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European Union is opposed to adopting law on religions

Agence Europe(27.08.2002)/ HRWF International Secretariat (02.09.2002) Website http://www.hrwf.net - Email info@hrwf.net -  - On Monday 26 August, the Danish EU Presidency issued the following declaration on behalf of the European Union:

"The European Union reiterates its wish to welcome Belarus among the democratic states in Europe. However the EU is seriously concerned about the situation on human rights and democracy in the country. The EU is concerned about the draft of the law "On freedom of conscience and religious organisations" which was approved on June 27 by the House of Representatives to be submitted later to the Council of the Republic for final approval. If the said law receives final approval this will further weaken the freedom of conscience in Belarus. The EU is concerned that the draft law will open up for discrimination of religious communities by dividing religions according to their "value" with respect to Belarus, that it will provide a basis for censorship by demanding religious literature to be submitted to Belarusian authorities before distribution, and that it will be a means to government control of religious organisations and make them subject to sanctions for which circumstances are not clearly defined. It is questionable whether the law - if approved - would be in accordance with international agreements to which Belarus has subscribed. The European Union encourages the Council of the Republic not to approve the law in question. The Central and Eastern European countries associated with the EU, the associated countries Cyprus, Malta and Turkey, and the EFTA countries, members of the European Economic Area align themselves with this declaration".

Belarus

Police in Belarus arrest Hindu protesters

AP(22.08.2002)/  HRWF International Secretariat (02.09.2002) Website http://www.hrwf.net - Email info@hrwf.net -  Police in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, have arrested members of a Hindu group who protested alleged religious persecution, Russian news agencies reported.

Reports said 10 to 13 members of the Shiva Society were arrested. Belarus authorities could not be reached for comment. In mid-July, another 17 Hindus were arrested.

Hindus oppose a bill passed by the lower house of parliament prohibiting religious groups with less than 20 years' presence in Belarus from publishing literature or establishing missions, and banning organized prayer by denominations with less than 20 Belarusian citizens.

Orthodox churches complain that other religions are poaching converts among people who historically would have been Orthodox adherents.

Belarus

Krishna community to challenge registration denial

Keston Institute (12.08.2002)/ HRWF International Secretariat (02.09.2002) Website http://www.hrwf.net - Email info@hrwf.net -  Belarus' small Hare Krishna community is preparing a legal challenge to the long-standing refusal by the authorities to register a headquarter organisation. Without such registration, a leading community member told Keston News Service, the community cannot invite leaders from abroad and is thus denied contact with its spiritual teachers. If the headquarters is not registered
before Belarus' proposed new law on religion is adopted, registration will become impossible. The new law - which returns to the upper house of parliament after 3 October - would make it illegal for groups without a registered headquarters to provide religious education, conduct charitable activity or publish or import religious literature.

Source: http://www.keston.org

Belarus

Independent Orthodox Church Bulldozed

Keston Institute (12.08.2002)/ HRWF International Secretariat (02.09.2002) Website http://www.hrwf.net - Email info@hrwf.net -   Today (2 August) was to have been the day the Autocephalous Orthodox church in the village of Pahranichny close to Belarus' western border with Poland was consecrated. Instead, at 8 pm on 1 August, the village was surrounded by troops in camouflage uniforms, all roads were blocked off and the church was destroyed, Keston News Service has learned. The Autocephalous Orthodox Church has repeatedly been denied registration in Belarus, and various officials have described the Church to Keston as a "non-existent religious group", despite the fact that it has some 70 parishes in the country. The demolition is the first case known to Keston in any of the former Soviet republics outside Central Asia where a place of worship has been deliberately destroyed to prevent religious activity taking place.

Source: http://www.keston.org