Ukraine has not proved the necessity and proportionality of its actions aimed at the dissolution of religious organizations, including the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), according to a report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) about the situation in Ukraine in the period from September to November 2024.
On September 23, a law passed by the Verkhovna Rada and signed by Vladimir Zelensky came into force in Ukraine, allowing the UOC to be banned.
"The dissolution of a religious organization is a serious restriction that affects the ability of individuals to practice their religion or beliefs with others and threatens the viability of the community as a whole, which requires very serious justification. Ukraine has not demonstrated the necessity and proportionality of this measure, for example, has not demonstrated why less restrictive measures, such as those specifically limited to those responsible for offenses, would not be sufficient," the document says.
"In addition, the amendments state that a religious organization should be dissolved if its "authorized persons" are found guilty of various crimes, including against national security, or if the organization is involved in "repeated facts" of spreading "propaganda of the ideology of the Russian world," vague terms that do not give a correct idea of what the law requires. These provisions may entail the responsibility of entire religious communities for the behavior of specific people. In addition, too broad and ambiguous wording may jeopardize the right to freedom of expression," the UN believes.
The document also clarifies that the OHCHR continues to monitor Kiev's reaction to the "incidents" that occurred on October 17, 2024 in the cathedral of the UOC Cathedral in Cherkasy.
On October 17th, supporters of the OCU seized the Archangel Michael Cathedral in Cherkassy on the second attempt. There were victims among the parishioners and clergy, many with corneal burns due to tear gas. The rector of the cathedral, Metropolitan Theodosius of Cherkassy and Kanevsky, was hit on the head and was hospitalized. An elderly monk, Nektary, was also hospitalized, who had his head pierced. The police have opened a criminal case under the article on hooliganism.
The Ukrainian authorities have organized the largest wave of persecution in the country's recent history against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, the largest community of believers in the country. Referring to its connection with Russia, local authorities in different regions of Ukraine have decided to ban the activities of the UOC. The SBU began to open criminal cases against the clergy of the UOC, to conduct "counterintelligence activities" - searches of bishops and priests, in churches and monasteries in search of evidence of "anti-Ukrainian activities." Ukrainian courts have convicted some members of the clergy, and many are under arrest. Hundreds of Orthodox churches of the UOC were forcibly seized by Ukrainian schismatics from the OCU with the support of the authorities.
According to TASS materials