Presidential Administration Does Not Take into Account Requests of Council of Churches

Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych issued a number of instructions to heads of the central and local bodies of the executive power on the basis of the results of the meeting of the president with members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (AUCCRO) of March 21, 2012, and the meeting with individual religious figures of April 10, 2012, reads the response of the presidential administration to an information inquiry of RISU of July 25, 2012.

The presidential instruction, in particular, deals with the organization of work of the Committee on Ensuring Realization of Rights of Religious Organizations of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Let us remind that under the new government, not a single session of the committee has been held since March 2010. It is notable that a similar instruction of the president issued on June 2011 after the first meeting with AUCCRO was not fulfilled during the year.

As late as a week ago, after the second meeting with the heads of denominations, the Cabinet of Ministers renewed the composition of the Committee on Ensuring Realization of Rights of Religious Organizations. Notably, religious rights campaigners were excluded from it. The question of regularity of its convocation and efficiency of its activity remains unsettled.

In addition, the president ordered to invite representatives of churches and religious organizations to discuss and offer proposals on a draft Concept of Humanitarian Development of Ukraine for the period until 2020.

It was ordered to introduce “periodic meetings of the heads of the bodies of executive power with heads of the local religious organizations to facilitate settlement of urgent issues of these organizations.” The instruction does not specify whether it should be done in the format of meetings with interdenominational councils in the regions as called by the AUCCRO or of meetings with individual religious leaders as usual.

The president of Ukraine also instructed the government to provide assistance to members of the AUCCRO during their visit to Canada and USA of April 20-30, 2012. However, the urgent organization of the meeting with the president on March 21 wrecked the trip of members of the AUCCRO to Brussels planned on the same day.

Viktor Yanukovych also expects agreed proposals regarding the place and time of organization of his regular meeting with members of AUCCRO. Last spring, he proposed that the heads of churches and religious organizations should visit him this summer in the Crimea without specifying a date or purpose of the visit.

In addition, representatives of the presidential administration noted that “the head of state pays regular attention to the settlement of questions raised by representatives of religious organizations to promote their activity with regard to realization of rights of citizens to freedom of worship.”

At the same time, the members of the AUCCRO prepared another address (nearly identical to the one sent last year) for the meeting with an addendum including 11 items of specific requests and proposals. However, the above-mentioned instruction does not deal with fulfillment of any specific items of the address or mention it at all.