WRITTEN QUESTION E-2183/03 by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission. Further violations of religious freedom and legal restrictions on religious practice in Belarus.
Date: 2003-06-30
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Belarus, EU relations, church-State relations, freedom of religious beliefs

C 88 E/384

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

Balyk and his lawyer, Nina Shavtsova, claim that the current legislation creates a vicious circle.

According to the new, more restrictive law on religion, which came into force last November:

(a) an organisation can be registered and function legally only when it is made up of at least 20 members;
however, according to the administrative code, a religious organisation cannot conduct religious
activity without being registered;

(b) only large national religious organisations, or those made up of a minimum of ten communities in at
least four of the country’s six regions, have the right to found monasteries, convents or other
educational institutions for the exercise of religious activity.

New organisations must be registered and those already in existence have until 16 November 2004 to
conform to the guidelines required by the new law and thereby be able to continue operating.

According to Article 19 of the new law, monasteries, convents and other monastic institutions must be
made up of a minimum of ten participants, while educational institutions must have qualified bilingual
(Russian and Belarusian) teachers.

At the current time very few Belarusian organisations are in a position to meet the law’s requirements and
thus be able to continue to conduct religious activity.

In view of the excellent relations that exist between the EU and Belarus in terms of economic and trade
cooperation, can the Commission state:

(cid:1) whether it is aware of these facts; and

(cid:1) what initiatives, within the limits of the cooperation relationship, could constitute a serious and

effective instrument to make Belarus respect freedom of religion?

(2004/C 88 E/0391)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2183/03

by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission

(30 June 2003)

Subject: Further violations of religious freedom and legal restrictions on religious practice in Belarus

On the evening of 1 June, a group of armed police burst into a private apartment in the capital, Minsk,
interrupting a Hindu meditation ritual.

The leader of the group, Natalya Solovyova, said that the raid had occurred exactly one week after a
similar meditation meeting had been interrupted in another part of the city.

The Hindu group was not fined for meeting, but was threatened with legal repercussions, including prison,
after having been dismissed as a sect by the police.

On no occasion have the authorities cited any legal grounds for such raids.

The group had attempted unsuccessfully to register before the entry into force of the more restrictive law
on religion introduced last November.

No official responsible for national or local religious affairs,
including Alla Ryabitseva, head of the
Department for Ethnic and Religious Affairs in Minsk, has provided an explanation of the grounds for the
armed raids on these meetings.

8.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 88 E/385

In view of the foregoing, and of the excellent cooperation existing between the European Union and
Belarus in economic and trade matters:

(cid:1) Is the Commission aware of the facts stated here?

(cid:1) What initiatives, in the field of cooperation, might represent a serious and effective means of inducing

Belarus to uphold freedom of religion?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-2139/03 and E-2183/03
given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(28 July 2003)

At the outset it is worth recalling that in September 1997 the Council concluded that the EC and their
Member States would conclude neither the interim agreement nor the Partnership and Co-operation
Agreement (PCA) with Belarus and that the implementation of Community and Member states technical
assistance programmes would be halted, except in the case of humanitarian or regional projects or those
which directly support the democratisation process.

The suspension of the ratification of the PCA and the freezing of interim agreement strongly limits trade
and economic relations between the Union and Belarus.

Member States and the Commission are aware of the law on religion introduced last November 2002 in
Belarus, and are deeply concerned about some of its provisions and the way it is applied. The Union has
also expressed these concerns in the context of the Organisation on Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE), of which Belarus is a member. The Commission is disturbed by the two cases referred to by the
Honourable Member.

The Commission would like to reiterate that it attaches great importance to the rights of freedom of
religion, belief and expression. The Union has repeatedly affirmed that human rights and democratisation
must form an integral part of all political dialogues with third countries. Religious freedom, as one of the
fundamental human rights, as well as the rights of religious minorities are thus addressed through the
Union’s bilateral political dialogues, and, when appropriate, through démarches and public declarations, as
well as through Union’s action in fora such as the United Nations (UN) Commission on Human Rights or
the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly.

The Commission remains committed to support freedom of religion and Human Rights in Belarus, in close
co-operation with Member States, the Council of Europe, OSCE and the United Nations and will continue
to raise the issue with Belarus in all possible fora. The Commission is not aware of any further initiative,
within the limit of the cooperation framework, which could constitute a serious and effective instrument
to make Belarus respect freedom of religion.

(2004/C 88 E/0392)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2140/03

by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission

(26 June 2003)

Subject: Violation of freedom of religion in Uzbekistan

four Jehovah’s Witnesses suffered physical violence at

In May 2003,
local authority
representatives near Kagan police station, having been caught praying in the street. One of them was left
unconscious and another, according to the medical report, suffered damage to the skull caused by blows to
the head. The police deny that the four were victims of violence. The courts are undecided as to whether
to pursue criminal or administrative proceedings against the four.

the hands of