Belarusians call on EU to prioritise religious freedom 22/05/2008
On Tuesday 27 May a petition signed by 50,400 Belarusians and calling for the revision of a 2002 law restricting religious freedom will be presented to Hans-Gert Pöttering, President of the European Parliament.
At the same time a separate petition calling on the European Union to take action on the issue and signed by Roger Kiska, Legal Counsel of the European Centre for Law and Justice, will be submitted to the European Parliament.
Kiska will be joined in Brussels by the petitions co-signers, Dr. Aleksandr Milinkevich, recipient of the 2006 Sakharov Prize, Pavel Seviarynets, co-chair of the Belarusian Christian Democrats, and Sergey Lukanin, chairman of the Human Rights Center in Belarus and coordinator of the campaign. Following their meeting with President of the European Parliament, the group will brief the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Belarus on the current situation in the country.
Since the adoption of restrictive religious legislation by the Belarusian government, violations of religious freedom have steadily increased. A report released by CSW in 2008 documented several cases of imprisonment church leaders and the forced deportation of foreign religious workers. In addition, the report outlined the plight of religious groups that find it virtually impossible to register officially with the government and, because of this, are repeatedly subjected to fines, threats of closure and the harassment of churchgoers. The petition organisers point out that the law contradicts Belarus’s own Constitution, which guarantees religious freedom.
The petition that will be presented to the European Parliament on Tuesday in response to the current situation uses mechanisms provided under Belarusian law, which stipulates that the Constitutional Court must take into consideration any petition that gathers more than 50,000 signatures. Despite the fact that the petition garnered more than the necessary number of names, the Belarusian government rejected it, stating that it had not been carried out in the proper way. Three of the organisers, including Sergey Lukanin, received heavy fines for their participation in the campaign.
Stuart Windsor, National Director of CSW said, “Sadly, little appears to have changed in Belarus in relation to religious freedom since the days of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, we are inspired by this initiative by Belarusian Christians, who have come together across denominational lines to demand that their right to worship freely be respected. We call on the European Union to respond to their call with decisive action, and ask that the EU make religious freedom in Belarus a priority in their relations with that country.”
Notes to Editors:
The Press Conference will feature 2006 Sakharov Prize winner and Chariman of the Movement for Freedom, Belarus, Dr. Alaksandr Milinkevich, and Jacek Protasiewicz, Chairman of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Belarus.
CSW’s Belarus report is available at http://dynamic.csw.org.uk/article.asp?t=report&id=70
Click here for more information on CSW’s work in Belarus