FOREF Europe - News Service
April-May-June 2009
1. Introduction
Tough times seem to be ahead for non-orthodox religious groups in
Russia.
One of the most controversial figures – well known to the hundreds of
religious minority groups in Eastern Europe – Alexander Dvorkin has
been appointed Chairman of the Justice Department’s “Commission for
the Implementation of State Expertise on Religious Science”.
Furthermore. Dvorkin has also been elected vice-president of the
"European Federation of Research Centers for Information about
Sects" (FECRIS). His range of attack includes not just Jehovah
Witnesses, Scientology, the Hare Krishna community, Falun Gong or the
Unification Church. Alexander Dvorkin has been known to fight
Christian groups, such as the Baptists, Pentecostals and many other
Christian churches which have been growing impressively during the
last two decades in the post communist era.
Russian Minister of Justice Alexander Konovalov, who is said to be an
old friend of Dvorkin, has been giving a clear message to the world
by appointing him to this post: Russia is – at least for the coming
years – not attempting to comply with the current OSCE standards of
human rights & tolerance. Also the in the Western society hailed
separation between church and state has become a farce in Putin’s
Russia. The Russian Orthodox Church is calling the shots now and the
promotion of religious diversity has not been part of her mission
statement.
The signals Konovalov is trying to convey by personally visiting the
annual FECRIS conference (May 16-17) in St. Petersburg behind closed
doors and under the “protection” FSB agents (former KGB) around the
building and throughout the entire meeting are obvious. It makes
the non orthodox believers throughout the country shiver. No wonder,
that already numerous protests against the Justice Department’s new
agency and Dvorkin’s appointment have taken place. However, critique
on the government has not been very healthy, even in the post-
communist Russia. Ttoday we witness reports on CNN and BBC that
demonstrations critical of Putin/Medvedev have been stopped in Moscow
by the police and the FSB. The leaders have simply been taken off the
streets and put to jail. Even worse, according to RWB (Reporters
Without Borders) at least 8 government-critical journalists have been
killed over the recent years, the most prominent being Anna
Politkowskaja.
It is somehow bizarre, that in St. Petersburg France and Belgium have
been quoted as great examples on dealing with the so called
“sects” (France finances 80% of the FECRIS budget). George Fenech, the
head of MIViLUDES, the French anti-sect government agency has just
been calling for a new blacklist on “sects”. In Belgium they still
have a blacklist on religious minority groups. As long as there are
Western governments to sanction institutionalized religious
discrimintion, neither the Council of Europe, nor the OSCE will have
the moral authority to teach Putin or the Chinese effectively on the
most basic human right, which is religious freedom.
Peter Zoehrer
FOREF Europe
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2. RUSSIA: Controversial figure heads the new "Commission on Religion"
http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue5494.html
On 3 April, Alexander Dvorkin, the Russian priest most famous for the
defamation of religious groups not belonging to the Moscow
Patriarchate of the Orthodox faith, was elected Chairman of the
Justice Department’s “Commission for the Implementation of State
Expertise on Religious Science”, reports Russian Union of Evangelical
Christians-Baptists. This committee had been officially founded a
month earlier on 3 March. Dvorkin, a US citizen and according to some
reports a 1983 graduate of Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological
Seminary in Crestwood/New York, is a self-avowed specialist on the
cults. He is known for the broken glass and other acts of vandalism
committed against religious buildings following in the wake of his
public appearances across Russia. Read more …
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3. Kremlin/St. Petersburg/: Religions under attack
Alarming alliance: Kremlin & the Orthodox Church. Russia as host for
this year’s general assembly of FECRIS ((European anti-cult umbrella
organization). Alexander Dvorkin - infamous neo-inquisitor - chosen to
be vice-president. France & Belgium quoted as role-model for fight
against "sects"
Antisectarian conference in St. Petersburg
Sect-Warrior Alexander DVORKIN becomes "FECRIS" Vice President
Russia Religion News
The leading Russian sect scholar, professor, director of "Center of
Religious Studies Research" and "Russian Association of Centers for
the Study of Religions and Sects," and chairman of the Council for
Conducting State Religious Studies Expert Analyses of the Ministry of
Justice of RF, Alexander Dvorkin (photo by FOREF), was elected vice
president of the "European Federation of Research Centers for
Information about Sects" (FECRIS).
This was the result of the annual conference of the organization which
was held 15-17 May in St. Petersburg. FECRIS itself was organized
fifteen years ago and is the official consultant of the Council of
Europe on matters of totalitarian sects. Members of the organization
have gathered annually for their conferences. Previous ones have been
held, for example, in Vienna, Barcelona, Brussels, and Hamburg. Now
the honor of conducting FECRIS conferences has been handed for the
first time to Russia. It is symbolic that the place for the forum was
the Law Faculty of St. Petersburg State University, where Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev studied. Read
more …
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4. RUSSIA: A New Inquisition
The powers of the Russian Justice Ministry's Expert Council for
Conducting State Religious-Studies Analysis were considerably widened
in February 2009, allowing it to investigate the activity, doctrines,
leadership decisions, literature and worship of any registered
religious organisation and recommend action to the Ministry.
The subsequent appointment of renowned "anti-cultists" and
controversial scholars of Islam to the Council - and the choice of
prominent "anti-cultist" Aleksandr Dvorkin as its chair - have led a
wide range of religious representatives to liken the Council to a new
"inquisition", Forum 18 News Service notes. If the Council is given
free rein, it is likely to recommend harsh measures against certain
religious organisations.
At the Council's first meeting, Dvorkin named the Russian Bible
Society as a possible target for investigation, but its executive
director told Forum 18 no action has followed. Forum 18 asked the
Justice Ministry how many commissions it is likely to give the Council
each year, whether the Ministry will automatically accept its
conclusions and, if not, who will decide. However, the Ministry has so
far failed to respond. Read more …
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