a preconceived attitude to registration of
the Krishna believers. The press release of Miensk society
of Krishna Consciousness concerning these events points out
that it’s not the first case of illegal actions of the State
towards the confession. The Belarusian believers have been
deprived of the possibility to meet with their foreign brothers
for three years already as only a registered religious association
can invite foreign priests. On May 10, 2001 the Belarusian
Krishna believers submitted to the Committee on religions
and nationalities all the necessary documents for registration.
Then they had to spend 14 months (!) correcting them in accordance
with the groundless demands of the Committee. The Committee
authorities use an old trick: if they can’t give a legal refusal,
they protract the procedure, mocking at the believers. By
the way, the legislation gives them only 1 month for making
decision on registration of a religious association. On July
4 the court supported the demand of Krishna societies to give
them an answer concerning the question of their registration.
T was obviously negative. The question of denomination has
recently become a central point of public attention in connection
with the planned changes in the law about denomination. The
authors of the new law that can be enforced in autumn say
that its strict content won’t be a reason for religious persecution.
However, the sad experience of Krishna Consciousness, destruction
of an independent orthodox church in Pryhranichny settlement,
the administrative persecution of induists – all these fact
witness against it.
04 November 2004 г. Minsk Tsentralny Borough Court Warns Krishnaits
According to RFE/RL
Aliaksandr Karzow, one of the members of the Krishnait society,
was accused in the fact that unauthorized liturgies were held
in a private house. The Krishna believers think that this
trial puts beginning to the liquidation of their organization.
For two days judge Aliaksey Bychko considered the administrative
protocol that was composed by the police inspector of Tsentralny
borough of Minsk Ihar Nestsiarovich. In this report the policeman
stated he “saw several people sing songs and play religious
instruments” (?)
The specialist of Minsk City Executive Committee Ala Martynava
said that according to the new law on religion members of
the Hinduist society have to have permission for liturgies
in a private house. Warning is the minimal punishment that
can be given for doing it without permission. The believer
Siarhey Malakhowski thinks that the warning that was issued
by the court is only the beginning of the process: “We understand
that they want to wipe us out of the territory of Belarus
as a new religious movement so that there are no rivals to
the main religion, which is given “green light”. It is all
made to the good of the monopoly of the Orthodox church, which
has the monopoly on representation of God in Belarus – the
country where the Orthodoxy has won”.
Members of the International Society of Krishna Conscience
said to RFE/RL they would complain to the UN Committee on
Human Rights.
