For Immediate Release
November 22, 1999

Decision on constitutional test of Russia's religion
law due out Tuesday

On Tuesday, November 23, 1999, Russia's Constitutional Court will release its decision on the constitutionality of a clause of Russia's 1997 law on religion. The clause in question denies registration to religious groups that cannot document their presence in Russia for at least 15 years.

Fifteen years ago, Russia was under Soviet rule, and the majority of Russia's religious faiths cannot provide official documentation of their existence before the 1990 law on religion was passed. Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, have been present in Russia for more than a century. Under the new law, religions without registration will be severely restricted.

This challenge to the 1997 law was brought by the Yaroslavl Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses and the Glorification Pentecostal Church in Khakassia. The Yaroslavl Congregation has been in existence since 1967 but was registered only in 1992. After passage of the 1997 law, the public prosecutor in Yaroslavl declared some of the congregation's activities illegal, primarily because they did not have an official document confirming their existence in Yaroslavl for at least 15 years.

Jehovah's Witnesses chose to challenge the 15-year rule because of the discriminatory restrictions placed on religions that did not meet this qualification, said A. Y. Leontyev, an attorney working with the case. "Freedom to practice one's religion is an inherent right," said Leontyev. "The restriction of legitimate religious practices created by arbitrary rules, such as the 15-year clause, violates freedom of religion guaranteed by the Russian Constitution, the European Convention of Human Rights, and numerous other treaties and agreements."

This case did not address other controversial aspects of the 1997 law on religion, which include distinguishing between "religious organizations" and "religious groups" with denial of basic rights to the latter. O. Mironov, human rights representative of the President of the Russian Federation, said that "the law establishes norms that in fact lead to practical discrimination of different confessions."

According to the Deputy Chairman of the Commission of Religious Associations of the Russian Federation, at least 12,000 of the more than 17,000 religious organizations in Russia are threatened with liquidation by judicial order.

The national office of Jehovah's Witnesses received reregistration on April 29, 1999, as a religious organization with more than 50 years in Russia. Jehovah's Witnesses have been present in Russia for more than a century and are legally registered in 158 countries.

Contact in Moscow: Aleksei Nazarychev, telephone: (095) 792-5612,
Contact in United States: James N. Pellechia, telephone: (718) 560-5600