Opinions

“We have heard the Russian delegation claim more than once at the Permanent Council that Jehovah’s Witnesses are, and will continue to be, able to practice their religion freely, and that freedom of religion or belief is guaranteed in the Russian Federation. However, we continue to see numerous reports about home raids, detentions, and criminal investigations concerning Jehovah’s Witnesses. This is in strong contrast with the claims by the Russian delegation. […] All people, including members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, must be able to peacefully enjoy their human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or belief, freedom of association and peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, without discrimination, as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Russia’s OSCE commitments and obligations under international law.”

“All people, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, should be able to enjoy freedom of religion and assembly peacefully and without discrimination, as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and Russia’s international obligations, including Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights. In light of this, we call on the authorities to drop charges against all those detained for exercising their rights to freedom of religion, expression, and peaceful assembly, and to release them.”

“The Russian government claimed that although it was liquidating the legal entities of Jehovah’s Witnesses, individual Witnesses would be free to practice their faith. However, the government’s claim is inconsistent with its actions. Over the past year, authorities have launched nine criminal investigations and five Jehovah’s Witnesses are currently in detention.”

“I’m deeply concerned by this unwarranted criminalization of the peaceful activities of members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses communities in Russia, eliminating this community as a viable entity in the country. This Supreme Court decision poses a threat to the values and principles that democratic, free, open, pluralistic and tolerant societies rest upon.”

“This ban persecuting peaceful persons for mere acts of worship clearly violates the fundamental right to religious freedom and with it international human rights standards as also guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation. It therefore needs to be revised as soon as possible.”

“Today, a Russian court in the city of Oryol sentenced Mr Dennis Christensen, a Danish citizen, to 6 years of imprisonment. Mr Christensen was arrested in 2017 when Federal Security Service agents raided a peaceful religious meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Oryol. He has been convicted on grounds of ‘organising extremist activity’, which amounts to exercising his right to freedom of religion as a Jehovah’s Witness. A number of other criminal cases against Jehovah’s Witnesses are also currently pending. No one should be imprisoned for peaceful acts of worship in the expression of their religious beliefs. The European Union expects Mr Christensen to be released immediately and unconditionally. Jehovah’s Witnesses, as with all other religious groups, must be able to peacefully enjoy freedom of assembly without interference, as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as by Russia’s international commitments and international human rights standards.”

“Jehovah’s Witnesses, like all other religious groups, must be able to peacefully enjoy freedom of assembly without interference, as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as by Russia’s international commitments and international human rights standards.”

“The recent decision of the Supreme Court to declare the Jehovah’s Witnesses Administrative Center in the Russian Federation an extremist organisation, and to close it down, together with the 395 Local Religious Organisations used by Witnesses, raises serious concerns regarding freedom of religion in Russia and is another example of the legislation against extremism being abused to curtail freedom of expression and assembly” said the co-rapporteurs. They noted that, as a result of these developments, Jehovah’s Witnesses can now be prosecuted for “extremist activity” merely for attending religious services and practising their faith.”

“Yesterday’s decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to ban the activities of the Administrative Centre of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia on grounds of “extremism” could make it possible to launch criminal prosecutions against Jehovah’s Witnesses for mere acts of worship. Jehovah’s Witnesses, like all other religious groups, must be able to peacefully enjoy freedom of assembly without interference, as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation as well as by Russia’s international commitments and international human rights standards.”

Due to the violations of Article 9, 10, and 11 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the Government of the Russian federation should “take all necessary measures to secure the discontinuation of pending criminal proceedings against Jehovah’s Witnesses and release of the imprisoned Jehovah’s Witnesses.” It should return all confiscated properties or pay corresponding amounts of money in compensation. The state should also pay 15,000 Euro to each individual applicant, 7500 Euro to each liquidated applicant organization, and 125,000 Euro jointly to all applicants.

“All people, including members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, must be able to peacefully enjoy their human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or belief, freedom of association and peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, without discrimination. […] We therefore call on the Russian Federation to conduct prompt, effective and thorough investigations into all reports of such acts. […] Since the liquidation of all local religious organisations of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, reportedly 869 houses have been searched, 26 individuals are in pre-trail detention, 23 under house arrest, 316 are charged and 29 already convicted. […] According to reports from the European Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses, echoed also by Forum 18 and media articles, on 6 February 2020, in Orenburg, five individuals (Aleksey Budenchuk, Gennadiy German, Roman Gridasov, Feliks Makhammadiyev, and Aleksey Miretskiy) were beaten by prison officials of Penal Colony No. 1. All suffered severe injuries and one needed hospitalization. In addition, on 10 February 2020, Vadim Kutsenko was reported to be tortured before being taken into custody, as law enforcement officers repeatedly beat and choked him and applied electric shocks, while demanding information on other Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

“Mr Christensen’s conviction and imprisonment for nothing more than peacefully practising his faith is an unacceptable violation of the right to freedom of religion. […] [Co-rapporteurs] expressed their hope that Mr Christensen’s conviction would be overturned without delay by the appeals court and called on the Russian authorities to release him pending an appeal.”

“The Russian Supreme Court on 17 July upheld its previous decision to liquidate all legal entities of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, terminate their activity and confiscate their property, alleging “extremist activity”. The decision confirms the ban on the peaceful worship of Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout the country. This ban has already resulted in cases of criminal prosecutions against Jehovah’s Witnesses, as well as police raids on their prayer halls. It has contributed to an atmosphere of hatred and stigmatization, which has led to arson attacks and other forms of harassment. Jehovah’s Witnesses, like all other members of religious groups, must be able to peacefully enjoy freedom of assembly without interference, as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as by Russia’s international commitments to international human rights standards through its membership of the OSCE and the Council of Europe.”

“We are disturbed by reports that a Russian court sentenced Valentina Baranovskaya and her son, Roman Baranovsky, to terms of two and six years in a Russian penal colony, respectively, simply for being practicing Jehovah’s Witnesses. The sentencing of Valentina, a 69-year-old stroke victim, is particularly cruel. It also marks the first time a Russian court has sentenced a female Jehovah’s Witness. The decision by the Russian court is the latest development in an ongoing crackdown on members of religious minority groups in Russia. Since the Russian Supreme Court designated the Jehovah’s Witnesses an “extremist” organization in 2017, 52 Jehovah’s Witnesses have been imprisoned for exercising their beliefs, including Alexandr Ivshin, who was recently given a record-length 7.5 year sentence for a Jehovah’s Witness by a Russian court. We urge Russia to lift its ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses and to respect the right of all to exercise their freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief."

“The Russian Supreme Court’s decision this week against the Jehovah’s Witnesses is the latest in a disturbing trend of persecution of religious minorities in Russia. We urge the Russian authorities to lift the ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses’ activities in Russia, to reverse the closing of the Jehovah’s Witnesses Administrative Center, and to release any members of religious minorities that continue to be unjustly detained for so-called “extremist” activities. We further urge Russia to respect the right of all to exercise the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief.”

“Mr. Christensen, a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, was arrested in Oryol, Russia, on May 25, 2017, following the raid of a prayer service in which he was participating. As of September 13, 2018, Mr. Christensen has appeared 38 times before Oryol’s District Court. He faces a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison. […] In April 2017, the Russian Supreme Court banned the Jehovah’s Witnesses as an extremist organization. […] But these religious communities only seek to practice their beliefs peacefully and without fear. When they arrested Dennis, he was reading the Bible with fellow believers. The international community must uphold internationally recognized human rights and press for the release of… Dennis, and the many others imprisoned in Russia for their religious identity or activities.”

“The Supreme Court’s decision sadly reflects the government’s continued equating of peaceful religious freedom practice to extremism. The Witnesses are not an extremist group, and should be able to practice their faith openly and freely and without government repression.”

«In 2024, religious freedom conditions in the Russian Federation remained unsatisfactory. […] Authorities harassed and imprisoned members of religious groups, including… Jehovah’s Witnesses… on far-fetched charges of extremism for participating in peaceful religious events. […] [USCIRF recommends] that the U.S. government designate Russia as a “Country of Particular Concern” for systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom».

“The United States and many others in this hall have spoken out and will continue to speak out concerning reports of unjust police raids, arbitrary arrests and detentions, convictions resulting in up to six-year sentences, and torture of Jehovah’s Witnesses by Russian authorities. In its public statement, the Voronezh Investigative Committee claims that some of the individuals detained used such “conspiracy measures” to conceal their activities as “storing reports and other documentation in electronic form, organizing groups and using video conferencing to conduct collective meetings. […] These justifications are both absurd and shameful.”

“Russia’s failure to respect religious freedom is yet another inexcusable violation of Moscow’s OSCE commitments. People who practice their faith peacefully should never be in danger of being harassed, fined, or jailed. The court order to seize organization property owned by Jehovah’s Witnesses adds insult to injury. I am hopeful that this case will be appealed to the European Court of Human Rights.”

“It is with deep regret that we learned that on 13 July, 110 homes of Jehovah’s Witnesses were simultaneously searched by Russian authorities in the cities of Voronezh and Stary Oskol. Thirteen Jehovah’s Witnesses were detained at the time and two individuals were reportedly beaten during a home search. . . . For three years now, the delegation of the Russian Federation has assured the Permanent Council that individual Jehovah’s Witnesses are able to practice their religion at home, as no permission is required to pray in Russia. However, we have witnessed time and again that any manifestation of their faith by Jehovah’s Witnesses can result in the search of their homes, lengthy detention, criminal prosecution and imprisonment.”

«The increasing number of searches, as well as use of simultaneous large-scale home raids, creates the impression of an organised campaign of persecution against Jehovah’s Witnesses. […] So-called ’evidence’ used against those investigated and prosecuted includes regular aspects of communal religious life."

“We are deeply concerned by the decision of Russia’s Supreme Court to reject the appeal of the Jehovah’s Witnesses against their labelling as “extremists”. This ruling confirms the criminalisation of the peaceful worship of 175,000 Russian citizens and contravenes the right to religious freedom that is enshrined in the Russian Constitution.”

“I am alarmed by the decision of Russia’s Supreme Court to recognise the Jehovah’s Witnesses as ‘extremists’. This ruling effectively criminalizes the peaceful worship of 175,000 Russian citizens and contravenes the right to religious freedom which is enshrined in the Russian Constitution. The UK calls on the Russian government to uphold its international commitment to this basic freedom.”