Open Letter
HE Vladimir Putin
President of the Russian Federation
The Kremlin, Moscow
VIA FACSIMILE: +7-095-206 0766 / 206 2464
Vienna, 28 June 2004
Dear Mr. President,
I am writing on behalf of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), an organization that unites 42 human rights NGOs in Europe, Central Asia and North America, to express our deep concern about the recent ruling of the Moscow City Court to ban the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Moscow. This ruling reflects a serious failure of the Russian judicial system to abide by international provisions on freedom of religion to which the Russian Federation has committed itself, and can be seen as a sign of profound intolerance towards religious minority groups. We fear that this ruling will potentially serve as an incentive for further court cases against religious minorities and as a motive for increased harassment of their members.
On 16 June 2004, the Moscow City Court ruled to uphold a lower court decision of 26 March 2004 to strip the community of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Moscow of their status as a legal entity, and expressly banned their activities. The decision, which took immediate effect, potentially has a serious impact on the personal lives of about 10,000 people in Moscow, and may gradually affect Jehovah’s Witnesses and other religious minority groups all over the Russian Federation.
The activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses are recognized as legal all over Europe and they were appropriately registered at the federal level in the Russian Federation. Several rulings by the European Court of Human Rights have reiterated that Jehovah’s Witnesses are a “known religion“ with the right to manifest their faith.
The charges against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Moscow included incitement of hatred, forcing families to disintegrate, encouraging suicide (referring to refusing some medical treatments), infringing individuals’ rights and freedoms, and inciting individuals not to fulfill their civil obligations. These allegations were not substantiated by the prosecution and the investigations were terminated on several occasions due to lack of corpus delicti.
According to reports by independent observers present at the trial, the court performance by the prosecution was characterized by selective use of “evidence” and expert statements, treating rumors as facts, unprofessional investigations, as well as ignorance of international freedom of religion standards and the failure to implement European case law. In addition, it was reported that at the core of the case was not
alleged wrongdoings by Jehovah’s Witnesses but rather their dogma - in violation of European case law, which excludes discretion on the part of the state to determine whether religious beliefs and practices are “correct” or “true.”
Of serious concern is also the fact this ruling may serve as a precedent for other Russian regions and will most probably increase harassment against Jehovah’s Witnesses and members of other religious minority groups in the Russian Federation.
Jehovah’s Witnesses were subjected to harassment throughout Russia already before the Moscow City Court decision, often with reference to the lower court ruling against them: they were refused contracts to rent meeting halls and build places of worship, they were dismissed from work, defamation campaigns were carried out against them and their members were physically ill-treated. It is feared that the ruling will serve as a legal basis for the closure of places of worship and cancellation of rental contracts for meeting halls, thus relegating the believers to meet in private homes – reminiscent of the Soviet era when their activities were regarded illegal. Moreover, Jehovah’s Witnesses’ property may be confiscated and their members may be arrested like common criminals and punished for exercising their freedom of religion.
While the 16 June ruling of the Moscow City Court is the first outright ban on a religious community under the 1997 religion law, violations of freedom of religion has been registered throughout the Russian Federation since its enforcement, including false interpretation of the law by local authorities, discrimination and various forms of harassment. In 2001, Moscow authorities refused to re-register the Salvation Army, which could have led to a de facto ban on its activities. However, the Constitutional Court in 2002 overruled the lower court ruling against the Salvation Army.
I wish to emphasize that all attempts by Russian authorities and courts to restrict peaceful religious activities seriously undermine Russia’s obligations under international human rights law and adversely affect Russia’s reputation in the international fora.
Yours respectfully,
Aaron Rhodes
Executive Director
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF)
Cc: OSCE delegations
Council of Europe
UN Special Rapporteur on the Freedom of Religion
National Helsinki Committees