Translated material
The Institute of Freedom of Conscience sent a statement to the president, indicating that the Expert Council under the Ministry of Justice should be dissolved
On April 12, the Institute for Freedom of Conscience sent a statement to President Dmitry Medvedev. In this document, the Co-Chairs of the Council of the Institute for Freedom of Conscience, S. Buryanov and S. Mozgovoy express the attitude of the Institute to the Expert Council under the Ministry of Justice and anti-extremist legislation.
We publish the text of the document in full:
"Recently, in connection with the unlawful expansion of the powers of the Expert Council for Religious Expertise under the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, the increase in the list of "extremist" materials, the formation of law enforcement units to counter "extremism", the issue of the compliance of the mentioned phenomena with the principles of law and the Constitution of Russia has become extremely topical. .
The Freedom of Conscience Institute believes that:
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the Institute of Religious Expertise (and other bodies for religious affairs), "anti-extremist" legislation, lists of "extremist" literature and specialized "anti-extremist" law enforcement agencies contradict the constitutional principles of freedom of conscience (Article 28) and secularism of the state (Article 14), pose a threat human rights, social stability, state security;
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the principles of freedom of conscience and secularism of the state are incompatible with non-legal xenophobic labels and stereotypes: "religious extremism", "Islamic terrorism", "sect", "Wahhabism", etc.;
- the concept of "extremism", despite the legislative consolidation, is illegal and extremely controversial from a scientific point of view;
- legal technique does not allow the use in legal acts of concepts that have multiple and subjective interpretation, as this entails abuse in the field of law enforcement and corruption;
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there are no legal criteria for "religion" and it is impossible to create them;
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the state of religious studies, not to mention theology, today is such that their application in the field of freedom of conscience and relations between the state and religious associations inevitably leads to unlawful interference of the authorities in the religious sphere, to corruption, and even to the modern version of the Inquisition - "witch hunt" ;
-proposals on the formation of "judicial religious studies" or "religious jurisprudence" are untenable from a legal point of view.
The Freedom of Conscience Institute states that:
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The Expert Council for Religious Expertise under the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation should be dissolved, and the Institute for Religious Expertise should be abolished;
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"anti-extremist" legislation and lists of literature should be repealed, and the relevant units in the power structures should be disbanded;
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state and municipal employees, the media should be responsible for the use in their activities of non-legal, and especially inciting discord and intolerance based on religion or belief concepts: "sect", "Wahhabism", "religious extremism", "Islamic terrorism", etc. .
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government officials, religious scholars, theologians, lawyers, journalists, etc., who are interested in selfish personal and corporate gain, should leave the freedom of ideological choice alone, and its implementation should be carried out on common constitutional and legal grounds with other public non-profit associations.
April 12, 2009
Co-Chairs of the Council of the Institute for Freedom of Conscience,
S.A. Buryanov, S.A. Cerebral"
Recall that A. Dvorkin was appointed head of the Expert Council. The Russian Association of Religion Researchers called on religious scholars to leave the Council.
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