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As the
first tentative legal steps are at last underway to bring to justice at
least some of those responsible for a five year reign of terror on
Georgia's religious minorities (see F18News 16 August 2004
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=394), some religious leaders
have told Forum 18 News Service that the situation for religious minorities
has improved since Mikheil Saakashvili
led street protests that ousted President Eduard
Shevardnadze last November and brought him to the presidency in January.
(See F18News 26 November 2003
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=196).
Others are not sure, insisting that although the atmosphere may have
improved, the fundamental obstructions to their activity remain. They have
told Forum 18 that religious minority communities are left without equal
rights by, for example, the continued refusal to offer legal status to any
faiths except the Georgian Orthodox Church, the lack of a religion law
defining the rights of religious communities, the privileges still granted
to the Orthodox Church in the controversial 2002 concordat, and the
impossibility of building non-Orthodox places of worship.
"Is the religious freedom situation better? You can't answer this with
a straight yes or no," Giorgi Khutsishvili, head of the Tbilisi [T'bilisi] International Centre
on Conflict and Negotiation (ICCN), which has campaigned for an end to
religious violence, told Forum 18 on 13 August. "The political
atmosphere is easier than under Shevardnadze, and the government's attitude
is clear: it's against extremism, for religious tolerance and in general
for the European way of behaving. But at the same time the government
believes it is very important for it to maintain good relations with the
Orthodox Patriarchate."
Pastor Gary Azikov of the Lutheran Church
was adamant that the situation had not improved. "Everything is as it
was before the new government took over," he told Forum 18 from Tbilisi on 13 August.
"Nothing has moved forward." Bishop Giuseppe Pasotto
of the Catholic Church also believes the problems for religious minorities
have not been tackled as the new government has not yet devised a religious
policy. "They have been busy working on other problems," he told
Forum 18 from Tbilisi
on 13 August. A member of Tbilisi's
Baha'i community who preferred not to be named
echoed this point to Forum 18 the same day. "The government has been too
preoccupied with the issue of Adjara and the
conflict in South Ossetia to think about
religious concerns."
"The situation is better," Pastor Mamuka
Jebisashvili of the Word of Life church told
Forum 18 from the capital Tbilisi on 13 August. He pointed out that his
church was able to hold a youth conference in a rented Tbilisi theatre in
May, an impossibility until this year, while in the town of Gori, where the Word of Life congregation faced
repeated harassment in the past, "the fanatics have quietened down". Jehovah's Witness lawyer Manuchar Tsimintia agreed.
"There have been no large-scale attacks," he told Forum 18 from Tbilisi on 13 August.
"We are continuing our activities and problems are gradually being
worked out." This summer, he said, the Jehovah's Witnesses have been
able to hold large conventions without violent attacks from self-appointed
Orthodox vigilantes. "This is the first year we have been able to do
this for five years."
More pessimistic is Fr Zurab Aroshvili,
a priest of the True Orthodox Church which is under the authority of
Metropolitan Ephraim of Boston in the United States. "There have
been no new developments on religious freedom," he told Forum 18 from Tbilisi on 13 August.
"There has been no progress in being able to build churches." He
said that when their parish in the western city of Kutaisi
[Kut'ai'si] applied for permission to build a
church, officials told them to seek permission from the Georgian Orthodox
Patriarchate, as prescribed in the 2002 concordat between the Patriarchate
and the government. "Officials won't give permission," he
complained. "Even Kutaisi regional court would
not give us the permission. The authorities tell our priest there Fr David Georgadze that they understand our plight, but
officials say without Patriarchate approval we can't give you permission,
otherwise we would lose our jobs." He said approaches to the city
authorities this year have brought the same response.
Fr Aroshvili also said that there had been no
progress on rebuilding the church in the village of Shemokmedi, destroyed by
a self-appointed Orthodox mob in October 2002. No-one has been prosecuted
for this (see F18News 16 August 2004
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=394). "The old
authorities are still there," he told Forum 18. "The building is
still in ruins and if we try to rebuild it we fear they will simply come
again and destroy it."
The True Orthodox parish in Tbilisi
would also like to build its own church when it has the money, in
accordance with plans approved by the city council in 1998. "Although
activists from the Liberty Institute supported us under the old
government," Fr Aroshvili reported,
"now they are close to the new rulers we don't know how they would
react if we sent in an application to start building." He said that
the five True Orthodox parishes can meet for worship in private homes but,
despite the change in government, having full-fledged churches is still a
long way off. "The authorities and the people don't object any more to home services, but having a proper church is a
different matter – they won't give you permission as this is a matter for
the Patriarchate."
Pastor Azikov of the Lutheran Church
also said that buildings churches was still a problem, as Lutherans cannot
build new churches, and so two of the five Lutheran congregations in the
country are therefore forced to meet in private homes, while another
congregation rents accommodation in a museum. "Of course these
communities want their own churches."
Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili,
head of the Baptist Church of Georgia, told Forum 18 that his congregation
in the village of Akhalsopeli in Kvareli [Qvareli] district of
eastern Georgia
still faces threats from the local population not to rebuild their church.
This was burnt out by a mob allegedly incited by the local Orthodox priest
Fr Bessarion Zurabashvili
in June 2003 (see F18News 3 July 2003
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=96). "The local
authorities didn't want to be involved, so they kept shuffling
responsibility from one office to another," Bishop Songulashvili
told Forum 18 from Tbilisi
on 13 August. "Finally the architect's office gave permission in July
to rebuild." But he said the Orthodox priest is still there and
described the continuing threats as "an alarming signal".
Bishop Songulashvili's concern was echoed by Khutsishvili of the ICCN, which had visited the village
in the previous few days. "There is an official decision allowing the
church to be restored, but the local Orthodox have pledged to prevent this
happening," he told Forum 18. "Our group spoke to the Orthodox
and they were categorical. They also said they will not tolerate what they
see as any Baptist proselytism." He said that building non-Orthodox
places of worship is "not entirely prohibited", but faces strong
resistance from the Orthodox, and he is not aware of any non-Orthodox
places of worship opening in Georgia in 2004. "Even the
Catholics, perhaps the strongest of the non-Orthodox faiths, face lots of
resistance to opening new churches," he told Forum 18. "When
Orthodox priests are behind a decision, the government won't
intervene." He points out that many minority faiths that do have their
own places of worship are still too frightened to put up a sign outside.
Bishop Songulashvili says that the Baptists would
like to build churches, including in several villages in the Kakheti region of eastern Georgia. "But when we try,
nothing happens," he lamented. "Orthodox priests have such
influence on local authorities that there is no point for us to apply for
permission to build churches." He says the only way is for private
individuals to buy a building and convert it into a church. "This has
been the pattern for the past twelve years. Nothing has changed,"
going on to comment that until a law on religion is adopted (Georgia is the only country in the former Soviet Union without one), or there is some other way
for non-Orthodox religious communities to gain legal status, it will remain
impossible to build places of worship. "Without legal status we don't
exist in law."
Bishop Pasotto of the Catholic Church echoed
Bishop Songulashvili's comments, saying that
"without a religion law we can't build churches, though I admit we
haven't tried again this year," he told Forum 18. "I don't think
the problems are with the government though. It is more a problem of social
attitudes."
Despite this, Bishop Songulashvili believes
Orthodox influence over the government has faded. "The Orthodox complain their influence has fallen, and this is
true." Khutsishvili of the ICCN believes
that President Saakashvili's government is
determined to work on the basis of the rule of law. "It is listening
less to extremists like the politician Guram Sharadze, who kept inciting people against religious
minorities."
However, some of President Mikheil Saakashvili's views have caused concern. Following the
12 March police arrest of Old Calendarist priest
Fr Basil Mkalavishvili and his associates,
responsible for a five-year reign of terror against religious minorities, Saakashvili said, in remarks broadcast on Imedi TV, that "the Georgian state, not some local
extremist who beats and raids people, should protect Georgia from harmful
alien influence and extremism". Amnesty International believes such a
comment "clearly contravenes" Article 18 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to
choose and practise one's faith freely.
At the time of his becoming President in November 2003, some religious
leaders also expressed scepticism about President
Saakashvili's commitment to religious freedom,
pointing out that he was minister of Justice at a time when many violent
attacks were being made on religious minorities (See F18News 26 November
2003 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=196).
On 10 May 2004, President Saakashvili made
comments which cast further doubt on his commitment to religious freedom.
When Saakashvili visited a mosque in the port
city of Batumi
[Bat'umi], he said, according to Caucasus Press,
that there are two main traditional religions in Georgia, Christianity and
Islam, and went on to say that the country must be cleared from the harmful
influence of aggressive religious movements.
Although there have been no large-scale attacks on religious minorities
since President Shevardnadze was ousted, many religious leaders are
disturbed by continuing intolerance against any manifestation of religious
freedom, as well as opposition to the building non-Georgian Patricarchate places of worship. Fr Aroshvili
of the True Orthodox complained that, at the end of May, people from the
Patriarchate warned the owner of a bookshop, on Tbilisi's central Rustaveli Avenue,
to remove from sale books published by the True Orthodox Church. The owner
"feared aggression if he failed to comply, so my brother Fr Gela had to come and take the books away."
Although booksellers often do stock non-Patriarchate religious
publications, many believe this remains risky. "There is still
Orthodox intimidation of bookshops that sell non-Patriarchate material,"
Khutsishvili of the ICCN reported.
As a further sign of intolerance, Khutsishvili
told Forum 18 of the recent vandalism of Catholic graves in Georgia's
southern Javakheti region.
Examples of intolerance were also given by Bishop Songulashvili,
who spoke of a June 2004 attack by one Orthodox priest, Fr David Kvlividze, on another priest, Fr Georgi
Chachava, for his "liberal" views and
readiness to work with other Christian churches. Another example was a
telephone call in June from the Patriarchate to St Panteleimon's
Orthodox Church in Tbilisi,
instructing the priest to close the church for a day to "cleanse"
it after it had been "desecrated" by a visit to the Sunday
liturgy by a delegation from the Church of England Diocese of Norwich,
described by the caller as "dogs". Church of England Bishop
Stephen Platten of Wakefield told the Anglican
'Church Times' (20 August 2004) that he had discussed this incident with
Prime Minister Zurab Jvania,
who was "amazed that anyone could be quite so crude", as well as
with Patriarch Ilya, who Bishop Platten described as "a godly, kindly patrician
figure, but tired and surrounded by the ecclesiastical apparatchiks of a
fallen and discredited empire."
Bishop Songulashvili was also outraged by the
instruction in June by an Orthodox priest at the Sveti
Tskhoveli Cathedral in the ancient capital of
Georgia, Mtskheta, in western central Georgia, to another church official to throw
out the Vatican nuncio to Georgia,
Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, who was visiting
the ancient cathedral. "The cathedral is a UNESCO world heritage site
and gets public money," Songulashvili told
Forum 18. "They had no right to kick him out. This was simply a sign
of religious intolerance."
Pentecostal pastor Nikolai Kalutsky, whose Tbilisi
home was repeatedly blockaded and attacked in recent years by
self-appointed vigilantes, led by local Orthodox priest Fr David Imnadze, to prevent worship services taking place
there, told Forum 18 that the Constitutional Court still has not ruled on
whether he has the right to host religious services in his home. "I
expect them to tell me in the next week when the hearing will take
place," he told Forum 18 from Tbilisi
on 14 August. He took his case to the court after the local police banned
him from using his home for services. Kalutsky
said he has not tried to hold services in his home this year, despite the
change in government. "The ban is against the constitution, but I am
law abiding and want to have the verdict from the court to take to the
local police, to guarantee that the excesses we saw in the past won't be
repeated." In the winter his church meets in a private home in an area
of Tbilisi
where, in his words, the population is "more
friendly", while in summer it meets in the forest close to the city.
Pastor Kalutsky believes that it is now possible
for religious minorities to print religious literature locally, though he
says there is still a risk that any literature might be destroyed by
"fanatics". "We don't yet have a 100 per cent guarantee that
it is safe." Pastor Azikov of the Lutheran Church pointed out that without
legal status, non-Orthodox communities have no right to publish, saying his
Church therefore "Is not risking it". Pastor Jebisashvili
of Word of Life said it is now easier to print literature, as did Catholic
Bishop Pasotto. Bishop Songulashvili
of the Baptists says his Church has never had a problem producing
literature locally. However, the Baha'i
representative told Forum 18 that publishing is "not very easy",
adding: "Some companies are not happy to print our material – they
have only limited understanding. Plus they are afraid that if the
government finds out they might have problems."
Most religious leaders said they were optimistic that the new Education
Minister, Kakha Lomaia,
was making an honest attempt to turn religious education in schools into an
informational subject, rather than Orthodox instruction. "I believe
the education minister is a good person who wants to change the religious
education lessons to include non-Orthodox faiths fairly," Pastor Jebisashvili told Forum 18. But Bishop Songulashvili lamented that there is still "no
clarity" on the issue. "We do not need religious instruction in
schools, what we need is religious education." He welcomed a
conference at the end of July with education ministry officials,
educationalists and non-governmental organisations
to look at different models of religious education and European standards
of how to teach it.
Khutsishvili said that the ICCN was working with
another NGO in Tbilisi, the Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and
Development, on a project to draw up new teaching materials "that
teach religions as they are, not as the Orthodox see them". He says
some "enlightened" schools are already "correcting" the
syllabus, but that Orthodox instruction still occurs, especially in rural
schools. Not all schools introduced religious education classes. "I
would say about half the schools in Tbilisi
have these classes," the Baha'i
representative told Forum 18. Compulsory class visits to local Orthodox
churches seem to be declining. "My eight-year old daughter was taken
several times last year to church to be told how to pray," the Baha'i noted. "But at a different school this year
they have never been taken. As time goes on, schools and teachers try to be
more tolerant."
Jehovah's Witness lawyer Manuchar Tsimintia said that he had not heard recently of any
teachers making Jehovah's Witness children go to local Orthodox churches in
school time. "But I don't think the syllabus has yet been officially
changed," he told Forum 18. He also said that he had not heard of any
cases in 2004 of Jehovah's Witnesses being sacked from their job as
teachers, as had happened in previous years.
All religious leaders spoke of the need to have the possibility to register
religious communities, either through a new law or through an amendment to
the public law code. Bishop Songulashvili gave
the current inability of non-Georgian Patriarchate communities to build
places of worship as an example of the need for a religion law, saying that
"without legal status we don't exist in law." Although religious
leaders said they had looked at draft religion laws circulated recently,
Bishop Songulashvili complained of the lack of
clarity. He said that Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili
had recently told him and the visiting Bishop of Wakefield, Stephen Platten, that a draft text will be issued for comments
before going to parliament in the autumn. However, only the following day
both the deputy Justice Minister Giorgi Papuashvili and Prime Minister Zurab
Jvania told them no draft text was under
discussion.
"Prime Minister Jvania supported the idea of
amending the public law code to allow religious organisations
to register," Bishop Songulashvili told
Forum 18. "I think this is not a bad idea. Let religious communities
get registration and later adopt a religious law if needed." One
recent improvement is that, in November 2003, the Ministry of Justice
restored state registration to the Jehovah's Witnesses. This had been
removed after the extremist politician Guram Sharadze, with the backing of the Georgian
Patriarchate, initiated a 1999 legal case for annulment of the Jehovah's
Witnesses' registration, alleging their "anti-State, anti-national,
and anti-Orthodox activity".
Bishop Songulashvili believes religious
communities have three main needs: to be able to obtain legal status,
acquire the right to engage in social ministry and educate their followers
in schools and in their own colleges. "If any draft law meets these
three needs, we will be happy."
On religious violence under President Shevardnadze see
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=182
On difficulties over places of worship under President Shevardnadze see
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=184
On difficulties over religious literature under President Shevardnadze see
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=191 and
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=192
On lack of legal status under President Shevardnadze see
http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=185
A printer-friendly map of Georgia is available at
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html?Parent=asia&Rootmap=georgi
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