UOC: Believers wrongly labelled in Ukraine as adherents of "Russian world"

The Cross procession of the UOC in Kyiv on the Day of the Christianization of Rus’, 2019. Photo: news.church.ua

There is a deplorably steady trend in Ukraine of targeting and labelling UOC believers ostensibly as adherents of a certain geopolitical position, the “Russian world” ideology and policies of the Russian Federation, which not only fails to correspond to reality but also contradicts international law, says the statement of the Representation of the UOC to European International Organizations regarding the situation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the context of international law and OSCE standards, published on the website of the UOC Information and Education Department.

The UOC reminds that international law condemns any form of manifestation of intolerance, discrimination, incitement to hostility on religious grounds. Offenses against this group include hostile or accusatory rhetoric in relation to the entire group of believers or the entire denomination, regardless of individual people and without any legal evidence of inappropriate behavior of representatives of the victim group.

“The political accusations of the UOC conducting anti-Ukrainian activities, contained in the statements of state officials, appeals of deputies of different levels, approved by decisions of local self-government bodies, are a clear manifestation of hate speech and incitement of intolerance towards the entire confession of the UOC as a whole at the state level. 

A case in point – the central body of state power of Ukraine in the sphere of religion accused hierarchy, individual clergy and the entire confession of the UOC of supporting separatism and anti-Ukrainian activities in one of its statements, demanding that the multi-million denomination form its public positions on the geopolitical conflict, Crimea, Donbas, which neither relates to the sphere of religion nor to the statutory tasks of the UOC, but lies in the plane of politics and individual beliefs of each person, rather than the entire confession. 

<...>  Based on the listed facts, there is a deplorably steady trend in Ukraine of targeting and labeling UOC believers ostensibly as adherents of a certain geopolitical position, the “Russian world” ideology and policies of the Russian Federation. <...> This trend not only fails to comply with international law, which directly prohibits such policies but is also socially dangerous since non-religious ideologies pertain to the sphere of personal convictions of a particular person and have nothing to do with religious practice. After all, the UOC is an organization that provides the exclusively spiritual guidance to its flock in order to save and unite believers with the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The UOC noted that the statements of state officials aimed at a negative assessment of the activities of a particular denomination “are appropriate only in relation to specific persons, as long as there is evidence that they have committed offenses, or if a religious denomination at the level of its fundamental decisions and documents carries out illegal activities”. However, the UOC has no evidence of the sort.

In this regard, the Representative Office of the UOC to European International Organizations once again reminds of the international obligations and responsibility of the state of Ukraine to protect human rights on its territory, which is a necessary condition for state sovereignty, and expect from representatives of state bodies to fulfill the principles that have been repeatedly confirmed by Ukrainian diplomats at various international events.

The full text of the statement of the Representation of the UOC to European International Organizations can be found here.

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