Yugoslavia: Information on the current treatment of Seventh Day Adventists, whether their treatment varies from region to region, and whether the Reform Movement of the Seventh Day Adventists is a different organization
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 August 1994 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | YUG18078.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Yugoslavia: Information on the current treatment of Seventh Day Adventists, whether their treatment varies from region to region, and whether the Reform Movement of the Seventh Day Adventists is a different organization, 1 August 1994, YUG18078.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6acd790.html [accessed 22 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. |
According to the president of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Belgrade, Seventh Day Adventists are free to worship and practice and preach their religion throughout the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) (4 Aug. 1994). He pointed out that the Serbian Orthodox Church seems to get preferential treatment in terms of access to state-run television, and because it wants to be the national religion, sometimes pressures the other faiths (ibid.). The source was unable to provide further information on the kind of perssure exercised by the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The President stated that there are approximately 15,000 Seventh Day Adventists in the FRY (ibid.). He also indicated that the Reform Movement of the Seventh Day Adventists is distinct from the Seventh Day Adventists; because of minor disagreements, the former separated from the latter around the beginning of the century (ibid). He indicated that in the FRY the Reform Movement of the Seventh Day Adventists is a much smaller group than in the Seventh Day Adventists (ibid.).
Country Reports 1993 corroborates the information that the Serbian Orthodox Church receives preferential treatment from the state in terms of access to television for religious events and its status relative to other faiths (1994, 1046). On freedom of religion, this source adds that
[a]lthough there are no legal restrictions on the practice of religion, the regime overly and covertly promoted religious intolerance. Police condoned periodic harassment of religious facilities used by ethnic minorities. After the bombing of Hungarian and Croatian Catholic churches in the Vojvodina, police investigations were generally perfunctory and inconclusive (ibid.).
Freedom in the World states that Serbs are free to practice their religion, although for Catholics and Muslims political realities have made "public worship difficult, if not impossible, in some areas" (1993, 541).
This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB 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.
References
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1993. 1994. United States Department of State. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.
Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties 1992-1993. 1993. New York: Freedom House.
Seventh Day Adventist Church, Belgrade. 4 August 1994. Telephone interview with president.
Attachment
Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties 1992-1993. 1993. New York: Freedom House, p. 541.
