Russian Bill Deals Blow to Freedom for Religions

Russia’s leadership ignored a chorus of denunciations from around the world Friday when the lower house of parliament adopted a law hobbling religious activity by foreign missionaries and Russian faiths that refused to curry favor with the atheist leaders of the Communist era.

The law on freedom of conscience and religious associations, passed by the state Duma on an unusually cohesive 358-6 vote, was heralded by Communists and nationalists as long-sought protection for Russia’s “traditional religions” from a proselytizing onslaught of foreign churches.

But curbs on missionary work that have been condemned by the Vatican, the U.S. Senate and Western human rights organizations now have the backing of President Boris N. Yeltsin.

Yeltsin’s office wrote the latest version of the bill after the president vetoed a draft in July, deeming it unconstitutional for its failure to treat all religions equally. The U.S. Senate had threatened to block $200 million in aid to Russia if that bill became law.

The revised draft retains the most contentious points of its predecessor and makes it even tougher for religions not already represented in Russia to establish any following in the future.

The draft will likely become law by the end of the year. Endorsement by the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, and Yeltsin’s signature are considered almost foregone conclusions.

The idea of the law is to create a barrier against religious expansion in Russia, prevent development of totalitarian sects, limit the activities of foreign missionaries and, at the same time, create conditions supportive of Russia’s traditional religions, said Viktor Zorkaltsev, chairman of the Duma’s committee on religion.

Yeltsin’s representative in the opposition-controlled Duma, Alexander Kotenkov, also praised the compromise as a fair means of establishing which religious communities “have proven their loyalty to society.”

Most disturbing, in the view of the law’s critics, is its requirement that a religious community must have been active in Russia for at least 15 years to be recognized as a traditional faith. That presumably excludes all but the Russian Orthodox Church, which maintained a symbiotic relationship with the Soviet police state, and officially sanctioned communities of Muslims, Jews and Buddhists.

Although some groups of Catholics and Baptists were also active under Communist rule, critics of the bill say its terms are too vague in defining what constituted legal existence to ensure that those communities will be registered as traditional faiths.

“This is not a law that protects tradition but a law that protects Stalinism, as it protects only those religious bodies that were most loyal to the Soviet state,” said Lawrence Uzzell, Moscow representative for Britain’s Keston Institute, which monitors religious freedom in Russia.

Uzzell noted that even the old believers’ sect that parted with the Orthodox Church and exiled branches of that faith would appear to be ineligible for traditional status.

He described as “manifestly unconstitutional” the division of religions into categories and the shackles placed on all but the officially sanctioned few.

The Russian Orthodox Church hailed the legislation as “the fruit of an intelligent and difficult compromise,” Archbishop Sergy of Solnechnogorsk, who administers the Moscow Patriarchate, told the Interfax news agency.

For centuries the dominant religion in imperial Russia, Orthodoxy has flourished since the collapse of the atheistic Communist state. But in the face of strengthening competition for the hearts, minds and money of the masses, Orthodox leaders have lashed out against what they see as intruders on their spiritual turf.

“Only Orthodoxy” should be allowed in Russia, nationalist deputy Vladimir V. Zhirinovsky taunted evangelical Christians who sang hymns and brandished placards in a small protest of the controversial bill outside the Duma.

Former national security chief Alexander I. Lebed, another populist politician feeding Russian hostility toward foreign missionaries, has lumped Mormons together with Japan’s extremist Aum Supreme Truth sect in condemning foreign religious activists as “scum.”

Under the draft law passed by the Duma, religious communities that fail to meet the 15-year requirement would be barred from producing or distributing religious literature, inviting foreigners to worship, forming educational establishments or holding services in hospitals, schools, orphanages, prisons, barracks or retirement homes.

Yeltsin’s revision of the original Communist draft purportedly made 37 changes, but most were technical tweakings that did little to address opponents’ concerns.

The president’s version did, however, drop clauses prohibiting missionaries from opening bank accounts or renting property.

One change criticized as even more restrictive than the original bill was a ban on all “religious activities” by any group that might seek to establish representation in Russia in the future. That basically closes the door to those not already active in Russia.

“Yeltsin basically caved in” to pressures from the Orthodox Church, commented Diederik Lohman, director of the Moscow office of Human Rights Watch/Helsinki.

The draft law is “grossly discriminating,” he said, and is destined to be condemned by the Council of Europe.

The council last year extended membership to Russia on the condition that it bring laws and practices on human rights issues into conformity with Western standards.

“But the chances Yeltsin will veto the bill are very, very small,” Lohman said.