The Russian government has been employing antiterrorism regulations to limit religious freedom in the country, the US State Department said in its annual International Religious Freedom Report on Wednesday, covering developments in 2020
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th May, 2021) The Russian government has been employing antiterrorism regulations to limit religious freedom in the country, the US State Department said in its annual International Religious Freedom Report on Wednesday, covering developments in 2020."Religious groups said the government continued to use antiterrorism regulations to restrict religious freedom, including proselytizing and banning religious literature," the report said. "Authorities designated seven NGOs associated with Falun Gong as 'undesirable' foreign organizations and barred them from working in the country."
The State Department said in the report that the US ambassador and the diplomatic mission representatives in Russia advocated for greater religious freedom in the country while "highlighting the government's misuse of the law on extremism to restrict the peaceful activities of religious minorities."
The State Department also said that the Russian government provided privileges to the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) while not providing them to other religious organizations.
"Foreign religious organizations (those created outside of the country under foreign laws) have the right to open offices for representational purposes, either independently or as part of religious organizations previously established in the country, but they may not form or found their own religious organizations in the country and may not operate houses of worship," the report said.
The State Department reiterated its claim from the previous year's report that the Russian authorities have continued to violate the rights of individuals on account of their faith and to accuse religious minority groups of extremism.
On December 2, 2020 the US government renewed Russia's placement on its special watch list of countries that Washington believes violate religious freedoms.
Russian Orthodox Church representatives have said of past State Department reports that cherry-picks examples to back its claims and also ignore instances when Orthodox Christians' rights are violated.
