An expert of the Civil Liberties Center, Volodymyr Yavorskyy, has commented on the law adopted in the Verkhovna Rada aimed at banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The expert claims that if the law No 8371 is finally adopted, it will significantly restrict the rights of believers, which will definitely contradict democratic standards. Yavorskyy said this in a commentary for the Ukrainian Radio.
“This is a restriction of the rights of believers. But the issue is that the government has the right to limit the rights of believers in certain ways to protect its own interests or the interests of people. That is, these rights are not unlimited. In this case we are talking about the fact that when the activities of a religious organization may contradict or threaten the National Security, then, of course, the state has the right to impose certain restrictions on the activities of such an organization. Therefore, this wording is important here, that such an organization must pose a threat to National Security with its activities”, – the expert says.
In addition, Volodymyr Yavorski points out that the legislative basis of the draft law No. 8371 is insufficient for its implementation, since the grounds for banning the UOC can be challenged in the European Court of Justice and other international human rights organizations.
“This bill … defines connection with any centers of the aggressor state as already sufficient to establish a threat. This is quite a debatable issue. It seems to me that this is not enough in this situation, that we need a threat from a specific organization itself. For example, if its leadership was engaged in some anti-Ukrainian activities or if some of its activities contradict certain ideas that are important for Ukrainian society. Therefore, if only a connection is established, it seems to me that it will not be enough if we follow democratic standards, in particular, the European Convention on Human Rights. Because these cases can be considered in the European Court of Justice and the state will need to prove that these organizations threatened national security. Therefore, it is necessary to do more than just prove this connection with the occupying state”, – the expert says.
We would like to remind you that earlier we published an analytical material on the peculiarities and consequences of the adoption of Bill No. 8371, in which we described in detail what may happen in case of its adoption.
