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Russian reactions to the US report on international religious freedom
The yearly US report on International Religious Freedom, which has been published in September 2008, always creates some irritation in different countries of the world. It is once again the case this year, as evidenced by those news, recently published by a leading Russian news agency, Interfax. Orthodox public wants a report on global religious freedom record published in Russia Moscow, September 30, 2008, Interfax - The Russian Orthodox community has urged the Foreign Ministry to monitor the freedom of conscience record globally and publish a report each year the way the U. S. State Department does. "We urge the Russian Foreign Ministry not to limit itself to criticism of the U. S. State Department, but to produce its own report on the observance of human rights and liberties globally, especially in the post-Soviet space," the Moscow branch of the Union of Orthodox Citizens [a private, Russian Orthodox nationalist group - the title of the news report is slightly misleading...] said in a statement made available to Interfax-Religion. While assessing the human rights record globally, the U. S. State Department "absolutely does not see" abuses of the freedom of religion in Ukraine, or instances "when the rights of millions of citizens in Ukraine, who oppose the separation of the Ukrainian Church from Russian, are trampled underfoot," the Union said. "The churches seized by militants of the 'Kiev Patriarchate' are not returned to the Church in defiance of court rulings, while prominent political leaders of the 'orange' camp, who are the organizers of these seizures and mass beatings of priests and parishioners, are not punished and continue pursuing a policy of state interference in the sovereign affairs of the Church. This is a vivid example of bias and double standards," the Orthodox community said. Moreover, the future report by the Russian foreign ministry should center on "such outstanding violations of the rights of Christians in the United States as the right to publicly express their opinions, as well as the right to religious education at schools. It should also highlight the practice of barring Christian citizens to the public sphere and political Christianity-phobia," the statement says. "Russia must do this as leader of the Orthodox civilization and as a defender of Christian values in the world," the Union said. The Russian Foreign Ministry criticized the U. S. State Department's annual report for a "biased approach" to Russia "Another annual International Religious Freedom report by the U. S. Department of State published on their website the other day traditionally shows a tendentious approach to Russia," the Russian Foreign Ministry's Press and Information Department said in a statement on Monday. "A standard set of claims about Russia, which moves from one report to another, attracts attention," the statement reads. In particular, the Russian federal law on the freedom of conscience and associations allegedly disadvantages non-traditional confessions, the statement reads. "Despite recently adopted amendments to the Russian law on non- governmental organizations, which considerably simplifies requirements to their registration and accounting, the Department of State again complains that the current rules are 'highly burdensome,'" the statement reads. "The thesis about the privileged status of the Russian Orthodox Church is again exaggerated in the report," the ministry said. "The fact that Orthodox Christmas is a holiday in Russia is used as a 'proof' for this, as if the multinational U. S. does not officially celebrate Catholic Christmas," the document reads. "We understand that it is not always easy for the U. S. Department of State's experts to understand the history of Russia, in which Orthodoxy and Islam coexisted for over 1,000 years, where Jewish and Buddhist communities have been developing for centuries and where Catholicism and various Protestant movements have found their followers," the statement reads. "Traditional Russian confessions have seen a revival in recent years, and the state offers support to their charity, social and education programs," the ministry said. "At the same time, we still proceed from the fact that the activity of a certain religious organization should not go beyond the framework of the Russia legislation. If laws are violated and if there is a threat to people and society, the state cannot be a silent observer and must take relevant actions," the statement reads. "Such practices exist all over the world, and Russia is not an exception. It is likely that the report's authors from the Department of State failed to take this into consideration," the document reads.
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