6 August 2007

MOLDOVA: Will new Religion Law end arbitrary legal status denials?

Moldova's new Religion Law, now awaiting promulgation, may end the state's arbitrary denials of registration, and hence legal status, to religious communities it dislikes. These include all Muslims, smaller Orthodox Churches and many Protestant Churches, and has led to two large fines being imposed on Moldova by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. But some have told Forum 18 News Service that they are sceptical. Serghei Ostaf of the Resource Centre for Human Rights told Forum 18 that "I fear there will be problems. Nothing functions in Moldova as it is supposed to. Officials are very creative in finding obstructions, when they don't want to do something." Without legal status, religious communities cannot carry out a wide range of peaceful religious activities. Ostaf fears officials will pressure members of disfavoured religious communities not to sign registration applications. "Leaders of one Muslim community told me their members are already being pressured not to take part in religious activity."

3 August 2007

MOLDOVA: Religion Law again with President, but concerns remain

Moldovan religious minorities have told Forum 18 News Service of their concerns over the "special importance and leading role" the new Religion Law gives the Russian Orthodox Church. This "will be used to justify measures against other faiths," Valeriu Ghiletchi of the Baptist Union stated. There are also concerns about the Law's controversial ban on "abusive proselytism," which many fear could be misused. Serghei Ostaf of the Resource Centre for Human Rights told Forum 18 that "Abusive proselytism is a very strange concept which will limit freedom of expression." After the Law was initially vetoed by President Vladimir Voronin it has now been revised by Parliament and sent back to him. The President initially refused to approve the Law and made several demands, including that the Law require that "the state must have special cooperative relations with the traditional Orthodox Church", and that a provision authorising "spreading faith" be removed. These points were accepted.

16 May 2007

MOLDOVA: Controversial Religion Law suddenly rushed through Parliament

Religious minorities have told Forum 18 News Service of concerns over provisions that might still be in Moldova's long-promised new Religion Law, which has been suddenly rushed through its final reading in Parliament. No-one will be able to read the Law until it has been promulgated by the President and published in the Official Monitor. But Christian Democrat deputy Stefan Secareanu, who chaired the committee which prepared the draft Law, rejected suggestions that the Law has been adopted without proper consultation. "Let people who want to read the text be patient," he told Forum 18. Religious minorities' concerns, apart from the secrecy of the final text, focus on the ban on "abusive proselytism" and the impossibility of religious communities with fewer than 100 adult members gaining legal status. In sharp contrast, members of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moldova complain that the Law does not restrict freedom of thought, conscience and belief enough.

8 March 2007

MOLDOVA: Why does the government violate religious freedom?

Despite the latest judgement by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg against the Moldovan government, for refusing to grant legal status to the True Orthodox Church, Moldovan human rights activists have told Forum 18 News Service that they are sceptical that the situation will improve. Vladislav Gribincea, of Lawyers for Human Rights, told Forum 18 that the State Service for Religious Denominations "doesn't want to" register any other religious communities. "It needs political will to change this, and I don't think it is there." Sergei Ostaf, of the Resource Centre for Human Rights, insisted that "the system needs urgent reform to bring it into line with international standards." The Bessarabian Church – which won an ECtHR judgement in its favour in 2001 – has written to the ECtHR to complain about continued refusal to register individual parishes, as well as lodging two separate ECtHR cases about continued state violations of its right to religious freedom.

8 March 2007

MOLDOVA: Government fined again by ECtHR for legal status denial

Five years after a December 2001 fine by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg, for denying legal status to the Bessarabian Orthodox Church, the Moldovan government has once again been heavily fined for refusing to grant legal status to a religious community – this time the Moldovan True Orthodox Church. The State Service for Religious Denominations repeatedly refused to register the Church, despite repeated Moldovan court orders to do so. No state official – whether at the State Service, the Justice Ministry, the Foreign Ministry or the Moldovan representation to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg - was prepared to discuss with Forum 18 News Service the reasons for the state's refusal to register the True Orthodox Church, the local branch of the Orthodox Kiev Patriarchate, various Muslim communities and numerous Protestant churches. As Moldova persists in refusing to register religious communities, this is unlikely to be the last time that the ECtHR fines the government for this type of religious freedom violation.

26 January 2007

MOLDOVA: New Religion Law to be passed in early February?

Moldova's long-promised new Religion Law may be passed by Parliament on 9 February, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. However, the draft Law has provisions which cause concern to religious minorities, including a lack of clarity about how many members will be needed to get legal status, and what the definitions of "abusive proselytism" - which is to be forbidden - and "religious hatred" - which registered religious communities are to be protected from - are. Amongst other provisions causing concern is that registered religious communities are to have the "exclusive right" to publish or import religious literature. Serghei Ostaf of the Resource Centre for Human Rights has complained to Forum 18 of the "closed, non-transparent process" of adopting the Law. The Moldovan government has refused to allow a Council of Europe assessment of the Law to be made public, and has not told the Council of Europe whether its comments have been incorporated into the draft Law.

24 January 2007

MOLDOVA: Arbitrary legal status denials continue

In Moldova, all Muslim organisations, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) which is not part of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Orthodox Kiev Patriarchate and a variety of Protestant congregations, have complained to Forum 18 News Service about arbitrary state denials of their right to legal status. The State Service for Religious Communities has even defied court orders to register specific denominations. The only religious community known to have gained registration in recent years is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as the Mormons), who only received legal status after five US Senators wrote to Moldova's President. "Many things in Moldova happen only because of foreign pressure," Serghei Ostaf of the Chisinau-based Resource Centre for Human Rights told Forum 18. "It is bad if those without important voices abroad can't get justice." Without legal status, religious communities are denied the legal possibility of a wide variety of normal activities.

1 August 2006

MOLDOVA: Is children's camp "normal" or "unsanitary"?

After attempts by health officials and police with guns and truncheons to close a children's camp, Baptists have denied to Forum 18 News Service claims that the camp is "unsanitary." "The authorities say there are bad conditions for the children at the camp – after they themselves cut off the water," Baptist leader Ivan Fonaryuk told Forum 18. But local Mayor Iurie Onofrichuk claimed that "there's the danger of an epidemic." The children's camp has been running since 2002, and has had good relations with the local Sanitary Epidemiological Service. A German Baptist at the camp told Forum 18 that "compared with homes and other facilities in the district there is no great difference – or perhaps the camp is better." The appointment of a new local health official marked the start of the Baptist's problems – despite a senior police official, who inspected the camp, reporting that conditions are "normal". Police are currently posted at the gates, to try to stop Baptists entering. It remains unclear why local authorities are this year trying to close the camp.

25 April 2006

UKRAINE: "Uncanonical and diabolical schismatics shouldn't exist"

Fr Anatol Curtev, a priest of the Bessarabian Metropolitanate of the Romanian Orthodox Church, is sceptical that the authorities will protect him and his parish in the village of Kamyshovka in the far south-west of Ukraine from violence. He and his parishioners claimed to Forum 18 News Service that the village's Russian Orthodox priest Fr Aleksei Grecu hit him on the head just before they started their separate liturgies on 12 March to mark the Sunday of Orthodoxy, and that Fr Grecu organised a brutal attack on him in the station of the nearby town of Izmail on 12 April. "It's a complete lie – I didn't hit him [Fr Curtev] or organise the attack," Fr Grecu told Forum 18, but admitted he was interviewed by police. "But if he's doing evil, what are we supposed to do? They're uncanonical and diabolical schismatics who shouldn't exist on Ukrainian territory." Fr Grecu dismissed any idea that the Bessarabian parish has any religious freedom rights. "We're not for democracy – we're Orthodox."

26 July 2005

MOLDOVA: Government "should register Muslims", says OSCE

The State Service for Religious Communities defied the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in refusing to register a Muslim community in the capital Chisinau, despite a letter from OSCE ambassador William Hill to deputy prime minister Andrei Stratan. "Moldova should register the Muslim communities, in the same way as other religious communities are registered," Claus Neukirch of the OSCE mission in Moldova told Forum 18 News Service. Bishop Antoni (Rudei) leads the six parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) which is not part of the Moscow Patriarchate in Moldova, which has also been refused registration. He told Forum 18 that since the 6 March elections which saw the return to power of the Communist Party, police agents have been sent to his churches to find out what ROCOR is doing. "This was an excuse to keep us on tenterhooks," the bishop claimed.

21 July 2005

MOLDOVA: Why are Muslim registration applications rejected?

An application for state registration from the Spiritual Organisation of Muslims in Moldova has once again been rejected, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Without registration, religious communities cannot have a bank account, publish literature, or build a prominent place of worship. The Muslim community has been trying since 2000 to gain legal status, and has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) which is not part of the Moscow Patriarchate – also denied state registration - has also appealed to the ECtHR. The Bessarabian Orthodox Church, which is under the jurisdiction of the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate, was only registered after the ECtHR fined the government for arbitrarily denying registration. Talgat Masaev, who leads a Muslim community in the capital Chisinau, told Forum 18 that the latest application was lodged on 28 June and rejected on 11 July. Officials have refused to tell Forum 18 the reason for the rejection.

5 May 2005

UKRAINE: Russian hand behind Japanese monk's entry denial?

Ukraine's security police have refused to explain to Forum 18 News Service why Japanese Buddhist monk and teacher Junsei Teresawa was taken off the train from Poland last night (4 May) and refused entry, while his valid visa was cancelled. But security police spokesperson Marina Ostapenko vigorously denied it is because Ukraine is following Russia's secret police entry ban list. "If Ukraine barred him entry he must have done something here," she insisted to Forum 18 News Service. "What's it got to do with Russia?" Teresawa described the ban to Forum 18 as "unjust, unreasonable and unconstitutional".

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