Mrs Praneet Kaur, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs: ‘I am very happy with the UN’s decision and congratulate the UNITED SIKHS team for making everyone realise what the turban means to Sikhs, their identity and pride. I am very pleased that the UN has recognised the fundamental right of a Sikh to practice his/her faith by wearing a turban. We respect France’s sovereign right to frame laws. I will ensure that the Indian Government continues, at the highest level, to raise this issue with France. This UN decision will certainly help us advance our case with France.”

Lawyers:

Stephen Grosz, Head of Public Law & Human Rights at London solicitors Bindmans, who was engaged by UNITED SIKHS to file a communication to the UNHRC on behalf of Bikramjit Singh, a French student who was expelled from a French school for refusing to remove his head covering after the 2004 law was passed by France that banned religious signs in schools:

“The Human Rights Committee’s decision is very heartening.  The Committee recognises that even a one-off requirement to remove a turban for the purposes of an identity photograph interferes with a Sikh’s religious rights; and it considers that the French Government advanced no argument that the Committee considered sufficient to justify this interference.  The Committee will shortly consider the restrictions placed on the wearing of turbans by French school students, and the Committee’s approach is encouraging.

Eric Rassbach, National Litigation Director, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty:

“The Committee has struck a major blow in defence of religious liberty. This is a victory not just for Sikhs, but for people of all faiths who seek to live up to their beliefs. The Becket Fund congratulates Mr. Singh and United Sikhs for their persistence and bravery in standing up for the rights of all. »

Francois Jacquot, lawyer who represented Ranjit Singh in the French courts: “This is the first time that the UNHRC has sanctioned the French State for violation of Religious freedom of a member of the Sikh Community in regards to the Turban. In that respect, the decision is historical.

Ranjit Singh is finally recognized in his rights for freedom of Religion and respect of his Identity, after numerous years of frustration. The French State has not been able to « explaine(d) how, specifically, identity photographs in which people appear bareheaded help to avert the risk of fraud or falsification of residence permits. », while it was the reason invoked by the French authorities and the French Court to justify  the violation of the religion Freedom of Sikhs.”

Carla Clarke, (acting) Head of Law, Minority Rights Group International: “This is a welcome decision which makes it clear that where states interfere with peoples’ basic human rights they cannot expect simply to invoke the phrases “public order” and “public safety” to justify such interferences but must show concretely why their measures are necessary to ensure such public order and safety. In this regard, the Human Rights Committee has shown itself prepared to take a more pro-active and investigative stance than the European Court of Human Rights when faced with similar cases.”

Sikh Community Leaders:

Avtar Singh Makkar, President, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC): Its a great victory for which SGPC had supported UNITED SIKHS when the case was filed in 2008. We are very pleased that the UN has recognised the challenges faced by Sikhs in protecting our identity and held that Sikh should not be required to remove his turban. We will ask the Punjab government to put pressure on France to comply with the UN’s decision and fulfil their obligations under international law.”    

Paramjit Singh Sarna, President, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee: We are very grateful to UNITED SIKHS and the UN for this great victory for the Sikhs’ right to wear our turban. We wish UNITED SIKHS the very best and are ready to do any seva you request.”

Bhai Amrik Singh, Chair, Sikh Federation (UK):  “It is excellent news that the UN Human Rights Committee has come out in support of Baba Ranjit Singh’s fundamental right to wear his turban for the photograph on his resident card.  The Sikh Federation (UK) was delighted to join Sikhs from across the globe in New York to submit the cases to the UN in December 2008.  Sikhs must now come together again to see what diplomatic and political pressure can be exerted on the French Government to recognise the UN decision in support of the Sikhs right to wear the turban.”

Jaspal Singh Anand, Chair: European & International Affairs Committee, Sikh Council UK: The Sikh Council UK congratulates United Sikhs and other Sikh organisations that have worked tirelessly in representing Baba Ranjit Singh’s rights as a Sikh to wear his      Turban for the photograph for his identity card and on the landmark decision announced by the UN’s Human Rights Committee in providing unequivocal support in recognising the Sikh Turban as an integral part of it’s religious identity while declaring France in breach of Article 18 of the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which it is a signatory

Bobigny, France, 12 Jan 2012 – The UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) has concluded that France had violated the religious freedom of 76 year old Ranjit Singh when he was asked to remove his turban for his ID photograph. This was disclosed today at a media conference, in Bobigny (near Paris), by the UNITED SIKHS legal team, who had filed a communication on behalf of Ranjit Singh to the UNHRC in December 2008.

The media conference was told that the UNHRC observed that “even if the obligation to remove the turban for the identity photograph might be described as a one-time requirement, it would potentially interfere with the author’s (Ranjit Singh’s) freedom of religion on a continuing basis because he would always appear without his religious head covering in the identity photograph and could therefore be compelled to remove his turban during identity checks.”

The Committee said that France had failed to explain how the Sikh turban hindered identification since the wearer’s face would be visible and he would be wearing the turban it at all times, therefore, the regulation constituted a violation of article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which was entered into force for France on 4 February 1981. You may read the Committees views in full at

http://www.ccprcentre.org/doc/OP1/Decisions/102/1876%202009%20France_en.pdf

The views were adopted at the 102nd session of the Committee’s sitting.

“I had faith that truth and justice would prevail and I patiently waited for this day. I pray that France will now fulfil its obligation and grant me a residence card bearing my photo without baring my head,” said Ranjit Singh, who despite his ill-health has had no access to the public health-care system or to social benefits since 2005 because his residence card was refused due to his refusal to remove his turban.

“UNITED SIKHS is heartened by the Committee’s observations that France is under an obligation to provide Ranjit Singh with an effective remedy, including a reconsideration of his application for a renewal of his residence permit and a review of the relevant legislative framework and its application in practice. France, the Committee noted, is also under an obligation to take steps to prevent similar violations in the future,” said Mejindarpal Kaur, UNITED SIKHS Legal Director, who addressed the media conference.

“We now look to France to fulfil its treaty obligations under International law and its moral duty to ensure that the freedom of religion and belief is upheld for everyone who lives within its territory,” she added.

“We are very pleased with the views that the Committee adopted and we welcome France’s compliance with these findings.  We also look forward to a similar resolution for Shingara Singh, whose case is still pending before the Committee,” O’Melveny & Myers, a New York law firm engaged by UNITED SIKHS, said in a statement through their attorneys who spoke during a telephone interview. A decision is still awaited for Shingara Singh, whose passport has not been renewed by France because he refused to remove his turban for his ID photograph.

You may read a previous press release on our advocacy for religious freedom at http://www.unitedsikhs.org/PressReleases/PRSRLS-10-09-2011-02.html

 Issued by

Mejindarpal Kaur

Legal Director

International Civil and Human Rights Advocacy ( ICHRA)

UNITED SIKHS

law@unitedsikhs.org

+33 605800605/+44 8701993328

Since the Age of Enlightenment, France has upheld clear constitutional guidelines that protect human rights and religious freedom. Today, however, intolerant attitudes and discriminatory practices towards unconventional faiths have become acceptable and even institutionalized in public life. Susan Palmer offers an insightful examination of France’s most stigmatized new religions, or « sectes, » and the public management of religious and philosophical minorities by the state.

The New Heretics of France tracks the mounting government-sponsored anti-cult movement in the wake of the shocking mass suicides of the Solar Temple in 1994, an event that ushered France’s most visible religious minorities onto a blacklist of 172 « sectes » commissioned by the National Assembly. Drawing on extensive interviews and field research, Palmer describes the controversial histories of well-known international New Religious Movements including the Church of Scientology, Raelian Movement, and Unificationism, as well as esoteric local groups. Palmer also reveals the partisanship of Catholic priests, journalists, village mayors, and the passive public who support La Republique’s efforts to control minority faiths – all in the name of « Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. »

Through historical and sociological theory, Palmer analyzes France’s war on « sectes » as a strategic response to social pressures arising from globalization and immigration. Her study addresses the impact of these social pressures on traditional cultures and national character, as well as important issues of religious freedom and public tolerance.

Features

Offers original research in the field of France’s esoteric spiritual movements and the controversial status of American  »import » NRMs (Scientology, Jehovah’s Witnesses, The Family) in French society

Reviews

« Susan J. Palmer is a dedicated scholar whose exhaustive research combining fieldwork and careful examination of written and online sources produces insightful and balanced findings. This remarkable book will open many eyes to the official, long-established French hostility toward new religions. »—Timothy Miller, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Kansas

« The New Heretics of France incisively examines the militant French secularism that grows out of its historic church-state tensions. Palmer’s close analysis of six current cases of a government sponsored ‘antisecte’ campaign reveals an intolerance of religious minorities that is unparalleled among Western nations. An important contribution to the literature on new religions. »—David G. Bromley, Professor of Religious Studies and Sociology and Director of the Partnership for Understanding World Religions and Spirituality, Virginia Commonwealth University

« Few French scholars dare even to talk about New Religious Movements, much less do serious research on them, for fear of retribution. Susan J. Palmer has done more fieldwork in France than any other North American scholar of NRMS and is uniquely qualified to do what the French cannot. In this soon-to-be classic volume she breaks entirely new ground. »

–James T. Richardson, Director of the Grant Sawyer Center for Justice Studies, University of Nevada, Reno

http://www.us.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/ReligionTheology/SociologyofReligion/?view=usa&view=usa&ci=9780199735211

HRWF Brussels (31.12.2011) - Human Rights Without Frontiers International (HRWF Int’l), an independent nongovernmental organization, today released a 62-page report that documents the abduction and confinement of Japanese citizens for the purpose of religious de-conversion, and the failure of Japanese police and judicial authorities to investigate and prosecute those responsible for such cases of domestic violence.

« The failure to provide the victims of such kidnappings with equal protection under the law, and the impunity of those responsible, constitute a serious violation of the Japanese people’s constitutionally guaranteed rights and the international human rights standards to which Japan is legally bound, » stated Willy Fautre, Director of the Brussels-based NGO Human Rights Without Frontiers Int’l.

Fautre and Aaron Rhodes​, an international human rights advocate who helped organize the report, interviewed numerous victims, who were mainly members of the Unification Church​ and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, as well as journalists, lawyers, and experts. They also met with 10 members of the Japanese Diet to discuss the issue.

The kidnapping and often violent forced detention of Japanese who have joined these religious movements, usually by their own families along with « exit counselors, » has occurred for decades but has been ignored by police and judicial authorities despite unequivocal evidence of crimes.

« It is completely unacceptable that all known complaints against parents and exit counselors have been declared ineligible, » Aaron Rhodes said.

« In the face of such official negligence and impunity, one cannot state that there is freedom of religion in Japan, » he said.

Japan: Abduction and Deprivation of Freedom for the Purpose of Religious De-Conversion is available on-line at http://www.hrwf.net (On the homepage in the section « Our Reports »).

Link to the full report (62 pages PDF): http://www.hrwf.net/Joom/images/reports/2011/1231%20report%20final.pdf

For interviews:

Willy Fautre: +32 478 202069 – Email: w.fautre@hrwf.net
Aaron Rhodes: +49 170 323 8314 – Email: aaronarhodes@gmail.com

Treaty of friendship between Russia and China

On 16 July, 2001 a Treaty of friendship was signedbetween the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China.

The 8th article of the Treaty says: « None of the parties to the treaty allows the creation and the activities on its territory of organizations and groups causing damage to the sovereignty, safety and territorial integrity of the other party to the treaty ». It is on this basis that Falun Gong which has registered 6 legally recognized organizations in Russia is now harassed and prosecuted by the authorities. Various local authorities have forbidden their public activities of Falun Gong, referring in their letters to Article 8 of the Treaty.

In 2006 – 2007, under the pressure of local authorities, Chinese refugees, who were practicing Falun Gong, were forced to leave the country – after they had lived in Russia for many years. In 2007, a mother and her 8-year-old daughter were deported back to China. They had been registered with the United Nations as persons requiring international protection. The same happened to the 72-year-old Chinese professor living in Russia with his Russian wife and paralyzed after a stroke.

Access to the Russian territory is forbidden for many Falun Gong followers who are citizens of other countries.

 2005 « Falun Gong Today » newspaper was refused registration.

There are also refusals to register new local Falun Gong organizations in various regions of Russia.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)

The second channel used by China against Falun Gong practitioners in Russia is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), is an intergovernmental mutual-security organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Except for Uzbekistan, the other countries had been members of the « Shanghai Five », founded in 1996; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organisation.

The SCO is primarily centered on its member nations’ Central Asian security-related concerns, often describing the main threats it confronts as being terrorism, separatism and extremism. However evidence is growing that its activities in the area of social development of its member states is increasing fast.

The organisation is also redefining cyberwarfare, saying that the dissemination of information « harmful to the spiritual, moral and cultural spheres of other states » should be considered a « security threat. » It is in this framework that Falun Gong and its members are now experiencing various forms of hardships:tapping of their telephones, constant financial and other checks on the companies in which they work, pressure on their employers to dismiss them under the pretext of closing channels of financing for international terrorism.

By Krishna-lila Dasi

ISKCON News (05.12.2011) / HRWF (15.12.2011) – http://www.hrwf.net – In order to protect their land and their cows, Hungarian Krishna believers will hold a peaceful demonstration in front of the Parliament in Budapest on December 13th, 2011.

In order to protect their land and their cows, on December 13th, 2011, Hungarian Krishna believers will hold a peaceful demonstration in front of the Parliament in Budapest.

The 270-hectare (approximately 650 acres) Krishna-valley farm is home to 300 monks and families, as well as 52 sacred cows and oxen. Due to new religious legislation passed in July, there is a good chance that after January 1st, 2012, the State will take over the land and the inhabitants will have to grab their belongings and disperse. One of Hungary`s main organic agricultural farming and tourist sites will thus have to close down.

Krishna-valley is situated near Somogyvamos, a cul-de-sac village in the western part of Hungary. The agricultural land was purchased by ISKCON devotees and supporters in 1993. The first adventurous believers moving there had to spend the winter in a former sheep barn, huddling in the cold. They could not cook or eat hot meals because the gas in the cylinder had frozen. Yet, they did not give up. Due to their perseverance, in a few years, the untended land was turned into a bountiful organic farm — a blossoming paradise. Over the past few years, Krishna-valley has hosted over half a million tourists, school groups, families and students from all over the world. This farm based on organic agriculture, renewable energy use and sustainable development has been recognized as an exemplary project by the United Nations.

Who is going to sew the seeds in the spring?

Due to the new religious law that takes effect of the 1st of January, however, all of this might be relegated to the past. ISKCON, as the main representative of Hinduism in Hungary, is among those religious organizations that will lose their « church » status, and would have to transform into a different legal entity with much fewer rights (an « association »). To make ISKCON`s situation worse, according to the Hungarian laws, an « association » cannot own agricultural property. Thus Krishna-valley will fall into an « ex lex » status; and in the absence of a clear legal arrangement the land falls to the next possible owner, which is the State.

At the moment, in Krishna-valley, the monks and families with small children are anxiously waiting to find out their fate after the 1st of January. Would they have a place to live? Where would they graze their cows? Who is going to sew the seeds in the spring? Who is going to harvest the fruits and vegetables? What is to become of their continuing hard work and dedication?

Where shall they all go?

The members of the Krishna-community trust that the Parliament did not intend to make their lives impossible. However, these community members must acknowledge that no meaningful steps have been made by government officials to rectify the situation. Therefore, to draw their attention and spur them to action, the believers have decided to turn to the Hungarian and international public for help.

As a first step, on the 13th of December, they will hold a peaceful demonstration with their homeless-to-be cows, monks and families in front of the Hungarian Parliament. Everyone is welcome to join them there.

Krishna should leave Krishna-valley?

Also, anyone from any part of the world who wishes to help them make their case stronger is invited to sign the following petition:

« PROTECT THE HARE KRISHNAS’ LAND AND THEIR SACRED COWS »

The Hungarian Society for Krishna Consciousness is the main representative of the Hindu world religion in Hungary. The Krishna devotees are known for their diligent religious practices, dedication to distributing knowledge of eternal spiritual values and pure, exemplary lifestyles. Their efforts and achievements in assisting underprivileged people, as well as in fighting environmental problems and promoting sustainability, are also well known and valued worldwide.

Their Krishna-valley farm has brought hundreds of thousands of tourists and greater international recognition for Hungary. We are urging the Hungarian Parliament to make sure their lands, monks and sacred cows remain protected, and their invaluable services to society go on uninterrupted. »

To sign the petition please click here: http://www.petitions24.com/krisna

15 Russian translations of Nursi’s works and 68 Jehovah’s Witness publications have now been ruled « extremist » and placed on the Federal List of Extremist Materials, making it illegal to distribute or store them for distribution. The 68 includes four further Jehovah’s Witness magazines added to the Federal List on 2 December. All four were among nine Jehovah’s Witness publications ruled extremist by Salsk Court in Rostov Region on 27 June, a decision upheld by Rostov Regional Court on 13 October. The other works had already been ruled extremist by other courts.

« Extremism » prosecutions »

Public prosecutors use the presence of Nursi and Jehovah’s Witness literature on the Federal List to launch prosecutions on extremism-related charges. In one of the most high-profile cases, Gorno-Altaisk court found Jehovah’s Witness Aleksandr Kalistratov guilty on 3 November of violating Article 282, Part 1 of the Criminal Code (« Actions directed at the incitement of hatred [nenavist] or enmity [vrazhda], as well as the humiliation of an individual or group of persons on the basis of .. attitude to religion, .. conducted publicly or through the media »). Judge Marina Kulikova sentenced him to one hundred hours’ community service.

[See a commentary on the systemic problems of Russian anti-extremism legislation, by Alexander Verkhovsky of the SOVA Center, at F18News 19 July 2010 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1468.]

This was Kalistratov’s second trial on the same charges. He was acquitted in April, but after prosecutors successfully challenged this in Altai Supreme Court, a new trial was ordered, which began on 22 June.

Kalistratov has appealed against the verdict, and the appeal hearing is due to begin on 22 December at Altai Supreme Court, Jehovah’s Witnesses told Forum 18.

Facing criminal trial in Novosibirsk is Nursi reader Ilham Merazhov. He is challenging the search of his home and the launching of a criminal case against him (see forthcoming F18News article).

The Supreme Court in July cautioned that prosecutions of individuals on « extremism » charges should be carefully and narrowly framed. It warned that it is important to consider the individual’s intention in distributing the works. If the intention is not to incite hatred or enmity or to humiliate the human dignity of others, prosecutions should not be brought. Officials have been unwilling to discuss the impact of the Supreme Court’s instruction on their prosecutions of Muslims and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Several court decisions seen by Forum 18 in Jehovah’s Witness cases order that publications on the Federal List seized from members in the course of cases should be destroyed.

Bhagavad-Gita As It Is banning case delayed

The suit brought by Tomsk Prosecutor Viktor Fedotov to have the book the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is banned as « extremist » has been delayed.

The case began under Judge Galina Butenko at Tomsk’s Lenin District Court on 12 August, but was suspended after the fourth hearing on 30 August when the Court controversially ordered a new « expert analysis » by three « specialists » of Kemerovo State University. They were instructed to submit their analysis to the Court by 1 December. A May 2009 « expert analysis » to which one of the three, Mikhail Osadchy, contributed formed a basis for the prosecution of Jehovah’s Witness Kalistratov in Gorno-Altaisk.

It is not clear when the case will resume. Telephones at the Lenin District Court went unanswered each time Forum 18 called. Fedotov’s telephone at the Prosecutor’s Office similarly went unanswered. Yuri Pleshakov of the Hare Krishna community in Moscow told Forum 18 on 1 December that the Court had told them that it had not yet received the « expert analysis » and was unable to say when the case would resume.

Aleksei Gorbatov, one of the Kemerovo « experts », admitted to Forum 18 on 1 December that their analysis was late, but refused to say why. He also refused to say when he expected it to be completed. He also refused to say whether or not he had read the book the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is. « What do you think, if I have been asked to analyse it? » He insisted that he could not answer any questions until the court case is complete.

Pleshakov welcomed the support he says has come from a wide range of society to the Hare Krishna community’s defence of one of their key books. « Given what these ‘experts’ have written on other books, and their designation of them as ‘extremist’, we fear what they might produce, » he told Forum 18. « But we continue to hope that the court will take a just and objective decision. »

Website blocking

Blocking of access in Russia to Jehovah’s Witness websites began in July 2010, when internet service provider Technodesign in Komsomolsk-na-Amure blocked its customers’ access to the official Jehovah’s Witness international website www.watchtower.org, which contains information and publications in English, Russian and many other languages. The banning followed a court order initiated by the town’s Prosecutor Vitaly Pakhomov.

However, the blocking of access to Jehovah’s Witnesses websites has been extending across Russia, after a 19 September judgment by Yoshkar-Ola City Court in the Republic of Mari-El. Judge Yekaterina Shishmakova ruled that five named internet companies had to block access to the IP addresses linked to two Jehovah’s Witness websites, jw.org and watchtower.org, according to the verdict seen by Forum 18.

Prosecutor’s Office official Andrei Nazarov argued to the Court that, as the sites contained works on the Federal List of Extremist Materials, access to the sites had to be blocked. The court accepted his argument.

The verdict reveals the involvement in the case of the Mari-El branch of the FSB security service. It notes that « in the course of conducting its operational/investigatory measures, the FSB of Russia for the Republic of Mari-El uncovered » the two sites where, it said, « free access » was possible to two banned works, What Does the Bible Really Teach? and My Book of Bible Stories.

« This isn’t about freedom of conscience or censorship »

Despite the involvement of the FSB, Nazarov of the Prosecutor’s Office insisted that the decision to take action against the websites had come as a result of a communication to the office. « We were told of such materials, we checked and found they were there, » he told Forum 18 from Yoshkar-Ola on 1 December. « So we took the case to court. » He denied absolutely that the communication had come from the FSB or any other state agency, or any part of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Internal government documents have revealed that moves against Jehovah’s Witnesses and readers of the works of Muslim theologian Said Nursi are co-ordinated at a high state level. Both Jehovah’s Witnesses and Nursi readers have been targeted in ways that suggest that their believers and communities are closely watched by the police and FSB security service – both within and outside their communities. One Russian Orthodox Church diocese has been involved in this, and private employers and public libraries have also been ordered to co-operate in the campaign.

Nazarov of the Prosecutor’s Office revealed that in preparing the case, he had a copy of the 2010 Komsomolsk-na-Amure verdict. That case had been initiated by that town’s Public Prosecutor Vitaly Pakhomov.

Nazarov rejected suggestions that blocking these websites restricted individuals’ freedom of conscience or represented censorship. « This isn’t about freedom of conscience or censorship – it’s about restricting access to extremist materials. »

Internet providers block websites

As a result of the verdict, blocking of the Jehovah’s Witness websites began soon after. One of the five companies, Megafon-Sibir, told Forum 18 that it had begun blocking access when the decision came into force. « The websites jw.org and watchtower.org were blocked by the court decision by blocking the corresponding IP-address, » Mikhail Ivonin, Megafon-Sibir’s public relations manager, told Forum 18 from on 1 December. He said the court had sent the decision to his company.

Ivonin revealed that another Jehovah’s Witness website, jw-media.org, was also being blocked even though it was not mentioned in the court verdict, as it is hosted on the same IP-address. Ivonin said the court decision was valid for internet service providers across Russia.

The Moscow-based Sova Center, which monitors the misapplication of the Extremism Law, noted on 29 November that Megafon-Sibir had written to a customer in Kemerovo who had complained about the blocking: « The sites you mentioned were blocked by the company in the interests of your security. »

Sova Center noted a growing number of places where these Jehovah’s Witness sites were blocked, including by three internet service providers in Moscow.

St Petersburg-based internet service provider Web-Plus said it began blocking Jehovah’s Witness sites at the beginning of November. « The blocking took place on a court decision, » Konstantin Rodzevich of Web-Plus technical support told Forum 18 from St Petersburg on 2 December. He did not identify which court decision.

The spokesperson for St Petersburg’s Prosecutor’s Office, Yelena Ordynskaya, refused to tell Forum 18 whether the City Prosecutor’s Office or any District Prosecutor’s Office had initiated any local cases to have access to Jehovah’s Witness websites blocked. She said she was unable to answer Forum 18′s questions as it is not based in Russia.

Bans on printed works continue

Meanwhile, courts have continued to ban printed Jehovah’s Witness publications as « extremist ». Four further Jehovah’s Witness magazines were added to the Federal List in its latest update on the Justice Ministry website on 2 December. All four were among nine Jehovah’s Witness publications ruled extremist by Salsk Court in Rostov Region on 27 June, a decision upheld by Rostov Regional Court on 13 October. The other works had already been ruled extremist by other courts.

On 18 October, Judge Olga Tereshchenko of Makarov District Court of Sakhalin Region in Russia’s Far East ruled nine further Jehovah’s Witness booklets « extremist », the court website noted. The case had been brought by the local Prosecutor, Sergei Aleksandrov.

Jehovah’s Witnesses complain that they were not informed about the case and only found out about it on 11 November, when an announcement appeared on the Sakhalin Regional Prosecutor’s Office website. In justifying the suit, the Prosecutor’s Office claimed that the distribution of publications « containing propaganda for the superiority of the Jehovah’s Witness sect harms the rights, freedoms and legal interests of an indeterminate circle of people of other religious confessions ». It did not claim that any specific individual had been harmed.

« The publisher who has the rights to these works was not even invited to the court, » Jehovah’s Witnesses complained to Forum 18. They described this as a violation of its rights under Article 6 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which includes the provision that « everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing ».

In a separate case, on 25 November Judge Olga Izrailova of Uspensky District Court of Krasnodar Region in southern European Russia began hearing a suit to ban a further Jehovah’s Witness work as « extremist », according to the court website. The case was brought by District Prosecutor Aleksei Yaroshenko, while the Krasnodar Region Justice Department is also a party to the case.

Prosecutor Yaroshenko is seeking to ban the Russian translation of « Bearing Thorough Witness About God’s Kingdom », which is about the Acts of the Apostles. He cites analysis by specialists at the Krasnodar Laboratory of Judicial Expert Analysis.

Jehovah’s Witnesses note that even three « experts » from Kemerovo State University – including Osadchy who is involved in the Tomsk case – concluded in 2010 that the Jehovah’s Witness book « does not contain comparisons and parallels calling for the formation of a negative or repulsive image of any religions or people professing the given religions ».

The Court website notes that as the Prosecutor lacked some necessary documents, the case was adjourned until 19 December.

Mystery surrounds cut off of Hare Krishna sms message service

For nearly six years, Russia’s Hare Krishna community ran a message service VIOMS sending daily quotes from their publications, items from the Vedic calendar and announcements of events to more than 3,000 subscribers. However, the contract with the Penza branch of the NSS company was halted without warning in mid-November, one of the VIOMS organisers told Forum 18 on 1 December. « We don’t know who ordered the breaking of the contract or why, or whether it is connected with the Tomsk case. »

The VIOMS organiser said that about two weeks before the cut-off, about fifteen unknown numbers joined the service and began sending out more than 200 messages per day. The organisers do not know who these people were. They say on average each subscriber received between five and fifteen messages per day, though this depended on which of several lists they opted to receive. Subscribers had to confirm each month that they wished to continue receiving messages.

Forum 18 asked NSS whether the sms service was cut on state orders, through a court decision or an instruction from a state agency, or whether it was a decision taken by the company. NSS staff have promised to respond, but had not done so by the afternoon of 2 December.

Portal-credo.ru (08.11.2011) – A Tver provincial court, on review, quashed the implementation of a decision to prosecute Liubova Belimovaia, who is a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious organization, on the basis of article 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Procedure of RF (« mass distribution of extremist materials »), the official site of « Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia » reports.

We recall that in October 2010 a senior assistant prosecutor of the Transvolga district of the city of Tver, Yurii Orlov, appeared at the home of 71-year-old Valentina Fomushkinaia and without her consent confiscated all the religious literature that was in her home-471 titles of brochures, magazines, and books, including a Bible. The woman, who because of the state of her health is unable to leave the house, was deprived of her only possibility of access to religious texts. The prosecutor presented the confiscated literature as material evidence in a case against another retiree, Liubova Belimovaia. He indicated that she « distributed » all of this literature to Fomushkinaia over the course of several months. Municipal judge Natalia Karichkina ordered the imposition of a fine of 1000 rubles on Belimovaia and the destruction of the confiscated religious literature, including the Bible.

This decision was appealed, but with little success: the district court merely shortened the list of literature subject to destruction while leaving the punishment in the form of a fine in force. Information about this decision was published in news media. However on 18 October the chairman of the provincial court issued a decision of rehabilitation. Explaining that what appears as « mass distribution » really was not, he ordered « to stop the proceedings because there was no essence of an administrative violation of law in the actions of Liubova Panteleimonovna Belimovaia. »  (tr. by PDS, posted 11 November 2011)

source : http://www.hrwf.net/Joom/     http://www.willyfautre.org/

Portal-credo.ru (08.11.2011) – A session of the appeals college of the Moscow provincial court regarding appeals from Scientologists was held 8 November. As a Portal-credo.ru correspondent reports, Judge Svetlana Frolkina presided over the session, Dmitry Averchenko was the judge rapporteur, and the third member of the college was Judge Liubov Whian. 

They reviewed personal complaints of distributors and publishers of materials that had been declared extremist by a decision of a Shchelkovo city court in Moscow province on 29 June of this year. The appeals were filed by the Scientology church of Moscow, the international church of Scientology, two publishers (Danish and Russia) and the chairman of a noncommercial Scientology organization, Lukashkina. They appealed the refusal of Shchelkovo city court Judge Yulia Kudriakovaia to receive their appeal. Also reviewed were similar individual complaints from three members of the Scientology church: Kochemarov, Kozhanovaia, and Murashkintsevaia, from whom the prosecutor had confiscated books during a search, which were then sent for expert analysis.

The interests of the Scientologists were represented by attorneys Sergei Korzikov (individuals) Yury Ershov (« New Era » and « New Era International » publishers), Aidar Sultanov (Scientology church of Moscow) and Galina Krylova (International church of Scientology).

The Moscow provincial court quashed the decision of Judge Yulia Kudriakovaia refusing to accept the appeals of said organizations and individuals and ordered their acceptance and addition to the case, and it sent the case to the Moscow provincial court for review of the appeal on the merits.

On 29 June of this year the Shchelkovo city court found nine books and nine tapes of lectures by the founder of Scientology, Ron Hubbard, to be « extremist. » (tr. by Pds, posted 11 November 2011)

source : http://www.hrwf.net/Joom/     http://www.willyfautre.org/