I. PROPOSED LAW IN KYRGYZSTAN WOULD BAN ALL UNREGISTERED RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY II. KHABAROVSK AUTHORITIES MAY TEAR DOWN CHURCH OF BAPTIST MISSIONARY III. �PLAIN JANE VANILLA� EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION TO CIRCUMVENT RUSSIA�S LAW ON RELIGION? Friday 30 April PROPOSED LAW IN KYRGYZSTAN WOULD BAN ALL UNREGISTERED RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY by Felix Corley, Keston News Service A new draft bill on religion aims to 'regularise' the activity in Kyrgyzstan of 'numerous sects' and to 'reduce religious propaganda' broadcast by the National Television and Radio Corporation, declared JOLBORS JOROBEKOV, the author of the bill. The Jogorku Kenesh, Kyrgyzstan's lower chamber of parliament, approved the first reading of the bill on 4 March. A working group of deputies is now considering a series of proposed amendments before the second reading. If adopted, the proposed new law would replace the law on freedom of religious confession and religious organisations passed by the then Kyrgyzstan Supreme Soviet and signed by President ASKAR AKAYEV on 16 December 1991. A Kyrgyz radio report of 4 March, quoting the views of deputies, spoke of `imperfections' in the 1991 law which allowed religious organisations and foreign missionaries to `misinterpret' the original provisions: `There have been numerous instances of huge amounts of dubious literature and video films being infiltrated and cases of children being alienated from the system of secular education. In the activities of individual religious organisations, there have been frequent cases of direct attempts being made to destabilise public order and people's safety.' In a telephone interview on 5 April, the head of the government Commission for Religious Affairs, EMILBEK KAPTAGAYEV, told Keston News Service that deputies had put forward many frequently contradictory views on the draft bill during the debate. Although the working group consists only of deputies, he said they had also involved the Commission on Religious Affairs and religious organisations: `Almost all religious groups have been invited to give their views several times, both orally and in writing.' However, he said the bill was unlikely to become law soon: `There are many laws being considered at the moment'. Although the draft pledges to respect religious freedom for both citizens and noncitizens in Kyrgyzstan, it does not extend religious liberty to unregistered groups. Under Article 4 only registered religious organisations are exempt from state interference, while the same article bans `propaganda for entry into unregistered [...] religious organisations', preaching of the beliefs of such unregistered groups, whether in public or even in private homes, and the distribution of literature encouraging citizens to join such groups. Article 6 includes in its definition of `religious organisations' the provision that they should be registered, thus effectively barring nonregistered groups from benefits in the draft such as the right to facilities for the production of religious objects or to run religious educational establishments. Article 11, which covers official registration (`uchetnaya registratsiya'), states categorically: `The activity of religious organisations and their associations, missions, branches, representations of foreign religious organisations active on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic, religious educational institutions, as well as the functioning of objects of religious significance [i.e. mosques, churches and temples] without official registration is forbidden.' The draft specifies two types of official recognition of religious organisations: official registration (`uchetnaya registratsiya') and the granting of juridical personality (by the Ministry of Justice). Official registration, described in Article 11 as compulsory and carried out by the `state organ for religious affairs', is the `basis for receiving the status of a juridical person'. Applications for official registration must be accompanied by the statute of the organisation, a record of the founding meeting, and a list of its initiators, which must include at least ten adult citizens with their full names and addresses, place of work and occupation. Missions and branches of foreign religious organisations must submit in addition a copy of their statute and information on their employees. In order to register an educational establishment the founders must present either a record of the founding meeting or a document setting up the establishment and a full syllabus, as well as documents proving sufficient financial resources to run the establishment and confirming that the premises are suitable for educational purposes. All groups and establishments may commence their activity only on receipt of a certificate of registration. In order to engage in religious work in Kyrgyzstan, a foreign citizen must have an invitation from a religious organisation, which must apply for official registration for the individual concerned: this can be granted for up to one year. Under Article 12, official registration may be refused to any group or person if `their activity is not in accordance with legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic, represents a threat to state security, social stability, interethnic and interdenominational accord, social order or the health and morals of the population.' The draft does not make clear how religious groups gain the status of a juridical person once they have gained official registration, although it does specify in Article 13 when such status may be refused. Article 6 declares that religious organisations and groups may function with or without juridical status. In a reference to New Religious Movements, Article 7 declares: `The activity of organisations belonging to religions not previously professed in the Kyrgyz Republic may be permitted according to the system established by law as long as they have the official status of a religious organisation and function according to a statute that does not contradict the demands of legislation.' Article 23, which covers religious literature, restricts the right to publish and distribute liturgical (`bogosluzhebnaya') literature. Religious organisations and 'scholarly establishments', it states, have the `exclusive' right to do this. The article also specifies that religious organisations may produce, export, import and distribute religious objects, other literature, and video and audio material. Although the article appears to ban individuals and commercial companies from producing and distributing `liturgical' texts, it is not clear whether they may produce and distribute other religious literature or not. Article 28 requires religious organisations to seek approval from the `state organ for religious affairs' if they wish to hold `international religious forums' in Kyrgyzstan. Despite the provisions inherent in the draft which clearly restrict religious liberty, Emilbek Kaptagayev told Keston that he was happy with the text and that it fully conformed to Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Kyrgyzstan has acceded. In claiming that the only restrictions imposed were on the grounds of protecting public order and preventing interreligious conflict, he cited Article 18: `Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.' Kaptagayev denied that banning unregistered religious activity restricted religious freedom or that the system of registration itself was a form of restriction: `That is a debatable point. There is more than one opinion in the world - there are different ideas in different states. The main thing is that registration should not restrict believers.' Speaking to Keston by telephone from Bishkek on 14 April, a priest at the Catholic church of St Michael the Archangel said that he did not know about the plans for a new law on religion: 'As far as I know the harsh old Soviet law is still in force'. He said that his church had not been reregistered, but did not wish to give any further explanation over the telephone. Over the past few years the Kyrgyz media have constantly carried reports complaining about the number of Kyrgyz converts, especially to Protestant Christianity. Among recent such articles was one by MAKHABBAT KULAMIDINOVA in the 17 February edition of the weekly Aalam, which complained that more than 15,000 young Kyrgyz had converted from Islam to other religions. She wrote that 23 new religious sects had registered with the Ministry of Justice and that this represented a great danger to Islam in Kyrgyzstan. Despite such pressure from `traditional' religious groups, however, the current draft bill is not so explicitly targeted at new religious movements as were earlier drafts. The draft circulating at the end of 1997 and beginning of 1998 would have banned religious activity by religious denominations `not previously preached by the majority of the citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic.' It also stated that citizens who persisted in following a religion banned from registration in Kyrgyzstan would have to move to a country where that religion could be freely practised.(END) Friday 30 April KHABAROVSK AUTHORITIES MAY TEAR DOWN CHURCH OF BAPTIST MISSIONARY by Tatyana Titova, Keston News Service In a sharp turn of events against the embattled American Baptist missionary DAN POLLARD, local authorities in Russia's Far Eastern town of Vanino have declared that his congregation's church was constructed illegally. Pollard's lawyer YEKATERINA SMYSLOVA told Keston News Service that she 'would not be surprised' if the authorities should now simply demolished the building. The authorities have now formally revoked a decree from the Khabarovsk province's governor transferring to Pollard the land on which he then built the church. They cited a new legal opinion by the procurator according to which the decree should have made the land available only for a lease period, not indefinitely. The procurator also argued that since Russian law did not specifically authorise a private individual to receive land for a religious building - as distinct from a residential or commercial structure - such transfers were therefore forbidden. `When this site - situated in the centre of the town - was transferred to Pollard the land was a rubbish dump in aswamp,' Smyslova told Keston. `Everyone had given up on it long agoand no one minded handing it over to the Baptists. For three years officials were unable to set the level of land tax as no one knew how much tax to levy on the use of a rubbish dump, but in the end they allowed Pollard to pay tax at the highest rate, as he absolutely wanted to pay something towards our state. Strange people, these Americans. The media are now shouting that the "Quiet American" (as the local paper, the Tikhookeanskaya zvezda, has dubbed him) grabbed the best piece of land. Indeed, the site is now probably the best in the town and has not without reason become the favourite place for local people to go for a walk. A lawn has begun to grow and lights shine out clearly at night from the perimeter of the building. And people find themselves drawn to the prayer house, built according to the latest ideas in construction, to come in and have a look...' Smyslova said that Pollard had all along been concerned to avoid potential problems over ownership. `Pastor Pollard thought long and hard about how to record the rights to the prayer house without transferring ownership of the prayer house. Given the real danger over the fate of property (the Russian autonomous Baptists retain fresh memories of persecutions) he registered it as his own property, but immediately signed an agreement allowing the church community to have use of the building free of charge.' According to Smyslova, `the media started to spread rumours that the visiting missionary had built himself a magnificent villa, while in reality Pollard and his family occupy two small rooms. For example, the story of the construction, retold in the form of a fairytale, was published in one of the central Russian papers, Komsomolskaya pravda of 2 April. It had seemed only recently that Pollard's problems were resolved - he had decided to reregister his church under the umbrella of a centralised religious organisation, which should have defended him from the arbitrary actions of the local authorities. Smyslova recommended to him the Union of Evangelical Christians/Baptists led by PYOTR KONOVALCHIK as, she argued, `Konovalchik's ECB union has now undertaken a serious re-examination of its views and is open not only to Evangelical Christians but even to Presbyterians'. Pollard had already considered joining this union and had even asked for information from the union's leadership. However, the union had demanded that he change his congregation's statement of beliefs (on the issue of the possibility of an individual's losing salvation), that he pay monthly contributions from each member of the congregation to support the union's central apparatus, and that he should be under the control of the ECB union's Far East section. Pollard, who back in the US belonged to the independent Baptists, was troubled by the extent of the demands and decided to join the Russian United Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals) under the leadership of SERGEI RYAKHOVSKY. This body, unlike Konovalchik's, acts only as a loose association tolerant of doctrinal differences among its member churches. On her recent return from Vanino, Smyslova told Keston: `Pollard has himself registered locally as a foreign citizen without any problem and has submitted the documents for the re-registration of the church under the umbrella of Konovalchik's ECB union. During my visit to Khabarovsk, I personally took Pollard to the Far Eastern section of the ECB union and spoke with its head, GENNADI ABRAMOV. At first he did not want to accept Pollard, who had acquired a scandalous reputation. But when he travelled to Vanino he discovered that the local administration had no complaints against Pollard and that the chairman of the church council was a member of the local Duma. The community welcomed them and Pollard presented the youth movement Avana, which is very popular among Russian Baptists and which of course was very interested in the ECB union. They agreed to take Pollard under their wing.' Having discussed thoroughly the question of Pollard's church joining the union, the two sides agreed that on the question of money the Vanino community would contribute as much as was materially possible. The union demanded of Pollard that he ordain a Russian pastor from among the local people and that control from the union would ensure that `there was no speaking in tongues (glossolalia)'. While in Khabarovsk, Smyslova also visited the plenipotentiary for relations with religious organisations, VIKTOR NIKULNIKOV, soon due to retire. She said that he denied any participation in the conflict with Pollard, telling her: `I have no reason to get involved in this. If any organs violate his legal interests - let him take it up with them by law.' Smyslova told Keston that `local authorities have referred to his instructions when they put obstacles in the way.' When Smyslova told Nikulnikov that Pollard had reached agreement with the Baptist Union, he exclaimed: `Why on earth does he need the Baptists?!' That same evening, said Smyslova, Nikulnikov telephoned Abramov and had a long conversation with him. In response to the accusations against him, Pollard wrote a conciliatory letter to Nikulnikov declaring that he was upset by the controversy stirred up by the media, that he wanted to maintain constructive relations with the Khabarovsk administration and that he understood that the source of the misunderstandings lay in the differences between the Russian and American mentalities. In a telephone interview with Keston, Abramov confirmed that the Baptist Union was accepting Pollard. `The documents have been submitted for the registration of Pollard's church within our union. They will be under our control, I will make sure of that. Of course, Pollard is a complex individual and it is very hard to contact him. He has his own ideas of how to live here and he believes they are the only correct ones. In addition, he is fanatically attracted to suffering. He reacts hyper-sensitively to everything and makes a problem out of any document. This is not how you should behave here, you should do things more calmly.' Asked about Nikulnikov's reaction to the union's decision to accept Pollard, Abramov responded: `Nikulnikov understands that Pollard sees this as a shelter. But I have known him [Nikulnikov] for a long time and he knows that nothing is capable of standing in my way. He too is a difficult person, but it's possible to talk even with him. The main thing is for you journalists not to inflame passions.' Keston also telephoned Pollard in Vanino and learned that after Smyslova's departure the situation had changed again. Nikulnikov had decided to remain at his post for another year. `Difficulties have emerged over the ownership of the property,' said Pollard. `My visa is valid until the end of April and I will get an invitation from a registered Baptist group in Khabarovsk. Today I received a reply to my application for permanent residency - here again there are further problems.' Pollard said that he was afraid to go into details, as the local authorities were using all his words against him. Also, the Administration of Justice for Khabarovsk province has now refused to reregister the Vanino congregation because the legal address of its church building is `not legally correct'. In addition, according to the Administration of Justice the information provided by the congregation on its religiousteachings `does not correspond to reality' as it fails to state that those teachings include limitations on the fulfilment of civil obligations. (What the Administration of Justice evidently has in mind is that Baptists serving in the army do not take the military oath). Since the changes to the congregation's charter have not been registered by the province's Administration of Justice, the church has not received legal status as a member of the Baptist Union - despite the confirmation issued by the union itself. Visa problems for Pollard and his family soon followed. According to Smyslova, all invitations for foreign religious workers in the province cross Nikulnikov's desk. (END) Friday 30 April �PLAIN JANE VANILLA� EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION TO CIRCUMVENT RUSSIA�S LAW ON RELIGION? by Geraldine Fagan, Roman Lunkin and Tatyana Titova, Keston News Service The Council of Christian Evangelical Churches in Russia was registered by the Ministry of Justice on 12 March because �there are enough loopholes in the new law�, president of the Moscow-based mission organisation Association of Spiritual Renewal GEORGE LAW told Keston News Service on 1 April. President of the new Council, Pentecostal bishop SERGEI RYAKHOVSKY, told Keston on 12 April that it was a �miracle� that they had managed to include �Russia� in the title of the new Council when under the 1997 law on religion the term is reserved for organisations more than fifty years old: �The Ministry of Justice has decided that evangelical Christianity is a traditional confession.� According to Law - who helped to found the Council and whose Association will house its administration - it is the only interdenominational association of its kind in Russia; what he calls a �plain jane vanilla� association encompassing all Christian evangelicals. The Nicene Creed (without the filioque) has been chosen as the organisation�s creed, said Law, in order to open membership to as many churches as possible: �Speaking in tongues is not an issue in this association, neither is being Calvinist or Arminian, as that is predated by the Nicene Creed.� Members also have to acknowledge the Bible as the sole rule of authority, which in Law�s view would mean that the Orthodox Church would be unable to join: �They put the Bible on the same level as the Church Fathers.� However, he thought that individual Orthodox parishes such as SS Cosmas and Damian in Moscow could potentially join �because of their strong belief in the Scriptures.� Sergei Ryakhovsky - whose Russian United Union of Christians of the Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals) containing over 1000 churches is another founding member - told Keston that the new council already includes Presbyterians, evangelicals, Wesleyans, Baptists, Pentecostals and charismatics: �There are even discussions for the entry of Messianic Jews.� According to Law the purpose of the Council is to present a united Protestant front: �It would remove the stigma in Russian society of Protestants as splintered - we would also get a quicker response from the government if we had all Protestants - and we are talking activists who go to church every Sunday - in the Council.� However, Ryakhovsky stressed that the Council was not an attempt to unify churches or dilute doctrine. He personally was against ecumenism as a unifying theological movement, as he believed that �everyone has the freedom to read God�s word in their own way� . The Council, he said, was an �evangelical alliance outside doctrine� and �not a confession but a coordination centre.� Ryakhovsky viewed the Council as a response to the 1997 law on religion: Either the state controls us or we organise ourselves so that we can stop it meddling in the affairs of the church.� In addition to the law, George Law thought that the dominant climate of Orthodoxy and nationalism - �both of which pose a serious threat to evangelicals� - was forcing Protestants into one association, �just as the communists forced five Protestant denominations together in 1948.� Although with respect to his own Association he declared that the 1997 law was �not an inhibitor or cause of problems for us because we have good status,� Law admitted that it was so broadly worded as to pose a threat to almost anyone: �Even an Orthodox church could be liquidated under the new law if a communist came to power and decided to cleanse the land of Orthodox churches - and they do stir up hatred very often.� One of the main reasons for the Council�s existence, Law told Keston, was precisely to challenge the 1997 law on religion at a constitutional level using the class action suit principle: �We think 18 different statutes need to be changed through the Constitutional Court.� The Cuncil�s leaders and their lawyers intend to challenge the law in court even if the Cuncil itself, having received legal registration in March, cannot be one of the plaintiffs. .He thought that court hearings would commence in early September, but acknowledged that this would leave �an uncomfortable couple of months� between the verdict and the end of 1999 registration deadline for those who had taken the risk of not registering. According to Law, the court case would be funded using Council membership fees, which Ryakhovsky put at between 100 and 300 US dollars: �This is not a burden but an expression of obligation, it prevents churches from just coming and going and makes them feel truly part of the Council�. Ryakhovsky stated that the Slavyansky Centre run by his brother VLADIMIR RYAKHOVSKY and ANATOLI PCHELINTSEV was not within the structure of the new Council and would not be representing it officially, but admitted that there was an agreement between the two bodies, as �they are the best lawyers specialising in religion�. Under this agreement, the Slavyansky Centre would provide legal services such as taking care of the body�s registration, as well as recommending the council to evangelical religious organisations which turned to them. Ryakhovsky considered the Slavyansky Centre�s tactics to be �correct and conciliatory�, because they maintained a �good working relationship� with officials such as GENRIKH MIKHAILOV, plenipotentiary for religious affairs in the Russian government, and ALEKSANDR KUDRYAVTSEV, head of the registration department of religious organisations at the Ministry of Justice. Ryakhovsky thought that the large unions of Pentecostal VLADIMIR MURZA and Baptist PETR KONOVALCHIK would join the Council and make it a �serious authority�: �There are already moves towards unity in their unions. Everything just depends on the will of the leaders.� However, he admitted that �at first glance it doesn�t look very likely� and accused the Baptist Union of having �too many Soviet traditions�: �Every Protestant defends himself - in that sense our mentality is in the spirit of eastern Orthodoxy - and when we�re divided there can be no effective defence. Not everyone understands the aims of the Council yet. The narrowmindedness of some is an obstacle - some think that because they have good relations with the Moscow Patriarchate and are members of the presidential committee they can defend themselves adequately. But in order for the Council to function normally we cannot stick to our own positions or hide behind the confines of our own churches.� Law told Keston that despite their erstwhile support for the 1997 law the Baptist Union churches were having problems in the provinces - �four or five of their churches have been refused registration� - and that it was therefore in their interests to join the Council. Echoing Ryakhovsky, he thought that - �just like the Orthodox� - it was difficult for the Baptist Union to change quickly. In his view, however, the only reason change happened in Russia was through crisis or force, and �there is a crisis today for evangelicals so they must change�.\ Ryakhovsky told Keston that both Murza and Konovalchik had been invited to a meeting about the Council on 20 April: �We intend to prove to them the need for the Council and assure them that unlike the union of Evangelical Christian-Baptists it is not totally centralised.� Vladimir Murza told Keston on 13 April that he did not know anything about the new Council, but said that he had been invited to the meeting on 20 April. Petr Konovalchik told Keston on 13 April that he had not been invited to the meeting on 20 April. He stated that his view of the Council was negative; a representative of one of his union�s Moscow churches had attended a meeting in May 1998 at which the charter for the Council had been presented, he said, and had seen that it was that of a union involving the subordination of its members, not a council: �The organisers explained that any other type of charter would not be accepted by the Ministry of Justice.� According to Konovalchik, when the Baptists had offered to join some kind of alliance instead those setting up the Council had refused: his union would therefore never join it: �There is no need for such an association.� The Baptist leader gave as another reason not to join: �There are charismatics joining this Council and we will never cooperate with charismatics.� Nor was the Council the only option for Russian Protestants in his view: �There is the Evangelical Alliance in Europe which includes the Lutheran, Baptist and Methodist Churches - we are looking into the possibilities of joining that.� He also told Keston that he had heard of attempts by Korean Methodists to set up a similar council encompassing all Russian evangelicals, but could not recall any further details. A Protestant specialist in religious affairs told Keston on 14 April that the only organisations entering the new Council were those which had western sponsors and Ryakhovsky�s Pentecostal union. In her view traditional Russian evangelical churches would be wary of joining the Council as �the voice of the West is very strong there.�(END)