ONE year on from the annexation of Crimea, the Oslo-based
religious-freedom think tank Forum 18 has published a report that
details a catalogue of abuses and restrictions imposed on religious
groups in the former Ukraine territory that is now controlled by
Russia.
It highlights numerous cases of foreign religious leaders' being
sent home, groups' eviction from properties rented from the state,
the seizure of literature, and groups' being forced to close down.
Many of the restrictions stem from a new registration requirement
for religious groups.
Forum 18 says that Russian law allows religious communities to
meet, but they have no legal identity without registration. This
means that they cannot rent properties, employ people, or invite
foreigners for religious activity.
It says that, of the 1546 Crimean religious communities
registered with Ukraine before the annexation, only 14 now are
registered. A further 150 are currently being considered.
Nine Roman Catholic groups, one Augsburg Lutheran, one Baptist,
and two Karaite Jewish groups have had their applications for
registration sent to Moscow for "expert analysis".
Several RC priests and nuns have been deported, and a small
convent in Simferopol was forced to close when its three Franciscan
Sisters - from Poland and other parts of Ukraine - had to
leave.
The RC priest of Yalta, a Polish Dominican, was forced to leave
after being fined for working as a priest with a tourist visa. And
another Polish RC priest was forced to leave in October. This was
despite the Vatican's having negotiated the creation of a special
administrative pastoral district to cover its parishes in the
Crimean peninsula. When it applied for registration, it was refused
on the grounds that the parishes had to apply before their district
could apply.
Forum 18 reports that there have been numerous incidents in
which religious groups - mainly Muslims and Jehovah's Witnesses -
have been fined for being in possession of "extremist
material".
And a new anti-terrorism law requires the security services "to
identify and influence . . . active members and ideologues of
non-traditional organisations and sects", in order to "reject
illegal and de- structive activity, to repent, and to participate
in preventive measures".
The new law includes measures "to bring order" to Crimean
citizens leaving to study in Islamic centres outside the country;
and the "adapting . . . to the contemporary religious situation" in
Crimea of people who have studied in any religious colleges
abroad.
The Bishop of the Russian Orthodox diocese of Yekaterinburg has
suspended Archpriest Vladimir Zaitsev after the priest blessed a
group of Russian fighters heading to eastern Ukraine, where
fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukraine military
continues.
Fr Zaitsev told the militia that he was keen to join them in the
Luhansk region, and to "beat the fascist scum". He has been sent
from his parish of St Innocent's to a monastery at Ganina Yama
until a decision is made about his future.
In a statement, the diocese said that his actions "contradicted
the position of the Russian Orthodox Church regarding what is
happening in Ukraine". In February, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and
all Russia said that "there is no issue more important in the world
today than peace in the Ukrainian land."
Letters