human rights workers call "Europe’s most restrictive" religion law, BosNewsLife monitored Saturday, November 2.
U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesman Philip T. Reeker seemed to share concern that the legislation, signed October 31, will force especially non Orthodox Christians and other groups to go underground or to leave the country, as during the Soviet era.
"We join the European Union and members of many faiths in our opposition to this law, which appears intended primarily to hinder and prevent the activities of religious groups that the Lukashenko regime considers "non-traditional" faiths," Reeker said in a statement.
He stressed the law "also places unacceptable restrictions" on all faiths in some measure, "as it requires permission from government authorities for religious processions and other activities, such as masses, weddings, funerals, and religious meetings."
BANS RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY
The controversial legislation bans unregistered religious activity, requires compulsory prior censorship for all religious literature, and forbids foreign citizens from leading religious organizations.
In addition religious education is restricted to faiths that have ten registered communities, including at least one that had registration in 1982, and there is a ban on all but occasional, small religious meetings in private homes.
Pastor Lyavon Lipen of the registered Reformed Church spoke for several Protestant Christians when he told Keston News Service (KNS) earlier that the law was "highly discriminatory" and warned that "active believers" could soon be imprisoned.
BIBLE READING "PUNISHED"
"Any attempt to read the Bible with people will be punished by fines" he said, adding that "it may go further than that." A representative of the Vatican stressed that the law could also make it more difficult for the Catholic Church in Belarus, as half of the 300 priests are from abroad.
"The community is already here. Unfortunately we have been left without priests and it is difficult to train them in a very short period of time," Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, the Vatican nuncio in the capital Minsk told KNS, this week.
Reflecting the views of concerned believers, U.S. official Reeker said the "Lukashenko regime" must "take the necessary measures to ensure that Belarusian citizens, regardless of religious faith, have the same opportunities to conduct worship without hindrance."
ORTHODOX CHURCH BACKS LAW
He added that this should be done "in keeping with international norms on the freedom of religion." Although the religion law is expected to further isolate the former Soviet republic of over 10 million people, the Russian Orthodox Church main leadership has backed the new law.
Several Orthodox priests and laypeople however oppose its restrictive positions, said KNS, which monitors religious persecution. The Belarus human rights group "Charter 97" has warned that "the most repressive" law of its kind in Europe, will force many religious practitioners, including evangelical Christians, to leave the country.
In an interview published on the Charter 97 website, an editor of the evangelical magazine "Blagodat", Sergei Kornushko, said recently that the legislation "legitimizes the dominance of one religious organization over the rest." He warned that while "previously there used to be immigration for economic reasons…now there will appear another reason: (the) present-day religious situation."
