Head of OSCE notes the information on violation of UOC believers’ rights

The OSCE special commission monitors the religious situation in Ukraine

The materials were also forwarded to the Director of the Office of the Democratic Institute and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE Special Representative for Freedom of Media and the head of the Special Monitoring Mission of the OSCE in Ukraine to search for avenues to resolve the conflicts, reports the site of the human rights organization.

President of NGO Public Advocacy Oleg Denisov was notified on a new round of monitoring by a letter.

The attention of the OSCE Secretary General to the problems of protecting the rights of believers of the UOC allows us to count on reviving the dialogue in this direction.

The situation in Ukraine in the sphere of observance of religious freedoms still remains difficult: the discriminatory bills Nos. 128, 4511, 5309 have not been withdrawn from the agenda of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the criminal proceedings on the facts of church raiding have not been investigated, the worship buildings of the UOC have not been returned to their rightful owners.

Special concern of human rights defenders is caused by the interference of high-rank state officials into internal church issues such as autocephaly and the Single Local Church. Experts believe this will lead to receiving benefits by the number of religious denominations, as well as provoking new clashes on religious grounds.'

"Obviously, only and solely religious leaders should sort out religious issues without any interference or assistance from public servants, all the more so that issues relating to religious organization cannot be politically biased," the NGO Public Advocacy is convinced.

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