Doc. 7957
6 November 1997

New Russian law on religion

Motion for a recommendation

presented by Mr Atkinson and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

1. The Assembly is concerned at the new law on religion passed by the State Duma on 19 September 1997, by the Federal Council on 26 September 1997 and ratified on the same day by President Yeltsin.

2. It notes that only those churches and religious organisations which can prove that they were in existence before 1982 will be recognised.

3. Thus, all those that have taken root in Russia, or which have come out into the open from their underground past, will be deprived of their fundamental rights.

4. These include the Pentecostalists, Baptists, Adventists, Mormons, the Ukrainian Church and other Orthodox churches which refuse to accept the Russian Patriarchy, the Hari Krishnas, the Quakers, numerous Islamic associations and the Salvation Army.

5. They will be deprived of being able to hold services in public buildings such as hospitals, to own or rent land, to maintain a bank account, to make contracts, to print, publish and circulate religious literature, to have access to the media, to organise religious education, schools and seminaries, to invite missions from abroad, and other rights.

6. The Assembly notes that this is the third attempt to introduce such a law, despite representations to President Yeltsin and some religious leaders who were misled into supporting the new bill as being acceptable to world opinion.

7. The Assembly considers that this law contravenes the European Convention of Human Rights, the Russian commitments upon accession and, indeed, the Russian constitution.

8. The Assembly considers that this law should be annulled. It calls upon the Russian delegation to draw its concerns to the attention of the Russian Government and Parliament. It also recommends that the Committee of Ministers discuss the matter at its next meeting.

Signed : ¹

Atkinson, United Kingdom, EDG

Columberg, Switzerland, EPP/CD

Domljan, Croatia, EPP/CD

Eltz, Croatia, EDG

Fico, Slovakia, SOC

Gabrielescu, Romania, EPP/CD

Gelderblom-Lankhout, Netherlands, LDR

Gjellerod, Denmark, SOC

Hagard, Sweden, EDG

Jansson, Finland, LDR

Kelam, Estonia, EPP/CD

Mitchell, Ireland, EPP/CD

Solé Tura, Spain, SOC

Stoyanova, Bulgaria, EPP/CD

¹        SOC: Socialist Group

      PPE/CD: Group of the European People’s Party

      GDE: European Democratic Group

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group

      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left

      NR: not registered in a group