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Doc. 9407
9 April 2002
Russian law on religion
Opinion1
Political Affairs Committee
Rapporteur: Mrs Edeltraud Gatterer, Austria, Group of the European People's Party
I. Conclusions of the committee
The committee considers that the new Russian law on religion is a good structure in which religious denominations in the Russian Federation may operate.
However, the committee puts forward the following propositions :
i. inconsistencies at different levels of the judicial system within the Russian Federation should be limited. Identical charters can not deem unacceptable in one region what is considered acceptable in other regions. Judicial decisions protecting the religious freedom of minorities should be widely disseminated;
ii. there is a need for more co-operation regarding the handling of visas for clergymen and religious followers;
iii. citizens whose conviction or religious confession forbids the performance of military service should have the right, in practice, to substitute military service with an alternative civilian service in a proportional way;
iv. it is essential that the right of an individual to hold or participate in religious ceremonies in health centres, hospitals, orphanages, nursing homes and prisons is guaranteed.
II. Amendments to the draft resolution proposed on behalf of the committee
Amendment 1.
- add a new paragraph before paragraph 1.
"Post-communist Russia gave religious creeds a free rein. But, the ensuing flood of foreign evangelists, missionaries and dubious sects, backed by rich western churches and organisations provoked uneasy feelings amongst the Russian population. A new law on religion was introduced to remedy this situation."
Amendment 2.
- In paragraph 2 replace the words "while seeming to pose..." by "while posing"
Amendment 3.
- In paragraph 4. in the 3rd line and 5th line replace "Orthodox Church" by "traditional church".
Amendment 4.
- In paragraph 5, in the 7th and 8th lines, delete the words "and should lead to an internal disciplinary inquiry .... of its Moscow department"
Amendment 5.
- In paragraph 6.i., delete after all the words "communities".
Amendment 6.
- Add a new sub-paragraph at the end of paragraph 6.
"The project under study for the setting up of an alternative civilian service should be accelerated in order to offer an alternative to citizens whose religious convictions forbid them to carry out military service."
III. Explanatory memorandum by the Rapporteur
1. The Assembly of the Council of Europe has been dealing with Russia’s new law on religion since its adoption in 1997. A visit in October last year took place because the rapporteurs expressed their wish to carry out a fact-finding visit to Moscow.
A. The new Russian law on religion and its implementation
2. After having been denied religious freedom for over seven decades, post-communist Russia initially gave religious creeds a free rein. But, the ensuing flood of foreign evangelists and missionaries which received the backing of their richer western churches who practised more sophisticated preaching techniques provoked a reaction of insecurity amongst the Russian population. In the new atmosphere of freedom, thousands of new churches and religious groups were formed, feeding a post-Communist search for religious identity. Respectable non-Orthodox churches, as well as dubious sects or even criminal ones, like the Aum Shinrikyo, the cult which was held responsible for the gas attack on the Japanese underground, tried to become established.
3. The government’s response to this development was the new Russian law on religion, which replaced the 1990 Russian law. While stating that individuals shall have full freedom to choose a religion, it established different categories of religious denominations, which enjoyed different rights. The law places religious ‘groups’ which do not belong to a centralised religious organisation and could not prove that they had existed on the territory of the Russian Federation for no less than fifteen years, on a fifteen year probation, during which their institutional rights were limited. After the fifteen year probationary period had elapsed they would be entitled to apply for the status of an ‘organisation’, which would give full rights to possess property, to publish material, to provide education and to belong to public institutions. The ‘fifteen year rule’ was challenged in the Constitutional Court and in 1999 the Court ruled that religious organisations established before 1997 and religious groups which belonged to a centralised structure were not required to prove their fifteen years’ existence in order to gain the rights accorded to religious organisations.
4. All religious denominations were required to re-register. The deadline for registration was extended twice and subsequently the registration process was finally completed in January 2001. Religious denominations which failed to register were faced with liquidation.
5. The new Russian law on religion was criticised by non-governmental organisations, in Russia and abroad, claiming that it violated rights guaranteed by the Russian Constitution and international treaties.
6. The new law introduced a concept of differentiation between ‘religious organisations’ and ‘religious groups’ according to the time of their formation was criticised, but one must stress that such a distinction exists in the laws of many European countries.
7. Looking at the implementation of the new Russian law on religion, it should be pointed out that the Federal Ministry of Justice departments would indeed appear to have been largely able to implement the policy towards re-registration. The vast majority of groups did not have any problems with re-registration. Liquidation proceedings against functioning organisations which would have preferred to retain their legal status therefore appeared to be a rarity. The Russian authorities claimed that those organisations which had been refused registration had either been unable to produce the appropriate documentation or were defunct.
8. Nevertheless, problems arose because the law is administered at local level, by regional departments of the justice ministry. In certain cities, local officials delayed or denied registration and sought the liquidation of religious groups, even though they had been registered in other regions or at Federal level. Two prominent cases of religious organisations, which had been registered at national level, but which had been refused registration at local level were the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Salvation Army. The City of Moscow Department of Justice filed suit against the Salvation Army to have the Moscow branch liquidated in September 2001, and won its case on 6 December 2001. The Salvation Army appealed to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, which ruled in its favour on 7 February 2002. The Court found that a religious organisation registered prior to the adoption of the 1997 law on religion may not be liquidated purely for failing to re-register by that law’s deadline of 31 December 2000. Legal rulings made in relation to the Moscow branch of the Salvation Army which followed a divergent interpretation, are now “subject to reconsideration”. An appeal by the Salvation Army to the European Court of Human Rights is still pending, but might now have been overtaken by events. The Jehovah’s Witnesses were registered at Federal level in 1999, but the Moscow branch was facing problems with re-registration. The Russian authorities have also closed a Pentecostal church and in another city, officials have refused to register a Catholic parish as a religious organisation.
9. According to the Russian authorities, they are working to cancel religious laws adopted by Russian regions that are more restrictive than the national law.
10. Religious minorities frequently complain about the pressure from the dominant role of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Russian Federation. As pointed out, the religious pluralism is essential in a democratic society, however, it is legitimate for the State to take into account the impact of religion on tradition and culture which constitute the spiritual heritage of a nation’s people. Most Russians identify themselves as Orthodox Christians and as the only public institution pre-dating Communism, the Orthodox Church is regarded as a key symbol of nation identity even by many non-believers.
11. Other hurdles confront established religions, including how to recover church propriety which has been seized by the Soviets or how to obtain permission to build new churches. Furthermore, there have been problems encountered when bringing in foreign priests.
B. Conclusion
12. Issues which, in my view, ought to be considered:
- inconsistencies at different levels of the judicial system within the Russian Federation should be limited. Identical charters can not deem unacceptable in one region what is considered acceptable in other regions. Judicial decisions protecting the religious freedom of minorities should be widely disseminated;
- there is a need for more co-operation regarding the handling of visas for clergymen and religious followers;
- citizens whose conviction or religious confession forbids the performance of military service should have the right, in practice, to substitute military service with an alternative civilian service in a proportional way;
- it is essential that the right of an individual to hold or participate in religious ceremonies in health centres, hospitals, orphanages, nursing homes and prisons is guaranteed.
13. To finalise, I wish to say that the Russian authorities have stressed that the legislative, taking into account the historically conditioned multi-confessional heritage in Russia, is observing the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and that these provisions guarantee human and civil rights and freedoms in accordance with generally recognised principles and are within the standards of international law.
14. (The “fight against terrorism” should not be used as an excuse to clamp down on human rights. However, the attacks carried out on 11 September 2001 have shown that States need to carefully monitor developments on their territory.)
15. Furthermore, one must take into account that only about 10 years ago Russia and the other parts of the Soviet Union were closed totalitarian societies. The newly won democratic pluralism and freedom also brought about a massive and sometimes aggressive missionary effort from North America, Western Europe and Asia. The rapid spiritual change led to something that could be called a religious identity crisis.
16. After our fact-finding visit to Russia, I consider that the new Russian law on religion is a good structure in which religious denominations in the Russian Federation may operate. As emphasised by the Russian authorities, President Putin pays a lot of attention to this matter and he has spoken out repeatedly in favour of religious freedom.
17. The State, while opposed to both extremes: a State religion and a laissez-faire attitude, should favour co-operation with the various religious groups. It is therefore essential to continue dialogue.
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Reporting committee: Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Committee for opinion: Political Affairs Committee
Reference to committee: Doc. 7957 and Reference No. 2238 of 7 November 1997; Doc. 8351 and Reference No. 2373 of 30 March 1999
Opinion approved by the committee on 5 April 2002
Secretaries to the committee: Mr Perin, Mrs Ruotanen, Mr Sich, Mr Chevtchenko