Source: www.forum18.org
Date: June 15, 2023
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Felix Corley, Forum 18, and Olga Glace, Forum 18
On 2 June, the regime made public the draft of the proposed new Religion
Law, prepared by the chief state religious affairs official,
Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs Aleksandr Rumak. Only 10
days were given for comments, which Minsk's Lawtrend Centre for Legal
Transformation criticised given the "exceptional significance of the draft
Law for religious and social life". The proposed new Law is due to be
considered by the non-freely elected Parliament in September.
The regime punished previous nationwide civil society attempts to improve
the restrictive 2002 Religion Law currently in force. Belarus has not
sought a legal review of the 2023 draft Law from the OSCE's Office for
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), "but we would be ready
and willing to do so if asked", ODIHR spokesperson Katya Andrusz told Forum
18 (see below).
In his justification of the alleged need for the new Law, Plenipotentiary
for Religious and Ethnic Affairs Rumak claimed that the regime took account
of various other Belarusian laws, as well as the Religion Laws of Russia,
Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan. All these
Religion Laws have been strongly criticised by human rights defenders for
not complying with legally-binding international human rights obligations.
The regime also falsely claimed that the draft Law "does not affect"
international human rights obligations (see below).
The man who answered Plenipotentiary Rumak's phone – who refused to give
his name – also refused to explain to Forum 18 why Rumak made his
demonstrably false claim, and refused to discuss the content of the draft
Law (see below).
Many people concerned about the impact of the proposed new Religion Law on
freedom of religion or belief did not want to publicly criticise the new
Law "as you could end up facing criminal responsibility", one person who
wished to remain anonymous for fear of state reprisals told Forum 18 (see
below).
Exiled human rights defender and Orthodox priest Fr Aleksandr Shramko
commented that the regime "adopts new laws, corrects old ones - everything
in order to somehow extinguish any pockets of not only possible resistance,
but also any uncontrolled life," he wrote on the Christian Vision website.
"All this looks somewhat absurd on the part of the authorities, which are
'not living by the law'. But after all, animals also want to be like
people, playing on the formal appearance of legality" (see below).
The proposed new Law would (see below) among other things:
- continue to require all religious communities to gain state registration
before they are allowed to operate;
- ban "the activity of unregistered religious organisations";
- impose compulsory re-registration within one year on all registered
religious communities, paralleling earlier demands on political parties and
other public associations;
- impose even tighter registration restrictions and conditions;
- make extensive and arbitrary use of the undefined terms "extremism",
"terrorism", and "the ideology of the Belarusian state" to justify
restricting the exercise of freedom of religion or belief and related
fundamental freedoms;
- give the regime new powers for regime to inspect and monitor religious
communities;
- give greater "legal" possibilities for the regime to forcibly close
religious communities;
- continue and increase censorship and restrictions on religious literature
and items, including banning educational establishments from including
religious literature in their libraries;
- impose new restrictions on religious education by religious communities,
as well as increasing regime surveillance of this;
- aim to separate religious communities from involvement with wider
society;
- and impose new restrictions on religious charitable activity (see below).
Draft new Religion Law published
On 2 June, the regime made public on its legal website the draft of the
proposed new Religion Law
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs Aleksandr Rumak. The
website said the draft Law was open for public comments from 5 to 15 June.
The Minsk-based Lawtrend Centre for Legal Transformation criticised the
short time allowed for public comments
(https://www.lawtrend.org/engl
despite the "exceptional significance of the draft Law for religious and
social life."
By 15 June, a number of individuals had submitted written comments on the
proposed new Law on the legal website. Some comments questioned some
wording in the draft without questioning the underlying principles of the
new Law. Others made specific criticisms of a number of provisions.
On 30 May, before publishing the draft of the proposed Law for public
discussion, Plenipotentiary Rumak summoned the leaders of registered
religious communities to present the text. Orthodox, Catholic and
Protestant leaders were among those present.
Civil society attempts to improve 2002 Religion Law punished
The new Law is set to replace and harshen the highly restrictive 2002
Religion Law (https://www.forum18.org/archi
In May 2007, Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants launched a nationwide
petition to change the 2002 Religion Law
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
unconstitutional. Its organisers stated that the law "violates the rights
of all people, even atheists". Petition supporter Orthodox priest Fr
Aleksandr Shramko was in May 2007 banned from functioning as a priest
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
regime-supporting Belarusian Orthodox Church.
More than 50,000 people signed the petition
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
in March-April 2008 to the Constitutional Court, Parliament, Presidential
Administration, Supreme Court, and the Higher Economic Court. The regime
rejected the petition, and three of the organisers were in April 2008 fined
almost double the average monthly wage.
Lawtrend Centre for Legal Transformation and the advocacy group For
Religious Freedom drew up an alternative Religion Law compliant with
international law, but in October 2009 Minsk Executive Committee blocked
attempts to have an open discussion on this
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
conference facilities.
Regime orders swift passage of draft Religion Law, no legal review sought
A 30 December 2022 Decree signed by Aleksandr Lukashenko specified that the
Council of Ministers should prepare the draft Religion Law amendments by
June 2023 for them to be presented to the lower chamber of Parliament, the
House of Representatives, in September.
No election in Belarus has been found to be free and fair
(https://www.osce.org/odihr/el
and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) election observers, and the regime
violently repressed nationwide protests against election fraud
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Belarus has not sought a legal review
(https://www.osce.org/odihr/le
OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). "ODIHR
hasn't so far received a request from the Belarusian authorities to review
the draft law, but we would be ready and willing to do so if asked," ODIHR
spokesperson Katya Andrusz told Forum 18 on 12 June.
In March 2022, the Council of Europe suspended all relations with Belarus
(https://www.coe.int/en/web/po
This includes participation in the European Commission for Democracy
through Law (the Venice Commission) which on request provides legal
opinions on draft laws.
Justifying the new restrictions
In his justification of the alleged need for the new Law, published on 2
June alongside the draft, Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs
Aleksandr Rumak claimed that it needs to be brought into line with the
Constitution, as well as the "strengthening on the legislative level of new
contemporary approaches in mutual relations between the state and religious
communities". He does not explain what these approaches are.
Plenipotentiary Rumak stresses what he sees as the need to "correct" the
preamble to recognise the "special role" of the pro-regime Belarusian
Orthodox Church (https://www.forum18.org/archi
the Moscow Patriarchate) in the "historical establishment and development
of spiritual, cultural and state traditions of the Belarusian people, as
well as the inseparability from the general history of the people of
Belarus of other Christian, Jewish and Islamic religious communities".
However, the preamble in the draft Law made public on 2 June differs little
from the preamble of the 2002 Law. The main change is that the Lutheran
Church would no longer be specifically mentioned, to be replaced by the
general "other Christian" category.
Plenipotentiary Rumak also states notes that in preparing the new Law, the
regime took account of various other Belarusian laws, as well as the
Religion Laws of Russia
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Azerbaijan (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Religion Laws have been strongly criticised by human rights defenders for
not complying with legally-binding international human rights obligations.
Plenipotentiary Rumak stated in his justification of the new Law that the
regime wants, among other things, to: prevent officials from using their
official position to influence people over their religious views; to ban
religious communities from using any symbols apart from religious symbols;
to ban the use of texts and images inciting religious discord and hatred;
and ban "the activity of religious communities directed against the
sovereignty of the Republic of Belarus, its constitutional system and civic
accord".
Regime claims draft Law "does not affect" international human rights
obligations
In November 2018, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee stated in
its Concluding Observations on Belarus (CCPR/C/BLR/CO/5
(https://www.undocs.org/en/CCP
guarantee the effective exercise of the freedom of religion in law and in
practice, including by repealing the requirement of mandatory State
registration of religious communities, and should refrain from any action
that may restrict that freedom beyond the narrowly construed restrictions
permitted under article 18 ["Freedom of thought, conscience and religion"]
of the Covenant [the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
– ICCPR]." The permissible restrictions are outlined in the Human Rights
Committee's General Comment 22 (https://undocs.org/CCPR/C/21/
on ICCPR Article 18.
Yet where Plenipotentiary Rumak's justification talks about "compliance of
the draft with international treaties and other international legal acts",
it falsely claims that "the subject matter of the Draft Law does not affect
the international treaties of the Republic of Belarus and international
legal acts, in particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of
1948, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966,
etc".
The man who answered Plenipotentiary Rumak's phone – who refused to give
his name – also refused to explain why Rumak made his demonstrably false
claim, and refused to discuss the content of the draft Law. "We don't
comment on the draft Law," he told Forum 18 on 13 June 2023 and then put
the phone down.
"Playing on the formal appearance of legality"
Many people concerned about the impact of the proposed new Religion Law on
freedom of religion or belief did not want to publicly criticise the new
Law. "We don't speak out with criticism publicly," one individual told
Forum 18 after the text of the draft Law was published, "as you could end
up facing criminal responsibility."
Human rights defender and Orthodox priest Fr Aleksandr Shramko – who now
lives in Lithuania – regards the proposed new Law as part of the
continuing regime crackdown on society. "It adopts new laws, corrects old
ones - everything in order to somehow extinguish any pockets of not only
possible resistance, but also any uncontrolled life," he wrote on the
Christian Vision website on 13 June
(https://belarus2020.churchby.
"All this looks somewhat absurd on the part of the authorities, which are
'not living by the law'. But after all, animals also want to be like
people, playing on the formal appearance of legality."
Fr Shramko says that the regime's religious policy "is characterised by a
wary attitude towards religion and the desire to keep it in maximum
isolation from society".
Fr Shramko argues that new provisions in the proposed new Law "are mainly
aimed at strengthening the strictness of these provisions and placing the
activities of religious communities under the maximum control of the state,
up to demands to conform to the regime's ideology and policies".
Most members of religious communities Forum 18 spoke to were cautious in
commenting on the proposed new Law, saying that the consequences will only
become clear once it is implemented. "It's too early to say what results it
will have," the pastor of a Pentecostal Church who wished to remain
anonymous for fear of state reprisals told Forum 18 on 8 June. "It depends
on law enforcement practices."
Some human rights defenders who have worked on freedom of religion or
belief issues dismissed the importance of the proposed new Law. One pointed
out that given the regime's general crackdown on exercising all human
rights, a harsher new Law "is not so important". "The situation is so bad
anyway that this will not change it dramatically," the individual told
Forum 18.
The Catholic Bishops' Conference published its comments on the proposed new
Law on its website late on 12 June. It noted that the proposed new Religion
Law "establishes new, fundamentally changing existing approaches" to
government regulation in the field of the right to freedom of conscience
and religion.
"Religious communities of the Catholic Church in Belarus may face certain
difficulties in implementing some of the new provisions of the proposed
law," the Bishops' Conference added, "which could complicate the dynamics
of state-confessional relations in our state."
The Belarusian Orthodox Church is among many religious communities which
appear to have made no public comments. "Given the particular importance of
the draft Law under discussion," it noted on its website on 13 June, "many
clergy and laypeople sent their substantiated comments and suggestions on
its text to the Belarusian Orthodox Church." It added that all these
comments "will be taken into account" and sent to the Plenipotentiary.
A number of religious communities say they are still studying the proposed
new Law. The Baptist Union is considering it and will present any
"observations or suggestions" directly to Plenipotentiary Rumak, its Deputy
Head Aleksandr Branovitsky told Forum 18 on 9 June.
Similarly, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(commonly known as Mormons) told Forum 18 that the community's lawyers are
still studying the draft new Law.
Some religious leaders maintained to Forum 18 that the proposed new Law
might change little compared to the current Law. "We don't know what
version of the Law will be adopted and how it will function," the Head of
the Lutheran community in Grodno Igor Grigus told Forum 18 on 8 June.
"Maybe it will even be easier for autonomous religious communities to
invite foreigners (https://www.forum18.org/archi
The Pentecostal Pastor stated that "though the new Law is focused on
restrictive measures, it consolidates current practices, and some wording
is even better than in the previous law."
Compulsory state permission to exercise freedom of religion or belief
remains
The proposed new Law would continue to require all religious communities to
gain state registration before they are allowed to operate. Article 16
would specifically ban "the activity of unregistered religious
organisations." The current Law states
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
religious communities which may "unobstructed" exercise their freedom of
religion and belief are state-registered religious communities within
state-approved places of worship or other venues.
Any activity by unregistered or liquidated religious communities can lead
to prosecution under Criminal Code Article 193-1. This punishes
"organisation of or participation in activity by an unregistered political
party, foundation, civil or religious organisation" with a fine or
imprisonment for up to two years. Article 193-1 was removed from the
Criminal Code in July 2019, but was restored almost unchanged
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
The ban on and punishment for exercising freedom of religion or belief
without state permission is against international law, as outlined in the
OSCE / Council of Europe Venice Commission Guidelines on the Legal
Personality of Religious or Belief Communities
(https://www.osce.org/files/f/
"State permission may not be made a condition for the exercise of the
freedom of religion or belief. The freedom of religion or belief, whether
manifested alone or in community with others, in public or in private,
cannot be made subject to prior registration or other similar procedures,
since it belongs to human beings and communities as rights holders and does
not depend on official authorization."
A member of the Council of Churches Baptists – who do not seek state
permission to exercise freedom of religion or belief – insisted to Forum
18 on 12 June that their communities "will carry on doing what we do"
regardless of what new Law is adopted.
On 2 June, a judge fined Council of Churches Baptist Vladimir Burshtyn –
who is in his 70s – over a month's average pension for an outdoor meeting
in Drogichin (https://www.forum18.org/archi
fellow Baptists to share their faith.
Compulsory re-registration requirement
Article 3 of concluding provisions to the proposed new Law would require
all registered religious communities to bring their statutes into line with
the provisions of the new Law and apply for re-registration within one
year. It appears that if religious communities fail to get the compulsory
re-registration, all their activity would become illegal.
Compulsory re-registration linked with denials of communities' existing
legal status is illegal under international law. As the OSCE / Council of
Europe Venice Commission Guidelines on the Legal Personality of Religious
or Belief Communities
(https://www.osce.org/files/f/
where new provisions to the system governing access to legal personality of
religious or belief communities are introduced, adequate transition rules
should guarantee the rights of existing communities. Where laws operate
retroactively .. (for example, requiring reapplication for legal
personality status under newly-introduced criteria), the state is under a
duty to show that such restrictions are compliant with the criteria set out
in Part I of these Guidelines." (Part 1 outlines the permissible
restrictions on the freedom of religion or belief, which do not include
arbitrary demands to re-register communities.)
Religious communities are the second group of organisations (after
political parties, which had to apply to be re-registered by June 2023)
that are being required to undergo "total re-registration", Lawtrend Centre
for Legal Transformation pointed out
(https://www.lawtrend.org/engl
Political parties also had to apply for re-registration within one year.
After the 2002 Religion Law
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
religious communities were given two years until November 2004
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
re-registration. The regime at that time obstructed many religious
communities' attempts to seek state registration.
As of 1 January 2023, according to the Plenipotentiary's Office, 3,590
religious communities had state registration, 3,417 individual communities
and 173 larger communities.
Almost every religious leader Forum 18 spoke to pointed out that many
religious communities will face problems with re-registration. Exiled
Orthodox priest Fr Aleksandr Shramko fears that when religious communities
apply for re-registration, "those objectionable to the authorities may not
get through".
"Our community in Minsk which is in the process of registration might have
a problem as it is not numerous and it is difficult to find more members,"
the head of the Lutheran community in Grodno Igor Grigus told Forum 18.
The leader of the Religious Board of Muslims in Belarus, Ali Voronovich,
commented that in many places it may be impossible to find the required
number of members to register a community. "Many communities in villages
and small towns will cease to exist, and it does not concern only Muslim
communities," he told Forum 18 on 8 June.
The member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also
expressed concern about registration provisions. "It might be a problem not
only for us."
Even tighter registration restrictions
Article 13 of the proposed new Law would continue to require leaders of
registered religious communities to be Belarusian citizens, but would add
that they must also be permanent residents of Belarus.
Individuals who are on either the "List of organisations and individuals
involved in terrorist activities" or the "List of citizens of the Republic
of Belarus, foreign citizens or stateless persons involved in extremist
activities"
(https://humanconstanta.org/en
would be banned from being leaders or founders of registered religious
organisations.
The regime maintains multiple similar lists targeting anyone, any
organisation, any document, any communication, or any website the regime
dislikes, such as the "Republican List of Extremist Materials"
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Article 16 would require registered religious communities to notify the
registering authority of the appointment of a new leader within 10 days.
Depending on the type of religious community (eg. national religious
organisations, monasteries, etc.) the registering authority is either the
Plenipotentiary's Office or local administrations.
Religious communities (the lowest level of registered religious
organisation) would have to supply with a registration application not only
their statute, but a certificate confirming a place to conduct their
activity (which can be difficult in small towns and villages). They would
also need to submit a list of the 20 or more founding members, with each
one's date of birth, citizenship, address, place of work or study, phone
number and signature.
Many people are reluctant to provide such information to a regime which
commits serious human rights violations
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
rules.
As the OSCE / Council of Europe Venice Commission Guidelines on the Legal
Personality of Religious or Belief Communities
(https://www.osce.org/files/f/
procedure that provides religious or belief communities with access to
legal personality status should not set burdensome requirements. Examples
of burdensome requirements that are not justified under international law
include, but are not limited to, the following: that the registration
application be signed by all members of the religious organization and
contain their full names, dates of birth and places of residence."
The proposed new Law does not refer to religious communities which have
fewer than the required 20 adult citizen members to lodge a registration
application.
Religious communities have to in their application provide extensive
information with their registration application if they were "previously
unknown in Belarus". This would include the origin and "worship practice"
of their faith, as well as their attitude to the family and marriage, the
health of their followers, and the "carrying out of state obligations".
Applications from such communities would be sent to the Plenipotentiary's
Office for a religious studies "expert analysis", which could last up to
six months.
The UN Human Rights Committee's General Comment 22
(https://undocs.org/CCPR/C/21/
thought, conscience and religion") of the ICCPR states that the Committee
"views with concern any tendency to discriminate against any religion or
belief for any reasons, including the fact that they are newly
established."
The OSCE / Council of Europe Venice Commission Guidelines on the Legal
Personality of Religious or Belief Communities
(https://www.osce.org/files/f/
must respect the autonomy of religious or belief communities when
fulfilling its obligation to provide them with access to legal personality.
.. states should observe their obligations by ensuring that national law
leaves it to the religious or belief community itself to decide on .. the
substantive content of its beliefs .. In particular, the state should
refrain from a substantive as opposed to a formal review of the statute and
character of a religious organization."
Higher level organisations are divided into national and regional religious
communities, which would both require registration by the Plenipotentiary's
Office.
Article 15 would require national religious communities to have at least 15
member communities in all seven regions of the country (compared to 10 in
the current Law), at least one of which had had state registration for at
least 30 years. In his justification, Plenipotentiary Rumak states that an
aim of the new Law is to change the registration procedure "limiting
through this the possibility to create a nationwide registered religious
organisation". He did not explain why the state aims to limit the number of
communities eligible to apply for national religious organisation status.
This parallels the 2023 Political Parties and other Public Associations
Law, which makes it significantly harder to form such groups
(https://csometer.info/updates
especially nationwide.
Regional religious communities would have to have at least 10 religious
communities in one or several neighbouring regions.
Only national or regional organisations would have the right to found
monasteries, missions and religious educational establishments, which would
themselves require state registration.
"Extremism"
Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and
protection of
human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, noted in
her January 2020 report (A/HRC/43/46/Add.1
(https://undocs.org/A/HRC/43/4
counter-terrorism and extremism regimes provide excessive leeway to the
authorities to target and silence those who peacefully question the
established order, including various civil society actors, human rights
defenders, trade unionists, journalists, bloggers, and members of
marginalized communities or of communities legitimately exercising their
religious freedoms. The overwhelming focus on extremism has no
justification under international law."
Ní Aoláin's February 2020 general report on Human rights impact of
policies and practices aimed at preventing and countering violent extremism
(A/HRC43/46 (https://undocs.org/A/HRC/43/4
that all "States that regulate 'extremism' in their laws, policy,
programmes or practice should repeal such provisions, which have no
purchase in international law, and domestic law must comply with the
principles of legality, necessity and proportionality."
The proposed new Law makes wide use of the term "extremist", a term widely
used in other laws
(https://www.article19.org/wp-
as banned Belarusian human rights group Human Constanta noted on 5 June,
along with international human rights groups Access Now, Article 19, and
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT).
"The corpus of Belarusian 'anti-extremism' laws lacks sufficient precision
and grants the authorities unfettered discretion to restrict the freedom of
expression and other human rights," the human rights groups noted in a
submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in
Belarus, Anaïs Marin.
The regime labels an extraordinarily wide range of activity as "extremist".
Human Constanta regularly documents such cases, its most recent January –
March 2023 overview
(https://humanconstanta.org/en
including the administrator of a social media group being jailed for three
years for distributing educational information about the Belarusian
language.
Among such cases, a Greek Catholic news website and a YouTube interview
with a Catholic priest who fled to neighbouring Poland in 2021 to escape
prosecution are among religious items banned by local courts as "extremist"
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
added to the Information Ministry's "Republican List of Extremist
Materials" (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Deputy Information Minister Igor Buzovsky, who is also Deputy Chair of the
"Republican Expert Commission for the Evaluation of Symbols, Attributes,
and Information Products for the presence (or absence) in them of signs of
Extremism", insisted to Forum 18 in January 2023
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
exclusively on the basis of the law."
However, Buzovsky refused to discuss the banning of the Tsarkva Greek
Catholic website or other religious publications. "You speak about one
website – I wouldn't want to talk from memory. You need to apply
officially." He refused to discuss anything else about why religious
publications are banned and put the phone down.
New powers for regime to inspect and monitor religious communities
There is currently surveillance by the KGB secret police of religious
believers (https://www.forum18.org/archi
monitoring of and restrictions on religious communities by the
Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs and other state agencies.
Article 40 of the proposed new Law would continue explicit state
surveillance of whether registered religious communities are abiding by the
law. Such control would continue to be enacted by the Plenipotentiary's
Office and local administrations.
The proposed new Law would require local administrations to establish
commissions to check whether religious communities are abiding by the law.
The Plenipotentiary's Office would prepare a standard statute for such
commissions.
The proposed new Law would give registering authorities (Plenipotentiary's
Office or local administrations) extensive rights to inspect religious
communities. This would include: demanding any documents they wished to
see, including documents "confirming the number of their founders"; and
"sending its representatives to be present at events, religious rites or in
religious Sunday schools conducted by religious organisations".
Registering bodies could bring "measures of responsibility under the law"
as a result of what they find in their inspections.
Article 27 bans missionary activity and materials "contradicting the law
and the ideology of the Belarusian state". The "ideology of the Belarusian
state" is not explained.
In his justification, Plenipotentiary Rumak says that the new Law would
"strengthen the rights for registering bodies [the Plenipotentiary's Office
and local administrations] to inspect the activity of religious communities
under their statutes" to determine whether it is accord with the Religion
Law. Rumak notes that the new Law would widen religious communities'
responsibility for violations of the Law, including over "carrying out
extremist activity and attempts to revive Nazism, or illegal missionary
activity".
Greater "legal" possibilities for state to forcibly close religious
communities
A failure to correct a "violation" within six months or a repeated
"violation" within a year would continue to allow officials to go to court
to liquidate (in effect ban) a religious community. Even before any court
liquidation hearing, officials could suspend the religious community's
activity which would make anything it did illegal. Such a suspension cannot
be legally challenged.
In his justification, Plenipotentiary Rumak stresses the widening of the
possibility for the state to liquidate registered religious communities and
thus render any activity by them illegal. He says the new draft takes into
account cases of such liquidations:
- "for the failure of their activity to be in accord with the basic
directions of internal and external policy, the conception of national
security,
- the failure to provide reports on multiple occasions (twice or more)
within the established timeframe on changes in data which should be entered
in the State Register of Religious Organisations,
- the failure to eliminate within six months violations which have led to a
written warning,
- or the committing of repeated violations within a year of the issuing of
such a warning."
Article 43 specifies that violations of the Religion Law would continue to
lead to punishment. It specifies a far wider range of activities that would
lead to punishment than in the current Law. These would include "carrying
out extremist activity and activity directed at the rehabilitation of
Nazism", as well as "carrying out missionary activity with violations of
the demands set out in the present Law".
Plenipotentiary Rumak's accompanying justification for the proposed new Law
states that various other laws will need to be changed if the new Religion
Law is adopted. However, he does not name among these laws either the
Criminal Code or the Administrative Code.
Continuing restrictions on religious literature, items
Article 23 of the proposed new Law would give the Plenipotentiary the right
to commission a religious studies "expert analysis" of any religious
literature or items "with the aim of preventing the distribution of
religious literature or other materials containing information inciting
ethnic, religious or racial hatred and other extremist manifestations".
This would largely continue the existing compulsory prior state censorship
of and restrictions on the distribution of most religious literature and
objects (https://www.forum18.org/archi
in parallel with the threat of banning texts or websites as allegedly
"extremist".
A new provision is that educational establishments would be banned from
including religious literature in their libraries. Under the current
Religion Law (https://www.forum18.org/archi
educational establishments can put religious books in their libraries if it
has undergone censorship by the Plenipotentiary's Office.
"The question arises - will there be removals of Bibles, Korans and other
sacred books from university libraries?" the Catholic Bishops' Conference
notes in its comments on the proposed new Law.
Article 28 would allow only registered religious communities to produce,
import, export or distribute "religious literature, other printed, audio-
and video-materials, as well as other objects of religious significance."
The Council of Ministers would draw up a list of such "objects of religious
significance".
Religious literature, audio and video materials "must not contradict the
ideology of the Belarusian state or contain propaganda of war, social,
ethnic, religious or racial hatred and other extremist activity". The
"ideology of the Belarusian state" is not explained.
As at present (https://www.forum18.org/archi
religious communities would have to present all imported religious
literature or materials "for conducting missionary and other non-cult
activity" to the Plenipotentiary's Office for it to decide whether to
commission a religious studies "expert analysis". All such literature or
materials would continue to be required to include the full name of the
registered religious and its religious affiliation.
Only religious communities would continue to be allowed to distribute
printed, audio and video materials on religion and would continue to be
allowed to do so only on their premises or, if they get permission from
local administrations, in other premises.
The Catholic Bishops' Conference commented that these restrictions on
distribution "put religious literature in a discriminatory position
compared to other literature that can be distributed through specialised
bookshops".
Commercial organisations would continue to be banned from publishing
religious literature or from producing items to be used in religious
worship.
Religious education to be restricted, under regime surveillance
Article 10 of the proposed new Law would impose new restrictions on
religious education of children and adults. Registered religious
communities could provide such education only if it is in their statutes
and only in premises they own or rent, unless those rented premises are
owned by educational establishments, or organisations and business people
providing education.
"This could put in a difficult position both rural parishes and
recently-formed urban communities building their own buildings in new urban
areas," 15 June comments signed by "Grodno Diocese of the Belarusian
Orthodox Church" below the draft Law on the government's legal website
note.
The religious education of adults, young people, and children, as well as
related materials, must not "contradict the ideology of generally accepted
traditional values of the Belarusian state or justify the propaganda of
war, social, ethnic or religious hatred". The "ideology of the Belarusian
state" is not explained.
Children could only take part in these classes with a signed application
from parents or guardians.
Religious communities would be required to report to the authorities where
they are registered by 31 October each year on "the religious education of
children attending religious Sunday schools" in the form to be prescribed
by the Education Ministry and the Plenipotentiary.
In his justification, Plenipotentiary Rumak also explains the new
requirements for religious communities to report to the state annually on
religious classes for children. "This will allow the more effective control
over the activity of religious Sunday schools of religious communities and,
at the same time, to gain information about their practical work," he
wrote.
Article 41 of the proposed new Law would expand the grounds for official
written warnings to religious communities to warn those that fail to
provide reports on religious classes for children.
The provisions covering religious education in the proposed new Law "reveal
the regime's wariness towards any uncontrolled influence on minds,
especially of the youth", exiled Orthodox priest Fr Shramko noted.
The Catholic Bishops' Conference expressed concern that applications from
parents or guardians for children to attend religion classes held by
religious communities, could be subject to inspection by officials. "An
obligation could be placed in future on religious communities to provide
the controlling agencies lists of named children who are studying, with the
attached applications from parents," it noted. This would force parents and
children to reveal any religious affiliation, it added, which is illegal
under international human rights law.
As the UN Human Rights Committee's General Comment 22
(https://undocs.org/CCPR/C/21/
thought, conscience and religion") states: "No one can be compelled to
reveal his thoughts or adherence to a religion or belief."
Officials would have the right to attend and observe religious education
classes for children. The Catholic Bishops' Conference calls this right
"unnecessary and unconstructive", especially if carried out without prior
agreement and without the approval of religious leaders.
Fr Yuri Sanko, the spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops' Conference, told
Forum 18 on 13 June that officials – mainly from local Executive
Committees - have already demanded to know how many children are studying
in religious education classes, but have not so far demanded the names of
those children or their parents.
Regime inspections of Catholic parishes took place from March 2021,
sometimes followed by prosecutions of priests. Prosecutors, as well as
officials from local Ideology Departments at the request of prosecutors,
demanded reports from priests, catechetical plans and other internal
information (https://www.forum18.org/archi
parish life.
Religious education of children and adults would have to be in the state
languages (Belarusian or Russian). The Catholic Bishops' Conference points
out that as Belarus is a multi-ethnic state, this provision would deny
ethnic minorities the right to teach their faith in their native language.
Separating religious communities from involvement with wider society
Neither the proposed new Law nor Plenipotentiary Aleksandr Rumak's
justification specifically refer to attempts to prevent registered
religious communities from involvement with wider society. However, several
proposed provisions appear designed to ensure this. Many of these
provisions are vaguely worded, which would allow officials to arbitrarily
decide whether or not a religious community's activity should lead to
liquidation or punishment.
Article 8 would include the provision: "In places of worship, it is not
allowed to use any symbols, except for religious ones, to hold meetings,
rallies, picketing, election campaigning and other mass events, including
political ones, propaganda of war, social, ethnic, religious and racial
hatred, as well as speeches and appeals insulting representatives of state
authorities, officials and individual citizens, and representatives of
other faiths and their followers."
Article 8 of the proposed new Law would ban the activity of religious
communities or their representatives "which are directed against the
sovereignty of the Republic of Belarus, its constitutional system and civic
accord, or are accompanied by violations of the rights and freedom of
individuals, as well as obstructing the carrying out by individuals of
their state, public and family obligations or cause harm to their health or
morals".
"Cult property" cannot be used for purposes other than those set out in a
registered religious community's statute, "including for political aims, as
well as for terrorist and other extremist activity".
Among the reasons for the state to go to court to liquidate a registered
religious community listed in Article 24 would be carrying out "extremist"
activity, as well as "failure of the activity of religious communities to
comply with the basic directions of internal and external policy, and the
concept of national security".
As the UN Human Rights Committee's General Comment 22
(https://undocs.org/CCPR/C/21/
national security is not a permissible reason to limit freedom of religion
or belief.
Article 43 lists activity by religious communities that leads to
punishment, including "carrying out extremist activity and activity
directed at the rehabilitation of Nazism". Alleged and evidence-free claims
of "Nazism" are used by the regime to attack anything it dislikes
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
against the regime's election fraud.
"I don't understand why Nazism, extremism and prohibited symbols are
mentioned in the Law," the Pentecostal Pastor told Forum 18. "It is
difficult to say what the Church has to do with these notions."
The regime has tried to stop individuals and religious communities singing
the hymn Mighty God (https://www.forum18.org/archi
(Mahutny Bozha in Belarusian), claiming falsely that it is linked to
Nazism. The hymn dates back to the 1940s and was unsuccessfully proposed as
a new national anthem in 1995.
Since August 2020 the hymn has often been sung by protestors against the
regime's election falsification and violence. Catholic Bishop Bishop Yuri
Kasabutsky asked in July 2021: "So what's wrong with our favourite
religious hymn?" He added that the hymn "has become a prayer used in the
worship of Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants, and recently this hymn is
sung by people who do not identify with any religion."
In April 2022, police warned Orthodox priest Fr Andrei Nozdrin and his
church transferred him to a remote parish after he publicly opposed
Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine, Belarus' role in this, and his
congregation sang the hymn Mighty God. Police "questioned me about my
statements regarding Ukraine and why we sing Mighty God in the church. They
even talked to my neighbours and friends but found no criminal wrongdoing,"
Fr Nozdrin told Forum 18 in May 2022. He was also threatened with
prosecution under Criminal Code Article 130-1 ("Rehabilitation of Nazism").
Fr Nozdrin pointed out that everyone knew that in his sermons and elsewhere
he always insisted that: "a Christian cannot say that what's going on in
Ukraine is good (https://www.forum18.org/archi
should understand that killing is a sin." He maintains that he will
continue to teach these Christian principles.
New restrictions on religious charity
Article 30 of the proposed new Law would allow registered religious
communities to conduct "charitable and social activity". They would be
allowed to establish children's homes with local administration approval.
However, when describing legal entities or sub-divisions a registered
religious can establish for charitable work, the draft lists only such
entities "for social services to elderly people, invalids and the social
rehabilitation of individuals dependent on psychoactive substances". It
appears that religious communities would not therefore be allowed to
establish groups to conduct charitable activity with other groups of people
in need.
The current Law does not impose such limits, but this has not stopped the
regime blocking and closing religious-based charitable and other social
justice initiatives.
In January 2022, the Presidential Administration's Humanitarian Activity
Department refused to allow a Protestant Church in Vitebsk Region to get a
shipment of humanitarian aid
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
wheelchairs, clothes, footwear and furniture) sent from other parts of
Europe.
In early 2021, the Humanitarian Activity Department refused to allow the
Minsk Catholic Archdiocese's charity Caritas to accept foreign money
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
to help poor and homeless people. The project aimed to support about 700
people in need with food, as well as plants and animals to grow for food.
In February 2013, the regime stripped legal status from the House of Mary
shelter (https://www.forum18.org/archi
homeless people, run by young Catholic layman Aleksei Shchedrov in his home
village. After police visits, he was forced to close the shelter
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Full reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Belarus
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
For more background, see Forum 18's Belarus religious freedom survey
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Forum 18's compilation of for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
freedom of religion or belief commitments
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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