The Constitution provides for freedom of religion; however, the Government restricts this right in practice.
The status of respect for religious freedom continued to be poor during the period covered by this report. The Government formalized restrictions on religious freedom by passing a new law on religion in 2002 and signing a Concordat in 2003 with the Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC), a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church, that many consider to elevate the BOC's status and provide the Church with privileges not enjoyed by other faiths. Authorities continued to harass other religions and denominations. The Government has repeatedly rejected the registration applications of other religious groups, including many Protestant denominations, the Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (BAOC), and some Eastern religions. Without registration many of these groups find it difficult, if not impossible, to rent or purchase property to conduct religious services. During the period covered by this report, the government-run media continued to attack non Orthodox religious groups. Despite continued harassment, some minority faiths have been able to function if they maintain a low profile, while others have openly declared their refusal to seek reregistration under the new religion law.
The generally amicable relationship among religions in society contributed to religious freedom; however, anti-Semitism and negative attitudes toward minority faiths continued.
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom issues with the Government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights.
Section I. Religious Demography
The country has a total area of 80,154 square miles and its population is approximately 9,990,000.
The country historically has been an area of interaction, as well as competition and conflict, between Russian Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. The Government indicates that of all persons who profess a religious faith approximately 80 percent belong to the BOC and approximately 15 to 20 percent are either practicing Roman Catholics or identify themselves with the Roman Catholic Church. Between 50,000 and 90,000 persons identify themselves as Jewish. There are a number of Protestants and adherents to the Greek Rite Catholic Church and the BAOC. Other minority religious faiths include, but are not limited to: Hare Krishnas, Hindus, Baha'i, Seventh day Adventist, Old Believer, Muslim, Jehovah's Witnesses, Apostolic Christian, Calvinist, and Lutheran. A small community of ethnic Tatars, with roots dating back to the 11th century, practices Sunni Islam.
The country was designated an Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1989, thereby creating the BOC. Under the leadership of Patriarchal Exarch Filaret, the number of parishes throughout the country had grown to approximately 1,290 by the end of the period covered by this report. There were approximately 400 Roman Catholic parishes in the country. The head of the Roman Catholic Church generally does not involve the Church in political issues. The cardinal has prohibited the display of all national and political symbols in churches.
It is estimated that approximately 120,000 citizens were considered to have Jewish 'nationality' near the end of the Soviet period in 1989, compared to between 50,000 and 90,000 at the end of the period covered by this report. At least half of the present Jewish population is thought to live in or near Minsk. A majority of the country's Jewish population is not actively religious. Of those who are, most are believed to be either Reform or Conservative. There is also a small but active Lubavitch community. In 2002, a Jewish community center in Minsk opened with assistance from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Agency.
Adherents of Protestant faiths, while still small, are growing in number. Since 1990 the number of Protestant congregations, registered and unregistered, has more than doubled. According to government and independent sources, it now totals more than 1,000. The two largest Protestant groups are registered under separate Pentecostal and Baptist unions. A significant number of Protestant churches, including charismatic and Pentecostal churches, remain unregistered.
There are a number of congregations of the Greek Rite Catholic Church, which once had a membership of approximately three quarters of the country's population but suffered from severe persecution under Russian and Soviet rule. Following the 1991 reestablishment of Belarusian independence, the attempt to revive the Church, which maintains Orthodox rituals but is in communion with the Vatican, has had only limited success.
The Muslim organization, the Spiritual Office of Muslims, was established in 2002 following a split within the Belarusian Muslim Religious Association, the main organizational body of the 30,000 Muslims in the country. Although the Spiritual Office of Muslims claims that 90 percent of the Muslim community belongs to this new Muslim organization, this claim cannot be confirmed.
Section II. Status of Freedom of Religion
Legal/Policy Framework
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion; however, the Government restricts this right in practice. Although the 1996 amended Constitution reaffirms the equality of religions and denominations before the law, it also contains restrictive language that stipulates that cooperation between the State and religious organizations "is regulated with regard for their influence on the formation of spiritual, cultural, and country traditions of the Belarusian people." The Committee of Religious and Nationalities Affairs of the Council of Ministers (CRNA) regulates all religious matters in the country.
In 2002, President Lukashenko formally signed a new religion law into effect, despite protests from international and domestic human rights organizations, the European Union, and domestic religious groups, including Orthodox religious groups not affiliated with the BOC. The law recognizes the "determining role of the Orthodox Church in the historical formation and development of spiritual, cultural and state traditions of the Belarusian people" as well as the historical importance of the Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Judaism, Sunni Islam, and Evangelical Lutheranism, groups commonly referred to as traditional faiths in society. Despite the fact that the law states its intention to guarantee religious freedom, the law contains a number of very restrictive elements that increase the Government's control of the activities of religious groups. It requires all religious groups to receive prior governmental approval to import and distribute literature and prevents foreigners from leading religious organizations, yet it denies groups the right to establish religious schools to train their own clergy. Further, the law established complex registration requirements that many religious groups, both traditional and nontraditional, have difficulty fulfilling. The new law requires all previously registered groups to reregister by November 2004 and banned immediately at the passing of the law all religious activity by unregistered religious groups.
The new law established a three-tiered structure of religious groups: religious communities, religious associations, and republican religious associations. Religious communities, or local individual religious organizations, must comprise 20 people over the age of 18 who must live in neighboring areas. To register, the community must submit a list of founders with their full names, places of residence, citizenships, and signatures; copies of their founding statutes; minutes of their founding meeting; and permission confirming the community's right to any property indicated in their founding statues. For those communities practicing religions not previously known to the Government, information on their faith must also be submitted. According to the law, the Oblast Executive Committees (for those groups outside of Minsk) or the Minsk City Executive Committee handle all application requests. While the law denies communities the right to establish institutions to train religious clergy, it permits them to operate Sunday schools.
Religious associations are comprised of 10 communities, 1 of which must have been active in the country for at least 20 years and can only be formed by a Republican (national level) religious association. To register, associations must provide a list of members of the managing body with biographical information, proof of permission that the association can be located at its designated location, and minutes from the founding congress of the association. By law associations have the exclusive right to establish religious educational institutions, invite foreigners to work with respective religious groups, and organize cloister and monastic communities.
Republican religious associations are formed only when there are active religious communities in the majority of the oblasts in the country. By law all applications to establish associations and Republican associations must be submitted to the CRNA.
The law also requires the reregistration of all religious groups that were registered before the passage of the new religion law. While the reregistration process is not clearly defined in the law, in practice the process of reregistration is similar to the general registration process. Previously registered religious communities are able to be reregistered with a minimum of 10 members, as opposed to the 20 needed for registering a new community.
According to the CRNA, as of June, 80 percent of all previously registered religious communities have reregistered. This figure reflects that 95 percent of Orthodox communities and Roman Catholic communities, 80 percent of Jewish communities, 70 percent of Protestant communities, 54 percent of Greek Catholic communities, and 50 percent of Hare Krishna communities have successfully reregistered. The CRNA reported that the only group to be denied reregistration during the period covered by this report was a Muslim community that was unable to meet the required number of people needed to reregister a religious community. The denial was not challenged by the two main Belarusian Muslim organizations. Members of the Greek Catholic Church reported that as of June, local level officials were hampering efforts by Greek Catholic communities to reregister.
A concordat between the BOC and the Government guarantees the BOC autonomy in its internal affairs and the ability to fulfill all religious rights, as well as the right to consider itself in a special relationship with the State. It recognizes the BOC's "influence on the formulation of spiritual, cultural and national traditions of the Belarusian people." The concordat calls for the Government and the BOC to cooperate in implementing policy in various fields, including education, development and protection of cultural legacies, and security. Although it states that the agreement will not limit the religious freedoms of other faiths, the concordat calls for the Government and the BOC to combat unnamed "pseudo-religious structures that present a danger to individuals and society." During the period covered by this report, the BOC has signed cooperative agreements with the Ministries of Health, Labor, Emergency Situations, Culture, Defense, Education, Sports and Tourism, and the Academy of Sciences.
In March, the National Intellectual Property Center granted the BOC the exclusive right to use the word "Orthodox" in its title and granted the BOC the exclusive right to use the image of the Cross of Euphrosynia, the patroness saint of Belarus, as its symbol. These moves are seen as further instruments to solidify the standing of the BOC as the only Orthodox faith permitted to exist in Belarus. This move could further restrict the ability of other Orthodox faiths that are not under the jurisdiction of Moscow, such as the BAOC and the True Orthodox faith, to exist in the country.
The Government refers to groups that it does not consider to be traditional faiths as "nontraditional," and government officials and state media also widely use the term "sect" when referring to nontraditional religious groups, although it is not an official designation. The Government generally considers Protestant groups to be nontraditional, but it also considers some of them to be sects. As of January, there were 27 registered religions and 2,863 religious communities: 1,290 Belarusian Orthodox, 566 Evangelical Christian, 432 Roman Catholic, 270 Baptist, 63 Seventh Day Adventist, 43 Jewish, 27 Muslim, and 13 Greek Catholic. This figure also includes other religious communities belonging to several other religious groups. Some congregations are registered only on a local basis, which provides limited rights; only religious organizations registered nationally are allowed to invite foreign religious workers and open new churches. While all registered religious organizations enjoy tax exempt status, government subsidies are limited to the BOC. Protestant groups reported that tax authorities repeatedly fined them for their failure to pay taxes on assistance provided to destitute families and individuals. Government employees are not required to take any kind of religious oath or practice elements of a particular faith.
Under regulations issued in 2001, the Government requires an inviting organization to make a written request to invite foreign clergy, including the dates and reason for the visit. Even if the visit is for nonreligious purposes such as charitable activities, representatives must obtain a visa and permission from the CRNA. The CRNA has 20 days in which to respond, and there is no provision for appeal of the CRNA's decision. Legislation restricts "subversive activities" by foreign organizations in the country and prohibits the establishment of offices of foreign organizations whose activities incite "national, religious and racial enmity" or could "have negative effects on the physical and mental health of the people."
Restrictions on Religious Freedom
The Government increased its harassment of religious groups based not only upon the religion law but also on directives that provide additional rules and requirements for religious groups that are not outlined in the law.
According to official statistics, in the first 6 months of 2004 the CRNA registered 38 new religious communities, 7 of which were Protestant communities, as well as 9 religious organizations. However, during the period covered by this report, the CRNA continued to delay the registration of the Church of Scientology. At the end of the period covered by this report, the still unregistered BAOC was preparing to submit documents for reregistration.
According to the Forum 18 News Service, on October 23 citing "crude violations" of the law in Nesvizh "predominately by Protestant communities" and the need to improve local officials' ability to "regulate the ethnic-confessional situation," Vladimir Lameko, Vice Chairman of the CRNA, ordered local officials to increase monitoring of the activity of religious organizations, carry out regular visits during worship services and meetings with religious leaders, and conduct regular checks on unregistered religious groups to terminate their activities. In addition Lameko ordered local officials to prevent the main Polish minority organization in the country from using property owned by the Roman Catholic Church, and to conduct "systematic work" with local Catholic leaders to ensure that foreign Catholic religious workers use Belarusian or Russian in their sermons. Following Lameko's order, representatives from the Union Evangelical Faith Christians and Baptist communities reported that teachers questioned children who belong to these churches about their attendance at religious ceremonies to determine which students were attending Protestant ceremonies.
With or without official registration, some faiths have encountered difficulty renting or purchasing property to establish places of worship, difficulty building churches (e.g., the Greek Catholics and Protestant groups), or openly training clergy.
Citizens theoretically are not prohibited from proselytizing and may speak freely about their religious beliefs; however, authorities often intervene to prevent, interfere with, or punish individuals who proselytize on behalf of some registered and unregistered religions. The Government continued to enforce a 1995 Council of Ministers decree that regulates the activities of religious workers. A 1997 Council of Ministers directive permits the teaching of religion at youth camps for registered religious groups.
Foreign missionaries are not permitted to engage in religious activities outside of the institutions that invited them. The law requires 1 year, multiple entry "spiritual activities" visas for foreign missionaries. According to the CRNA, in 2003 Belarusian religious associations invited 956 foreign religious workers, including 254 who arrived specifically to participate in religious activities. Despite these figures, religious groups continue to experience difficulties in obtaining visas, even those that have a long history in the country. As a result of its revival since 1991, the Roman Catholic Church has experienced a shortage of qualified native clergy. At times the Church has had difficulty obtaining permission from authorities to bring in a sufficient number of foreign religious workers, primarily from Poland, to make up for the shortage. Members of the Hare Krishna community continued to report that existing legislation prevents them from inviting foreign clergy to participate in religious activities with their community, and they have not applied for any foreigners to visit them in the country.
As a result of its agreement with various government agencies, the BOC is reportedly able to enjoy beneficial tax rates on land and property, while other faiths are not always able to do so. The Protestant community claimed that Protestant churches would lose their land and property tax benefits if they leased their spare property to others that are affiliated with their faith. Having a lease agreement is an indispensable condition to secure a legal address and subsequently apply for registration as a religious group or church. Similarly, unlike the BOC, Protestant churches have lost their land and property tax benefits in instances when buildings affiliated with a church have been constructed adjacent to one another on the same property.
According to the BAOC, local officials in the Minsk Oblast town of Primorye banned two BAOC priests from entering the city after they had illegally conducted religious services there. Approval for visits by foreign clergy or religious workers often involves a lengthy bureaucratic process. Internal affairs agencies may expel foreign clergymen from the country by not extending their registration or by denying them temporary stay permits. These authorities may make decisions on expulsion on their own or based on recommendations from Religious Affairs Councils, regional executive committees, or the Religious Affairs Department of the Executive Committee of the city of Minsk.
Since April 2003, Grodno city authorities have repeatedly denied the registration of a foreign rabbi because he does not speak Belarusian or Russian.
According to the Government, the law permits residential property to be used for religious services once it has been converted from residential use. The Housing Code permits the use of such property for nonresidential purposes with the permission of local executive and administrative bodies. Since 2000, local authorities have enforced this statute, effectively requiring all religious organizations to reregister their properties. Government figures indicated in 2002 that 110 religious communities, including 34 Protestant denominations, had their property registered through this process; however, authorities continue to deny permission to many Protestant churches, as well as other nontraditional faiths, which become caught in circular requirements. They are denied permission to convert their properties for religious uses because these groups are not registered religious groups. However, an organization must have a legal address to register. Religious groups that cannot register often are forced to meet illegally or in the homes of individual members.
According to the CRNA, in 2003 there were 227 buildings built for religious purposes, including 42 buildings for use by Protestants. However, during the period covered by this report, many traditional and nontraditional religious groups continued to experience problems obtaining property, due to government efforts to restrict the ability of these groups to establish houses of worship. In December city authorities in Slonim pressured the director of a local meeting hall to cancel a rental contract he had made with the New Generation Full Gospel Church.
While Protestants and Greek Catholics reported that they had been able to rent space in meeting halls for religious services more successfully than in previous years, nontraditional religious groups continued to be denied space in meeting halls to conduct prayer services. According to the Association of Full Gospel Christians, during the period covered by this report Minsk authorities rejected at least five applications from the Church to rent space at a local meeting hall. During the same period, Protestants filed numerous requests to the CRNA to allow them to rent property to worship, most recently in June. In its responses, the CRNA claimed that only local authorities decide whether or not to grant such permission.
In 2003, local authorities rescinded an earlier decision to allocate property to a Pentecostal community in the town of Druzhnii, claiming that the group should first ascertain the public opinion of the town. Oblast authorities overruled the decision and local authorities have since offered the community three plots of land from which to choose. Authorities continue to deny permission to the registered New Life Evangelical Church to build a building to be used for religious purposes in Minsk. They first tried to build a church and then a social center, but they have been unable to do either.
In February, the reconstruction of a mosque in downtown Minsk that was razed during Soviet times commenced and is expected to be completed in 2005.
In 2002, local authorities in the Minsk Oblast town of Borovlyani refused to permit a registered Full Gospel community to renovate a privately built home into a church. Though the community had received all necessary permission from local authorities, the religious affairs office rejected the application outright. The CRNA office cited a letter it received from several Orthodox townspeople that accused members of the Full Gospel community of illegally entering homes to proselytize, stealing Orthodox crosses from those wearing them, and belonging to an unregistered "sect." The local BOC priest reportedly prepared the letter. Despite the group's appeal to the Procurator General to prove these charges, no investigation has occurred. As of June, the CRNA had yet to approve the church's renovation.
There were no reports of religious groups being evicted from property during the period covered by this report; however, authorities continued to break up unsanctioned religious gatherings in apartments.
A government decree specifies measures to ensure public order and safety during general public gatherings, which some meeting hall officials have cited as a basis for canceling or refusing to extend agreements with religious groups for the use of their facilities. According to the Forum 18 News Service, in March Minsk city authorities rejected a request by the Calvinist Reformed Church to conduct an international conference devoted to the 450th anniversary of the Church's founding in the country. The Church was reportedly informed by Minsk city authorities that the Church had no right to conduct an international conference since the organization was not registered as a republican religious association, despite the fact that the religion law enables religious organizations to invite foreigners to participate in meetings, pilgrimages, and other activities.
Although it is registered officially, the Greek Catholic Church has experienced problems with the Government because of historical tensions between it and the Orthodox Church and its emphasis on the use of the Belarusian language. While the Greek Catholic Church reported that it has been easier to rent facilities for worship than in previous years, their ability to conduct regular worship at these locations is restricted by the high financial costs for securing the proper permits.
While there were no reported publications of anti-Protestant articles in state-owned periodicals, state-owned periodicals continued to attack other nontraditional faiths. An article in the April 16 issue of Znamya Novosti printed an article titled "Are There Means to Save the Soul?" which describes the activities of destructive "sects" in Belarus. According to the article, there are around 370 "sects" in Belarus; among the most "dangerous" of which are the Unification Church, the "Church of Christ", and the Church of Scientology.
An article in the March 26 issue of the state-owned newspaper Minski Kurier printed information critical of adherents to the Unification Church and Hare Krishnas. The article claimed that in 1997, Hare Krishnas were designated as a "destructive totalitarian sect." According to a representative of the Hare Krishna community, the authorities never made such a designation. After being confronted by the Hare Krishnas, the journalist of the article admitted that this false information was provided by the BKGB, something later confirmed by the BKGB.
In March 2003, the Ministry of Education released a textbook titled Religious Conduct for use in religious instruction that describes Hare Krishnas, evangelical Christians, and Scientologists as "neocults" and "sects." Although the book remained in use during the period covered by this report, there were no reports of any negative consequences against students adhering to these faiths. Man, Society, and State, another textbook promoting similar ideas, also remains in use in Belarusian schools. After conducting an examination of both books, the CRNA and the Ministry of Education determined that the use of the word "sect" was a "scientific" word, and did not label Hare Krishnas or Protestants as antisocial.
