The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief
9 August 2006
SERBIA: Religion Minister breaks his own law
Serbia's Religion Minister, Milan Radulovic, has broken the controversial Religion Law his ministry sponsored, Forum 18 News Service has found. Radulovic's Ministry has published Regulations which illegally increase the number of adult Serbian citizens required for a religious community to be registered, from the 75 the Religion Law specifies to 100. The Ministry has repeatedly refused to say why it did this. What legal rights registered and unregistered communities will have remains unclear, and a legal challenge to the Religion Law has been submitted to the Serbian Constitutional Court, based on contradictions between the Law and the European Convention on Human Rights. Some Evangelical churches are refusing to apply for registration, as they refuse to "voluntarily and peacefully agree with discrimination between the churches." "Justice can only be gained via a court process, or with the help of the international community," two Evangelical leaders have publicly declared.
5 August 2004
SERBIA: Religious freedom survey, August 2004
In its survey analysis of religious freedom in Serbia, Forum 18 News Service notes the problems caused by a proposed draft religion bill, religious education in schools, and physical attacks on religious minorities. However, alternative civilian service regulations have been introduced, so conscientious objectors to military service are not now prosecuted. In a listing of attacks on religious minorities in 2003, Forum 18 records that Evangelical-Methodists, Jews, Seventh Day Adventists, Serbian Evangelicals, Jehovah Witnesses, Lutherans, Romany Pentecostals, Baptists, Hare Krishna devotees, Catholics, and Muslims were all victims of different types of attack in 2003, ranging from hate speech and graffiti to physical assaults. A noted church-state commentator, Mirko Djordevic, has told Forum 18 that "we cannot say that the religious freedom of Serbian citizens is threatened, but different confessions limit each others freedom." Pavel Domonji, from the Helsinki Committee, observed to Forum 18 that "Small religious communities are often under attack. It is probably because they form trans-national communities, where every believer is a member, regardless of their ethnic background."
1 May 2003
CROATIA: Free Churches unhappy over government agreements
The Alliance of Baptist Churches has refused to sign a joint agreement with the government together with other Protestant denominations, complaining about the way the process has been handled and the way the agreement is phrased. It has decided to ask the government for an individual agreement. "We will insist on this," Giorgio Grlj of the Baptist Alliance told Forum 18 News Service. Earlier this year the government excluded some Protestant denominations previously involved in negotiations – including the Baptists - from the possibility of signing individual agreements, and is pressuring them to join larger denominations in a joint agreement. While the Free Churches remain unhappy over the whole process, other religious communities are prepared to accept the government's offer. "No-one is really happy about the agreements, but we have to be realistic," Bishop Endre Langh of the Reformed Church – which expects to sign its joint agreement with the Lutherans in May - told Forum 18. "At least we'll have a clear situation where we're recognised by the government."