(Kyiv, October 30, 2024) – Ukraine new law ban religious organizations with ties to the Russian The Orthodox Church is too large and could have far-reaching consequences for Ukrainians’ right to religious freedom, Human Rights Watch said today. The law could effectively ban congregations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Ukraine’s largest religious organization.

The law, adopted on August 20, 2024, prohibits the Russian Orthodox Church from operating in Ukraine and bans any religious organization in Ukraine with ties to it or any other religious organization based in countries “engaged in armed aggression against ‘Ukraine’. It authorizes the Ukrainian State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience to identify links between Ukrainian religious organizations and the Russian Orthodox Church. If it is found to have ties, an organization will have nine months to sever them, or the agency can ask a court to shut it down.

“Ukrainian authorities rightly want to address state security concerns in the context of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine,” said Hugh WilliamsonEurope and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “But the law infringes on the right to freedom of religion and is so broad that it could violate the rights of members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. »

The Ukrainian government should suspend implementation of the law and ask the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional matters, and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights to Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to provide expert analysis of the situation. law that would serve as a basis for its rights-respecting revision, Human Rights Watch said.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church was established in 1990 as an autonomous branch of the Russian Orthodox Church, whose leaders support Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has repeatedly condemned the war in Russia and, as of May 2022, took action guarantee its independence and full autonomy from the Russian Orthodox Church. Yet in January 2023, Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience deemed these measures insufficient, stating that “the status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as a structural subdivision of the Russian Orthodox Church… remains unchanged.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church exists alongside the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which was established in 2019 under the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The law has no impact on the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

Ukrainian authorities should address any security concerns related to the activities of religious bodies or personnel that threaten state security, whether of individuals or specific religious communities, rather than effectively banning entire religious communities based solely on their alleged affiliations with the Russian Orthodox Church, Human Rights Watch. said.

Since the start of the large-scale invasion, Ukrainian security services have initiated criminal proceedings against at least 100 clergymen, mostly affiliated with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, accused of “collaborationism,” treason and “aiding the aggressor state.”

Broad application of the new law risks having serious practical consequences for Ukrainian Orthodox Church congregations and millions of parishioners, Human Rights Watch said. They range from restrictions on the ownership and use of religious property to difficulties in accessing places of worship and the increased risk of surveillance and prosecution by security services.

Any prosecution or sanction not based on specific, illegal actions, but solely on adherence to a peaceful practice of faith, constitutes religious discrimination and is prohibited under international human rights law.

In a written response to questions sent by Human Rights Watch on October 2, Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience stated that the main goal of the law is “to prevent the network of religious organizations officially registered in Ukraine be used against Ukraine. .”

The agency said Ukraine “does not require the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to betray Orthodox Church doctrine, change its liturgical practices or language, move to a different liturgical calendar, or join another church jurisdiction.” The only demand the law insists on is the withdrawal of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is involved in the war against Ukraine.”

The agency also shared recommendations on steps that could be taken to sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. He said he would develop regulations to implement the law within three months of its publication, which would be approved by Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers.

The law considers that any link, not only institutional and organizational, but also canonical, with the Russian Orthodox Church constitutes grounds for prohibition.

Demanding that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church sever its canonical ties could cast doubt on the legitimacy of its followers’ religious beliefs, which the European Court of Human Rights has identified as a key element of the right to freedom of expression. religion, Human Rights Watch said. An expert affiliated with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church told Human Rights Watch that it should be given sufficient time to explore the complexities of severing canonical ties by seeking consensus within the Orthodox community.

Archimandrite Cyril Hovorun, a Ukrainian professor of international relations and ecumenism, told Human Rights Watch that implementation of the law could drive the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s approximately 10,000 congregations across the country underground. Ukraine, forcing them to practice their religion in secret. He pointed out that there are congregations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the occupied territories that “refuse to join the Russian Orthodox Church for many reasons.” He said the ban would sever the connection with these churches and “the Russian Orthodox Church would put its own people in place and that would be the end.”

The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has documented several incidents in which groups of people forcibly entered churches belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.justify their actions with the decisions of local authorities to register new religious communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church at the same address as existing communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In September, Ukraine blocked the website of the DialogTUT media outlet, which covered the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Ukraine is required under Ukrainian and international law to guarantee religious freedom. The European Convention on Human Rights, to which Ukraine is a party, guarantees religious freedom in Article 9, which includes the right both to have a particular religious belief and to manifest it, alone or in community with others and in public or private. Any limitation of this right must be necessary to achieve a stated objective such as the protection of public security, public order or the rights and freedoms of others, be proportionate to that objective and be supported by sufficient and relevant reasons .

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Ukraine is also a party, similarly guarantees the right to freedom of religion (article 18) and provides that “No one shall be subjected to coercion which would impair his or her freedom to have or adopt a religion. a religion or belief of their choice. » Governments are explicitly prohibited from derogating or partially suspending the right to freedom of religion protected by the Covenant, even in a public state of emergency.

The European Court of Human Rights has detained that government measures likely to negatively impact the exercise of religious freedom by followers of a particular church or faith – such as the banning or dissolution of that church – must be “supported by the evidence of specific acts likely to constitute a threat to public life.” the order or interests of others”; “must avoid questioning the legitimacy of the beliefs in question”; and “must remain proportionate”.

“Ukrainian authorities have the right to investigate and prosecute any person, regardless of religious affiliation, when there is credible evidence that their specific actions are illegal and pose a threat to public safety and security. ‘State,” Williamson said. “However, religious affiliation in itself cannot be considered such evidence.”