Johnson's Russia List
#5083
9 February 2001
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#13
'Refusal of Registration, Militia Pressure Drives Nontraditional
Religions Underground, Communists 'wish to protect the Orthodox Church'
Obshchaya Gazeta
January 25, 2001
[translation for personal use only]
Article by Yuliya Ignatyeva: "The Age of Freedom of Conscience is
Nowhere to be Seen"
The state is driving tens of thousands of believers underground.
The period for re-registering religious organizations active on the
territory of Russia expired on 31 December last year. In practice this
measure is leading to a division of all believers into "sheep" and
"goats", depending upon the state of relations between their confessions
and the authorities.
Communists in Support of the True Faith
Re-registration is conducted in accordance with the Law on Freedom of
Conscience and Religious Associations that was passed in 1997.
Co-chairman of the Slavonic Legal Center Anatoliy Pchelintsev has called
this document "the worst kind of legal rubbish". He told Obshchaya
Gazeta: "The draft law that we had prepared could have emerged as a most
democratic and legally correct document. But the Communist chairman of
the State Duma profile committee Zorkaltsev suddenly disbanded the
working group and presented the deputies with another text. It is no
secret that this version had been prepared by the Moscow Patriarchate
with the active participation of Metropolitan Kirill".
The draft was passed but the President returned it to the State Duma with
amendments. The removal of obvious legal flaws from the draft law had
failed to improve its substance. The followers of various churches
began to hold meetings in the towns and the leaders of 60 Orthodox
communities not subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow
Patriarchate [ROC MP] announced that the draft was discriminatory.
However nobody had tried to make any secret of this. Communist deputy
Yuriy Belov spoke frankly when attempting to persuade his colleagues to
vote "in favor", saying that "the invasion of diverse sects is an
invasion directed against the ROC. And as Communists we wish to protect
the Orthodox Church".
The authors of the law quite simply deceived the leaders of a number of
large confessions, having obtained their signatures in support of the
draft law in return for a promise that their amendments would be taken
into consideration. The deputies obtained the signatures but there is
no trace of the amendments. Zhirinovskiy was the most energetic and
dutiful campaigner and received written thanks from Aleksey II himself.
Yet the Patriarch ordered that Father Superior Veniamin, a teacher at the
St. Petersburg Ecclesiastical Academy, should be removed from his post
after he send a note to the presidential administration criticizing the
draft law.
Since it came into force the Law has been studied by the Constitutional
Court on two occasions (a unique case!). The Court was extremely
cautious in its assessments, unlike the conclusions of those independent
legal experts who described our law "On Freedom of Conscience" as
antidemocratic. On the basis of their expert examination the United
States introduced the Schmidt Amendment on restricting investments in the
Russian economy.
The New Martyrs
No sooner had the law entered into force in 1997 than the Militia - as
though following orders - began to exert pressure on the followers of
so-called "non-traditional" religions. The directors of cinemas and
houses of culture were forced to tear up rental agreements with
Protestant organizations. Churches in Orthodox parishes that did not
fall under the jurisdiction of the ROC were transferred en masse to the
ownership of the Moscow Patriarchate or the state. Legal proceedings
were frequently preceded by outrageous scenes reminiscent of "demolition
in the Chinese quarter".
The situation had become so bad for the Magadan division of the "Word of
Life" church that 600 believers - driven by the taunts and mockery of the
authorities - decided to emigrate to the United States. During a trial
initiated by the oblast procuracy it emerged that secret video cameras
had been used to film divine services and gold from the mines had been
planted on parishioners, and the main witnesses for the plaintiff proved
to be a mental case and an alcoholic.
One further tale typical of the period occurred in Belgorod Oblast and
involved the Holy Trinity congregation of the ROC Abroad. A militia
detachment inspired by the presence of Myagkov, a priest from the
Belgorod eparchy of the ROC MP, drove the believers out of the church,
stole church valuables and arrested the senior priest Katunin and his
wife. The beating that Katunin received at the militia station caused
him to have a heart attack. It would be interesting to know how the
victorious co-religionists feel in the church today?
Practice has shown that the practice of refusing registration is far more
effective than militia raids when it comes to protecting the interests of
those religions that are in favor with the authorities. These are the
preliminary figures: 6,000 local organizations of various confessions -
that is 30 percent of the total - have been refused the status of
juridical persons and are thus subject to abolition under current law.
Dissenters may take the matter to court.
A License to Pray
At the present time this very issue is a particular concern of the Moscow
division of the Salvation Army - the largest Protestant confession. The
Salvation Army has been helping 800 Moscow social institutions and
looking after homeless people living at railway stations. Nevertheless
the Moscow Justice Department, followed by the Presnenskiy Rayon Court
and the Moscow City Court, has deemed the Salvation Army to be a
militarized organization. The disciples of this church carry no weapons
and do not indulge in military training. Their guilt is founded
entirely on the fact that they wear a uniform similar to that of civilian
pilots and that they have military titles.
Although the Moscow City Court session took place as far back as 28
November the judges have still not presented the parties with the
official text of the decision, thereby depriving the Salvation Army of
the opportunity to appeal. It is difficult to say what is more in
evidence here - politics or petty tyranny - but the unpleasant
consequences for the authorities are already plain to see. The devotees
of our Femida have provoked uproar around the whole world: the Western
media and the World Council of Churches are unstinting in their
vociferous pronouncements on the "conquerors" of the Salvation Army.
Incidentally, we are no strangers to scandals. In 1999 the Moscow
authorities refused to register the Anglican Church. The English Queen
was shocked and the British Foreign Office dispatched an angry diplomatic
note to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, whereupon the community
was granted registration.
Our officials and court officers frequently demonstrate complete and
utter ignorance of legal matters. The situation is so bad that it
verges on the ridiculous: in Cheboksary they tried to close a community
of Pentacostalists because the believers "offered up prayers for healing,
although they did not hold a medical license". And what of the
three-day pilgrimage made six months ago by Orthodox believers to the
curative relics of Saint Panteleymon?
It is true that recently legal practice has begun to change. Last year
the lawyers from the Slavonic Legal Center managed to achieve a number of
victories. This is the story of one such triumph. The Orthodox priest
Korotayev presented the justice administration with a cassette showing a
Pentacostalist liturgy in the Kirov Christian Center. Although their
investigations went no further than simply watching this amateur video,
psychiatric experts stated that the liturgy "might be detrimental to
health". The justice administration imposed a ban on the center's
activities and the matter duly went to court, but Department of Health
chief psychiatrist Bagayev merely confirmed "a mild trance-like effect ".
He stated that, far from being detrimental to health, this was
characteristic of all divine services and was also typical of rock
concerts. It transpired that the video recording had been made
illegally. A hidden camera had been used to tape not only the divine
service but also the confessions of the parishioners, and the film had
been shown on local television. Ultimately even Procurator Kolotova
refused to support the justice department and in making his ruling Judge
Kakhalin defended the rights of the believers. Two similar stories
occurred in Kostroma in November 2000. The activities of Orthodox
fathers who also happened to be amateur filmmakers led to legal
investigations that culminated in rulings in favor of the Kostroma
Christian Center and the "Church of Grace".
The local structures of the Ministry of Justice are duty-bound to guard
citizens' legal rights and react instantaneously to any "signs" of
activity - however questionable - on the part of "sectarians". The
public employs this confusing term to describe all those who are not
adherents of the ROC, Islam, Judaism or Buddhism. Meanwhile, the
Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation has accumulated a large
number of documents that are headed straight for the procurator's office.
But since the actors filling the minor roles here hail from the
"traditional" religions, officials are continuing to exhibit
pseudo-political correctness and pseudo-patriotism.
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