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V. POLITICAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS: ISSUES ON COMPLIANCE AND PROTECTION

5.3. RIGHT OF UKRAINIAN CITIZENS TO FREEDOM OF BELIEF AND RELIGION

In considering the issue of ensuring the right of Ukrainian citizens to freedom of personal philosophy and religion, the Commissioner for Human Rights proceeds from the fact that the modern world is undergoing a process of rethinking and a new perception of fundamental human values that form the foundations of the rights and freedoms of man, his dignity and spiritual sovereignty. Referred to the latter are also freedom of opinion, conscience and religion. Freedom of conscience is closely interrelated with the attitudinal foundations of human existence and is a natural inalienable right of every human being to a free choice of corresponding spiritual values and bearings harmonized with his own conscience. The practical exercise of the right to freedom of conscience within the context of international legal standards constitutes an important criterion of the humanistic essence of the state and its democratic nature.

The Commissioner for Human Rights also takes into account the fact that the world and European communities have found it necessary to make provisions on freedom of conscience in international instruments, primarily in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 18), Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Article 9), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 18), and the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. These provisions are reflected in Article 35 of the Ukrainian Constitution, which clearly stipulates the right of every citizen to freedom of personal philosophy and religion, which includes the freedom of each individual to profess or not to profess any religion and to pursue religious activity. Important is the constitutional provision on separation of the Church from the state and the school from the Church, and that no religion shall be recognized by the state as mandatory.

On April 23, 1991 Ukraine adopted the basic law governing all legal relations pertaining to freedom of conscience and the activities of religious organizations – the Law On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations, which was modified by the laws of February 19 and April 23, 1992, May 5 and December 23, 1993, December 22, 1995, December 17, 1996, and December 17, 1996. Another important instrument governing legal relations between believers and the state is the Law On Alternative Military Service adopted on December 12, 1991 and modified and adopted in a new wording on February 18, 1999.

According to experts of developed countries, Ukrainian legislation on freedom of conscience and religion is, on the whole, democratic and complies with international standards. Over the past few years it was instrumental in a religious revival in Ukraine and, consequently, the exercise of the citizens’ right to freedom of personal philosophy and conscience. This has been supported by the results of sociological studies, specifically surveys conducted by the Ukrainian Center for Economic and Political Studies (UCEPS, see Table 5.2).

Table 5.2. Self-determination of the Ukrainian population with regard to belief and religion: socio-demographic characteristics, % of respondents^*

Judging from this data, slightly over a half of Ukraine’s population identify themselves as believers, while 23% are undecided and, given certain circumstances, may join the believers.

The Commissioner for Human Rights believes that favorable conditions were created in Ukraine for the invigoration of religious life. The state has set up a legal framework for the exercise of the freedom of personal philosophy and religion. Over a rather short period of time after the country gained independence millions of people have returned to the moral and ethical values that previously were rejected by official ideology. Ukraine has become a truly multi-religious state.

There are sufficient grounds to assert that to date the citizens’ right to freedom of personal philosophy and religion has, in the main, been ensured at a sufficiently high level, even comparatively better than other human right.

According to the State Committee for Religion, 52 religions as practiced by 23,543 religious organizations^** were represented in our country as of January 1, 2000, including 22,718 officially registered religious communities embracing up to 90 denominations, movements and currents. This is 9,699 communities more that in 1992. The numerically largest communities are represented by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) – 8,490 (37.4%), Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) – 2,491 (11.0%), Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) – 3,240 (14.3%), Ukrainian Union of Evangelist Christians Baptists – 1,944 (8.5%), and Ukrainian Union of Evangelist Churches (Pentecostals) – 1,117 (4.9%).

The Orthodox Church holds first place, accounting for 12,396 organizations or 52.7% of their total number. Currently, Ukrainian Orthodoxy does not have a single institutional framework. There are three large Orthodox denominations – Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), as well as eight small groups professing different versions of Orthodoxy.

The second largest is the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church – 3,356 communities or 14.3% of the total number of religious groups. Over one-fourth (26.5%) of the religious organizations represent various Protestant denominations.

With the exception of new religious groups, the existing institutional religious network reflects the religious proportions that are traditional for Ukraine (Figure 5.2).

Figure 5.2 Confessional breakdown of the religious institutional network

Traditional Christian churches are demonstrating a stable development. Since 1992 through 1999, almost 5,000 Orthodox communities were registered. Without belittling the importance of other canonical churches with historic roots in Ukraine, one can say that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is the mother of the Ukrainian people and the cradle of its mentality, character and customs. Kyiv is rightfully referred to as the capital of independent Ukraine, the Mother of Rus cities, from where Orthodoxy started to spread all over the Rus lands. In 1999, the number of all religious communities increased by 1,584 as compared to 1998, including 347 non-traditional churches that are new in Ukraine.

Monasteries. Since 1985 the number of monasteries increased 28 times, while the number of monks and nuns only 8.4 times. On average, the number of monks and nuns per one monastery is 20. Such a rate of growth shows that the monastic life of churches is still in the making.

Clergy. As of January 1, 2000, the clergy numbered 21,281 (including 650 foreign nationals). Generally, the increase in the number of clerics matched the expansion of the network of religious organizations, communities in the first place (Figure 5.3).

Figure 5.3 Number of clergy

Ecclesiastical educational institutions. An increase in the number of religious communities was followed by an enhanced demand for clergy and the need for proselytism and evangelization prompted religious organizations to step up ecclesiastical training. In the period from 1993 to 1999 the number of ecclesiastical educational institutions grew from 34 to 121. The student body of ecclesiastical schools of various religions increased fourfold – from 3,587 in early 1993 to 15,885 as of January 1, 2000 (Figure 5.4).

Figure 5.4 Number of ecclesiastical educational institutions

The data presented above clearly demonstrate that everyone in Ukraine has a real opportunity to profess any religion, both traditional and the new ones. Believers are not limited in the opportunity to associate in any type of religious community and pursue religious activities. In the future Ukraine is expected to have a sufficient number of churches and religious communities to satisfy all the religious requirements of our citizens.

However, as the Commissioner points out, it is more difficult to resolve the problem of providing buildings and premises needed for religious practice. According to the State Committee for Religion, religious communities as of January 1, 2000 had 16,637 buildings and premises adjusted for worshiping purposes, out of which 8,167 were transferred to ownership and 4,404 are in use without property rights, including 3,693 architectural monuments and 4,066 premises adjusted for worshiping purposes. Ten thousand religious items were transferred to the communities. Additionally, the religious communities are renting 3,979 premises. Incidentally, before 1918 Ukraine had around 12,500 Orthodox, 3,500 Greek Catholic and 1,000 Roman Catholic churches and 1,000 Protestant prayer houses, i.e. their total exceeded the current number by 2,000. Since construction of places of worship has been going on at an intensive pace (2,597 places of worship were completed in the period from 1992 to 1999 and another 1,836 were under construction), it can be expected that this issue will be resolved in the next few years.

However, the Commissioner for Human Rights believes that the exercise of the citizens’ right to freedom of personal philosophy and religion to date is limited to a certain extent by the shortage of places of worship.

The analysis of appeals to the Commissioner for Human Rights shows that the problem of shortage of premises accounts for almost 60% of the appeals filed by believers. In compliance with Article 17 of the Law On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations, this issue is partly resolved by transferring places of worship and property for rotational use to two or more religious organizations. As of January 1, 2000, 284 such premises were given for rotational use. Regrettably, in many cases this has provoked conflict situations between the religious communities. The most acute disputes occurred in Transcarpathia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Rivne and Lviv oblasts. Out of 200 inhabited localities, where acute inter-confessional confrontations occur, the western region accounts for the largest number of conflicts.

According to Ukrainian legislation, the settlement of property disputes between legal entities is not within the competence of the Commissioner for Human Rights. Nevertheless, being well aware that behind the issue of places of worship are the issues of freedom to profess a religion, the Commissioner has more than once addressed the Ukrainian State Committee for Religion, regional and district administrations with a request to facilitate the settlement of this problem. Notably, the response of the state bodies to the appeals of the Commissioner was positive and the issues that were raised were resolved locally. However, the shortage of places of worship continues to present one of the most acute problems of religious life in Ukraine. To settle it, all places of worship and church property will have to be returned to the religious organizations. To this end special legal mechanisms will have to be adopted as an important and necessary step for ensuring the rights of believers, because the return of the property to religious organizations is viewed as the material foundation for the exercise of the citizens’ right to freedom of religious belief.

In compliance with Article 17 of the Law On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations, the Presidential Edict On Measures for the Return of Church Property to Religious Organizations of March 4, 1992 and the Presidential Instruction of June 22, 1994 stipulate that places of worship can not only be used at no charge, but – under certain conditions – the property rights to them can be conveyed to religious organizations. These very important provisions prove that freedom of conscience and religion is being really restored in our society.

But experience shows that the principle of rotation of churches has demonstrated its incapacity to settle the problem of providing religious communities of different confessions with places of worship.

This has been proved by numerous appeals addressed to the Commissioner. For instance, 18 believers of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church community in the village of Tekucha, Kosiv district, Ivano-Frankivsk oblast, wrote in their appeal:

“In our village we have Greek Catholic and Autocephalous communities. There is one church which before 1946 belonged to the Greek Catholics. Now it is being used by the UAOC. By decision of the oblast rada No.170 of September 17, 1999 the UGCC community was granted the right for rotational service in the church that had been Greek Catholic anyway. In compliance with this resolution the community concluded within one month an agreement with the Kosiv district executive committee on November 5, 1991 to use the Church of the Holy Trinity in the village of Tekucha. But until now we are not using the church, because nobody wants to implement the resolution.

“All these years we are performing church services in the open air, in rain, snow and cold. The UAOC community does not let us even into the churchyard. We don’t have the opportunity to bury our believers in a Christian way, as we are not let into the church with the deceased. Much as we tried to complain to the district and oblasts authorities, it takes too long to settle our problem, while time is going on. Some people die, others marry, children are born, but where can we perform the services? Our grandparents and fathers built that church, and now were are wandering around its fence for eight years already.”

Here is yet another example of the same problem. The Commissioner received appeals from members of the UAOC community in the village of Dibrova, Rohatyn district, Ivano-Frankivsk oblast. By resolution of the Ivano-Frankivsk oblast rada the village church was transferred to the UAOC and UGCC communities for rotational use. But the UAOC community members complained that the resolution has not been implemented to this day: “The church is being used only by the Greek Catholic community. The Orthodox community has until now been performing church services in the churchyard both in summer and winter. The funerals are also held in the churchyard in front of the closed doors of the church”.

As commented on by the participants in the round-table discussion “Religion and the Authorities in Ukraine: Development of Legal Foundations of Interrelations in the New Draft law on Freedom of Personal Philosophy and Religious Organizations,” attended by the Commissioner, “The six year of experience in the rotational use of churches under the procedure set out in Article 17 of the current law has demonstrated its conflicting nature as well as the fact that religious organizations are made dependent on a frequently biased position of the local authorities and is constantly provoking confrontations between the Churches.”

The Commissioner supports the new wording of Article 17 of the Law On Introducing Amendments to the Law On Freedom of Personal Philosophy and Religious Organizations, which provide an opportunity to legally define who should adopt decisions on the rotational use of places of worship. It will prevent individual religious communities from abusing their right to the rotational use of churches and the local authorities from conniving at abuse. In the end, it will ensure the believers’ exercise of their rights.

The Commissioner has to note that, unfortunately, some local authorities, instead of ensuring citizens’ rights to freedom of conscience, specifically by transferring churches to religious communities or allocating land plots for church construction, actually violate these rights, provoke conflict situations and confrontation between members of different religions.

For instance in Lviv, UOC members were for a long time appealing to local authorities to have a land plot allocated for constructing a cathedral, since the St.George’s Church built in early 20th century for Russian World War I POWs was no longer adequate. Following is an abstract from their letter: “Notwithstanding our numerous appeals to the authorities of all levels over a period of seven years regarding the allotment of land for the construction of the cathedral and the eparchial board in Lviv, our petitions have not been satisfied to this day.”

But the city authorities ignored these appeals. On various pretexts the high-ranking state officials of Lviv disregarded the appeals of the believers over a period of seven years. Unfortunately, such cases are not rare.

The Commissioner deems it necessary to emphasize that over the past few years the state has made an important step to ensure the rights of some specific categories of believers. In particular, Article 35 of Constitution provides that in case the performance of military duty contradicts the religious beliefs of a citizen, it shall be replaced by alternative (non-military) service. In implementing this constitutional provision the Law On Alternative (Non-Military) Service is very instrumental.

Alternative service, as stipulated in Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No.360 of 30 June, 1992, can be performed in the following areas: social welfare, health, environmental protection, municipal economy, and agriculture. The same Resolution endorsed a list of currently operating religious organizations whose beliefs are against bearing arms and serving in the armed forces.

Since this law was enacted, almost 7,500 citizens performed alternative (non-military) service. As of January 1, 1999, 3,510 citizens were performing alternative (non-military) service, and at January 1, 2000 their number was 3,190. In 1999 the largest number of citizens were called out for alternative (non-military) service in Transcarpathia (14.1% of the total number), Volyn (12.2%) and Chernivtsi (9.1%) oblasts. There was also an increase in the draftees called out for alternative (non-military) service in Dnipropetrovsk and Khmelnytsky oblasts. The largest number of citizens were inducted into alternative service in the agricultural sector, accounting for 34.5% of all draftees in the autumn of 1999; in the municipal economy they accounted for 24.4%, social welfare 8.5%, and the health care system 12.5%.

The Commissioner assures that the exercise of the citizens’ rights to freedom of personal philosophy and religion is being facilitated by the constructive cooperation between the State and the Church, as they strictly adhere to the principle of separation of the Church and religious organizations from the State and the School from the Church.

The President, high-ranking state officials, and the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights hold regular meetings with members of the All-Ukraine Council of Churches and Religious Organizations to discuss important issues in the relations between the State and Church: return of former places of worship and property to the Church; ensuring proper state control over the ban on transferring assets previously owned by the Church to commercial entities and private persons; and cooperation between the Church and the social welfare system.

In order to put in place mechanisms for resolving these issues, the President issued a number of instructions to ministries and agencies for effecting necessary measures at the state level to deal with the negative consequences of the past in the attitudes to religions and churches.

The President’s Statement of June 11, 1999 on the moral and political rehabilitation of the Church and the real guarantee of the citizens’ freedom of conscience and religious freedoms produced a positive response among believers and religious circles. Ukraine has made legislative commitments to overcome the negative consequences of totalitarianism in respect to religions, churches and believers, and is striving to restore justice. To this end, the government drafted a package of legislation to improve the legal framework for the activities of religious organizations as well as the conditions for the exercise of their societal and spiritual mission, which, of course, will contribute to the better satisfaction of citizens’ religious needs.

The All-Ukraine Council of Churches and Religious Organizations has a tangible impact on the religious situation in Ukraine as it accumulates and coordinates confessional initiatives to further harmonize the relations between the Church and the State. It facilitates the activities of religious organizations in the performance of their spiritual missions, strengthens mutual understanding and tolerance between different religions, invigorates the involvement of religious organizations in the country’s spiritual revival, fortifies the humanitarian foundations of society, and promotes comprehensive coverage of religious life in the mass media. The Commissioner for Human Rights believes that the Council can also take a more active part in protecting the rights of believers.

While monitoring how the citizens’ rights to freedom of conscience are complied with, the Commissioner for Human Rights is concerned that not everything has yet been done both by the state and society to firmly ensure these rights. Here are some examples.

The Commissioner for Human Rights received a letter from Hadji Server-effendi Jelalov, Head of the “Arafat” Muslim Community of Simferopol, and Hadji Shevket-efendi Bulatov, Senior Imam of Simferopol oblast, with the following message:

“The Simferopol ‘Arafat’ Muslim community– which incorporates over 40 local Muslim communities of Simferopol city and Simferopol raion – hereby appeals to you.

“In our daily life devoted Muslims always face the infringement of their rights by the authorities.

“For instance, in 1999-2000, female parishioners of the Muslim communities, such as Zera Asanova and Emine Asanova, Komurdji Emine Seyarovna, Gemedji Anife and Musliadinova Elmaz Enverovna residing in Simferopol district and the city of Simferopol, as well as many others, have more than once applied to the Passport, Registration and Migration Departments of the Ministry of the Interior in Crimea to exchange and receive Ukrainian passports. As they are observing Muslims, they submitted their photos wearing headcloths, since this is their natural attire. The officials of the passport registration and migration services refuse to accept such photos on the grounds of a Minister of the Interior order of 1994 that specifies the standards for photos in Ukrainian passports.

“According to Islamic rules, wearing a headcloth is considered a devotional act on the part of a woman and, therefore, constitutes an act of worship of God, i.e. the performance of a religious ritual. Wearing a headcloth does not in any way endanger public peace nor the health and morals or any rights and freedoms of other people. For a Muslim woman the requirement to take off the headcloth is impossible to fulfill for religious considerations and it is also humiliating for her honor and dignity. Meanwhile, Article 3 of the Ukrainian Constitution proclaims that the honor and dignity of the individual are of the highest societal value”.

It is clear that the situation described in this letter is not a simple one. However, it needs to be considered and a compromise solution has to be found, as it has been found for the issue of identification codes and the replacement of military service by alternative service. The Commissioner suggested that the Ministry of the Interior offer its own solution of the issue raised in the letter by Mr.Jelalov and Mrs.Bulatova.

Another example: the issue of identity codes. In 1998-999 the Commissioner received many individual appeals of Orthodox believers as well as collective appeals of the All-Ukraine Orthodox Fraternity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (around 16,000 signatures) protesting against the tax identity codes introduced under the Law On the State Register of Natural Persons/Taxpayers of December 22, 1994 and the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers Resolution On Measures for the Introduction of Identification Numbers of Natural Persons of January 16, 1997. In their appeals the believers see in the code a “fulfillment of the apocalyptic prophecy on the Antichrist’s seal” and, therefore, refuse to have the identity codes issued them.

The believers asked the Commissioner to assist in finding an alternative system of recording taxpayers and introduce respective amendments to the law, because, in their opinion, assigning an individual number to every person is fraught with the danger of total, and not merely financial, control over people. Besides, the appellants claimed that state tax authorities have been applying all sorts of covert pressure on believers. Those who refused to have identification numbers issued them were deprived of the right to work and to receive wages, pensions and other social benefits contrary to the provisions of the Ukrainian Constitution.

On July 1999, the Commissioner addressed an appeal to Parliament, requesting to look into this issue and introduce respective amendments to the law. Notably, most of the People’s Deputies assumed a tolerant and balanced attitude to this issue. On July 16, 1999 Parliament modified the Law On the State Register of Natural Persons/Payers of Taxes and other Statutory Payments, in which the requests of the believers were taken into consideration. In consequence, social tension on this issue was removed.

The Commissioner deems it necessary to draw attention to the spread of non-traditional and novel religious movements, primarily, the non-Christian ones with no historic roots in Ukraine. As of early 2000 the number of their adherents increased to 1,083 communities. They represent 48 denominations (26 of which have only one to five chapters of devotees). The New Apostolic Church has 52 communities and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) 56. The southeastern regions host 75% of all adherents of the new religious movements. Among them are 489 communities of Charismatics, 329 of which are subordinated to the Full Gospel Church. The network of Charismatics communities show a steady upward trend – from 27 in 1992 to 498 as of January 1, 2000, which accounts for 2.2% of the religious communities in Ukraine.

The Commissioner believes that the intensive spread of non-traditional cults is caused by the active involvement of foreign missions that provide them with substantial financial support, the alienation of a large number of people from the Christian traditions, interruption in public experience and value orientations among generations, as well as by the weakness of traditional churches and the inadequate development of their missionary facilities.

Representatives of non-traditional religious movements are extensively using the mass media, primarily the electronic. According to a monitoring conducted by the Ukrainian Center for Economic and Political Studies (UCEPS), the permanent presence of new Christian programs on the TV, particularly in the central regions in early 1999, showed a 50% increase compared to the previous year, amounting to 15 hours a week. Ukrainian Christian Radio and Television (UCRT) launched TV programs that are prepared under the supervision of the Finnish preacher Hannu Hanuka; the UT-2 state channel broadcasts the Emmanuel Mission-‘Club 700 program and the UT-1 channel The Superbook Club program prepared by the same mission; the 37th channel began broadcasting programs of the International Mission Eurovision to Europe under the guidance of the British preacher David Hasaway (The Power of Faith); and two TV channels broadcast programs of the Victory Church (Voice of Victory) and the mission of Kenneth Copeland.

As regards the activities of non-traditional religious communities, the Commissioner for Human Rights is concerned about the negative impact of some sects and destructive religious associations on the psychology of their adherents, who are forced to self-isolation and a total break with society and family. The list of such dangerous sects include The Great White Fraternity, the Mother of God Center and some other dubious communities that continue to engage in their activities to this day. In this respect the Commissioner believes that the state must ensure protection of individuals from the negative psychological affect of such new religious cults.

Ukrainian citizens have mixed feelings about the activities of foreign preachers, who spread their religious teachings through television and radio as well as at public gatherings in stadiums and concert halls. Judging from a targeted sociological survey conducted in March 1999 by the Institute of Social and Political Psychology under the Ukrainian Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, a positive attitude to such activities is shared by 10.7% of respondents, who believe that it helps to enhance the spirituality of Ukrainian citizens; 23.6% of the respondents showed a controversial attitude saying that, apart from certain benefits, such activities produce some negative consequences as well; a totally negative attitude was demonstrated by 39.6% of the respondents, who said that the activities of foreign preachers are destructive for the spirituality of our people; while 11.4% of the respondents said that they did not care.

The state is not indifferent to the processes going on within the new religious organizations and tries to prevent the emergence, development and registration of destructive cults. One such measure was the amendment to Article 24 of Law On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations of April 23, 1991, according to which bodies of the executive regulate all the activities of foreign religious centers and organizations in the country. Under the amendment this category of foreign nationals has the right to preach only in those religious communities that invited them upon formal agreement of the state body in charge of registering the said religious organization. Regrettably, foreign preachers violate this legal provision quite often. According to the State Committee for Religion, 43 such cases were registered in 1999.

In conclusion, the Commissioner states that freedom of conscience and religious freedom belong to fundamental universal human values. The freedom of religion is characterized not only by the full functioning of religious institutions, but also by legal, social, political and economic opportunities and guarantees of free religious self-expression of an individual.

The issue of protecting religious freedoms acquires a special importance today in a post-communist society, which is undergoing profound changes in the economy, the political sphere and social structures. The creation of favorable conditions for religious life, as exemplified in our country by the citizens’ rights to freedom of conscience and religion, is accompanied by problems that require detailed study and the development of effective mechanisms for dealing with them.

The Commissioner for Human Rights believes that basically the system of relations between the State and the Church in sovereign Ukraine undoubtedly accords with democratic principles, taking into account the fundamental international instruments on human rights and freedom of conscience, and, what is important today, reflecting the capacity of national legislation to be open to new changes and amendments in this area. Meanwhile, equally important is the need to improve operative legislation with regard to freedom of conscience and the relations between the State and the Church, primarily by modifying the Law On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations. Since its adoption almost ten years ago society has undergone certain changes and some of the provisions of the law do not fully reflect the current requirements and realities of the ecclesiastical and religious situation in the country and ensure the citizens’ right to freedom of conscience adequately. Ukrainian legislators and the Cabinet of Ministers have submitted for review by the Ukrainian Parliament a number of draft laws on introducing amendments to the Law On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations. These draft laws were brought into conformity with the conceptual provisions of the Ukrainian Constitution and Ukraine’s commitments for joining the Council of Europe. Taking into account the proposals of churches and religious organizations, the basic provisions of the drafted amendments provide for ensuring equal rights and opportunities for all religious organizations, mutual respect among the believers, and the creation of favorable conditions for the participation of religious organizations in public life. Therefore, it is important to develop a uniform draft law and to adopt it as soon as possible.

Translated by Anatole Bilenko

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