Russian Federation: The situation of followers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church; attacks on followers by skinheads and/or neo-Nazis; state protection available for those harassed or attacked (2002)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 27 January 2003 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | RUS40568.E |
| Reference | 4 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Russian Federation: The situation of followers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church; attacks on followers by skinheads and/or neo-Nazis; state protection available for those harassed or attacked (2002), 27 January 2003, RUS40568.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3f7d4e0f31.html [accessed 21 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information on followers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church being attacked in 2002 is scarce among sources consulted by the Research Directorate. The Adventist News Network (ANN) reported in April 2002 that two students studying at the Seventh-day Adventists' Zaoksky Theological Seminary were attacked by 15 youths while awaiting a train (30 Apr. 2002b.) The students, citizens of Azerbaijan, were injured in the attack but later released from hospital (ANN 30 Apr. 2002b). According to the ANN, the attackers, which the article alleged came from a local public high school, were caught (ibid.). No details about their fate were provided in the report (ibid.). The report also stated that it was not known whether the ethnicity of the two seminary students was a motive in the attack (ibid.), but it added that Russia had experienced "an unusual number of hate crimes" in April – the month of Hitler's birth. (ibid.). No other attacks on Seventh-day Adventist followers could be found among the sources consulted.
However, a Seventh-day Adventist church in Kovrov, western Russia, was destroyed in a 15 April fire allegedly set by arsonists (ANN 30 Apr. 2002). Valery Ivanov, communication director of the Church in Russia, labelled the fire a "hate crime," but one which did not reflect the views of the local citizenry. Church leaders characterized relations with the community and local government officials as "good," adding that that, unlike a previous church fire in Belarus, there was no suspicion of complicity by the local government or police in the fire (ibid.). Although church leaders were reluctant to speculate, some people believed that the young nationalists known as skinheads were responsible for the fire (ibid.). According to the ANN report, this was the second fire at the church; an earlier one had damaged but not destroyed the church in September 2001 (ibid.).
Speaking at a meeting to discuss changes in Russia's legislation on religion, Ivanov said the Seventh-day Adventist Church is officially recognized as a "traditional" church, but sometimes local government officials attempt to treat it as a "non-traditional" church or "sect" and deny local congregations permission to rent facilities or carry out "public work" (ibid. 5 Feb. 2002). However, he also noted that this situation is "much worse" for other denominations (ibid.). John Graz of the Adventist religious liberty department, in comments about the generally positive relations between the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, noted that intolerance within the Orthodox church was evident among "some local priests outside of Moscow" (ibid. 16 Apr. 2002).
Other articles on the Seventh-day Adventist Church carried by the Adventist News Network in 2002 reported that the church had launched a Russian-language Website in June (ibid. 25 June 2002), created a Protestant coalition with two Pentecostal associations and the Baptists to "speak out on political and legal issues that could impact religion", (ibid. 19 Mar. 2002), and its Russian TV station had won an international broadcasting award (ibid. 16 Oct. 2002). In October the church hosted its annual meeting in Moscow, which also included public evangelism meetings (ibid. 29 Oct. 2002).
According to the Adventist Yearbook 2002, the western and eastern Russian sections of the church hosted 502 churches with 43,314 members and 176 churches with 14,600 members respectively (30 June 2001).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Adventist News Network (ANN). 29 October 2002. "Russia: Remembering Victims of Hostage Crisis." _____. 16 October 2002. "Russia: Adventists Receive International Award for Television Special." _____. 25 June 2002. "Adventists Launch Russian-Language Web Site." _____. 30 April 2002a. "Arsonists Destroy Adventist Church in West Russia." _____. 30 April 2002b. "Russia: Seminary Students Attacks." _____. 16 April 2002. "Leader Sounds Caution on Russia's Draft Religion Laws." _____. 19 March 2002. "Russian Protestants Seek Stronger Public Voice." _____. 5 February 2002. "ANN Feature: Russians Grapple with Problems of 'Two-Tier' Religion Law." Adventist Yearbook 2002. 30 June 2001. < http://www.adventistyearbook.org> [Accessed 25 Jan. 2002 ]
Additional Sources Consulted
Amnesty International Amnesty International. The Russian Federation: Denial of Justice. 2002. Annual Report on International Religious Freedom 2002
Centre for Religious Freedom, Freedom House.
International Christian Concern IRB Databases
Keston Institute. United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)
