Jun 21, 2022

USCIRF Welcomes European Court Judgment Against Russia on Jehovah’s Witnesses

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomes the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgment issued on June 7 that found Russia violated freedom of thought, conscience, and religion—among other rights—through the government’s sustained and increasingly brazen campaign against Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Russian Supreme Court banned Jehovah’s Witnesses as an “extremist” organization in 2017 and since then has regularly raided, detained, arrested, and imprisoned Jehovah’s Witnesses on groundless criminal charges.

“We applaud the European Court’s decisive ruling on the Russian government’s inexplicable repression of Jehovah’s Witnesses through its various bans on their activities and religious literature. USCIRF reiterates the Court’s call on Russia to bring an immediate end to its prosecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses and to release all those it has unjustly imprisoned,” stated USCIRF Vice Chair Nury Turkel. “We urge the U.S. government and international community to continue speaking out against Russia’s repression of religious communities.”

USCIRF has repeatedly highlighted the religious freedom violations that Russia has committed, including those against Jehovah’s Witnesses. In March, USCIRF warned about the potential for the expansion of Russia’s religious oppression in Ukraine as a result of Russia’s latest invasion and published a Backgrounder further detailing religious freedom conditions under Russia. On May 21, the Russian government sanctioned USCIRF Vice Chair Nury Turkel and former USCIRF Commissioners along with many other American citizens in retaliation to the “ever-expanding U.S. sanctions on Russian political and public figures, as well as representatives of domestic businesses.”

“USCIRF will never be intimidated to stop highlighting the violation of religious freedom around the world, including the Russian government’s myriad religious freedom violations. We will not cease advocating for the many religious prisoners of conscience that remain incarcerated by Russia to this day,” added USCIRF Commissioner Abraham Cooper.

In its 2022 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended the U.S. government redesignate Russia as a “Country of Particular Concern,” or CPC, for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. In November 2021, the U.S. Department of State designated Russia as a CPC for the first time.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].