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48.
The Government informed that the Full Gospel Church of Jesus Christ in
Kozenki also does not have a legal address. The declared address for re-registration is
a family home to five children. As such, the agency of tutorship and guardianship
refused permission for the premises to be used as the legal address of the religious
community, considering that it would be detrimental to the children’s living
conditions. The organizers have not filed another application for re-registration with
the authorities, specifying another legal address.
49.
The Brobuisk Krishna Consciousness Society has, according to the local
authorities, essentially ceased its activities. The International Society for Krishna
Consciousness applied for re-registration. The membership of this community
includes none of the leaders or organizers of the previously registered religious
community and its title and legal address have changed. These changes were not made
in accordance with the correct procedure and re-registration was therefore denied for
lack of legal continuity. The way out of the impasse was to wind up the former legal
entity that had ceased its activities and register a new community under the proper
procedure. The Mogilev Society for Krishna Consciousness was denied registration
for procedural shortcomings during the application process. The Minsk Society for
Krishna Consciousness was denied re-registration because the address it submitted as
its legal address was a residential address, which is not allowed. The Minsk Society
for Krishna Consciousness appealed the initial decision but the initial judgment of the
authorities was upheld in appeal. Because this society continued to hold religious
services nonetheless administrative proceedings were brought against them.
50.
With regard to the re-registration of evangelical Baptist churches, six Baptist
comm unities in the cities of Brest, Kamenets and Bereza and the villages of
Chernavchitsy and Ostromechevo in Brest district have been re-registered after they
complied with registration procedures.
Observations
51.
The Special Rapporteur is grateful for the Government’s response and draws
its attention to Resolution 2005/40 of the Commission on Human Rights, in which
the Commission urged States, “[t]o review, whenever relevant, existing registration
practices in order to ensure the right of all persons to manifest their religion or belief,
alone or in community with others and in public or in private” (Paragraph 4(c)). In
this regard, the Special Rapporteur wishes to emphasize that the right to freedom of
religion is not limited to members of registered religious communities. As she noted
in her previo us report to the Commission on Human Rights, referring to the
OSCE/ODIHR Guidelines for Review of Legislation pertaining to Religion or Belief,
“registration should not be compulsory, i.e. it should not be a precondition for
practicing one’s religion, but only for the acquisition of a legal personality and related
benefits” (E/CN.4/2005/61, para. 58).
52.
Moreover, the Special Rapporteur takes this opportunity to remind the
Government of the views of the Human Rights Committee of 23 August 2005 on
communication No. 1207/2003 (Malakhovsky and Pikul v. Belarus,
CCPR/C/84/D/1207/2003) in which the Committee found a violation of Article 18 of
the International C ovenant on Civil and Political R ights, following the refusal to
register Minsk Vaishnava community as a religious association. In its decision the