What's wrong with rehabilitation centers?

We are publishing a commentary by SOVA Center expert Ksenia Sergazina related to numerous inspections of Protestant rehabilitation centers.

At the beginning of March 2014, in the village of Smolin, Chelyabinsk region,an inspection was carried out of the activities of the rehabilitation center of the Exodus Church.

The official version of what is happening is this: the religious community illegally detains people, instead of treating them, offers them to pray and charges their relatives 12 thousand rubles a month.

The check was carried out after a relative of one of the rehabilitators contacted the prosecutor's office. The issue of initiating a criminal case under Art. 126 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (kidnapping).

According to Bishop of ROSHVE Sergei Ryakhovsky, the Chelyabinsk center “Exodus” belongs to one of the evangelical groups, but is not associated with ROSHVE and is not included in the number of rehabilitation centers of ROSHVE of the same name due to the use of programs involving forced detention (the “Detox” program), as well as charging for treatment. The Exodus centers, supported by Russian Pentecostals, are free and offer voluntary treatment.

It is known that Protestant communities have been engaged in the rehabilitation of alcoholics and drug addicts for quite a long time and quite successfully. But recently, more and more often, their activities seem suspicious to police and FSB officers.

The closest analogue of the Chelyabinsk inspection can be considered the persecution of Kemerovo Protestants, as well as the situation that developed around the activities of the autonomous non-profit organization “Novosibirsk against drugs”.

Let's look at these examples.

In July 2011, the prosecutor of Osinnikov of the Kemerovo region sent a proposal to the Investigative Committee of the Novokuznetsk region to initiate a criminal case under Art. 239 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of an association encroaching on the personality and rights of citizens) against the head of a Christian rehabilitation center for drug addicts in the village of Kaltan (the center was created with the support of the Source of Life Foundation and the Church of Christians of the Evangelical Faith of Novokuznetsk).

In October 2011, the Kemerovo Regional Court decided to reject the prosecutor's claim, finding no grounds for closing the center. In February 2012, however, the prosecutor's office of the Kemerovo region againdemanded an audit of the activities of this center. In October 2012, a criminal case was initiated against the center’s employees V. Ivanov and T. Kadnikov, who in May 2013, by decision of the Novokuznetsk District Court of the Kemerovo Region, were found guilty of illegally detaining rehabilitators. In February 2014, the Kemerovo Regional Courtconfirmed the decision of the trial court to sentence these individuals to suspended imprisonment for a period of 3 years.

In Novosibirsk, criminal cases were initiated against the head of the organization “Novosibirsk Against Drugs” and his colleagues under Part 3 of Art. 33, paragraph “a”, “h”, part 2, art. 126 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of the kidnapping of a person committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy, for mercenary reasons) and under paragraph “a” of Part 2 of Art. 126 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (kidnapping of a person committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy). According to investigators, this center was created by members of the Faith Movement Church of Pentecostal Christians. The head of the organization was sentenced to 4 years of suspended imprisonment, the employees of the rehabilitation center were sentenced to suspended imprisonment for a period of 1.5 years and 6 years.

We do not know whether the rehabilitators in these centers actually underwent treatment by force, without their consent or without the consent of their legal representatives, or whether such accusations are unfounded.

In other regions of Russia, FSB officers also conduct inspections of rehabilitation centers opened by Protestant organizations.

In the Leningrad region, in November 2012, inspections began in two Protestant rehabilitation centers of the “New Life” - in the villages of Kotly and Preobrazhenka, Kingisepp district. On December 21, 2012, a criminal case under Art. 330 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (arbitrariness). The case was initiated after a statement from one of the rehabilitators, who, according to him, was forcibly detained in the center.

Volunteers of the center appealed to the Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation with complaints about the actions of police officers during inspections and with statements to initiate criminal cases under Art. 139 (violation of the inviolability of the home) and Art. 286 (exceeding official powers). On April 26, 2013, the Kingisepp City Court upheld the claim of the New Life Church against law enforcement agencies and declared illegal the refusal to initiate a criminal case for illegal entry into a home by police officers. On July 30, 2013, the Leningrad Regional Court confirmed the decision of the court of first instance.

In the Rostov region in May 2013, the prosecutor of the Neklinovsky district went to court with a demand to ban the activities of the local religious organization of Taganrog - the Church of Christians of the Evangelical Faith "Exodus". It was just about rehabilitation activities. On May 21, 2013, the Neklinovsky District Court of the Rostov Region, however, recognized the prosecutor’s demands as unfounded and terminated the proceedings.

On August 22, 2013, the Rostov Regional Court also overturned the decision of the Shakhty City Court of June 4, 2013 on the liquidation of the rehabilitation center of Evangelical Christian Baptists in the village. Duvanovka, Shakhtinsky district. The panel of judges found no violations in the activities of the religious group that founded this center for helping drug and alcohol addicts.

However, on March 22, 2014, an unscheduled inspection was again carried out - employees of the prosecutor's office, criminal investigation department, Federal Migration Service, FSB of the city of Shakhty, Rostov region, without presenting official identification, using force, broke into the territory of the rehabilitation center and took those gathered there to the police station. The Protestants sent a complaint to the Rostov Regional Prosecutor's Office against the actions of law enforcement agencies.

The given examples, often associated with the aggressive position of district prosecutors and violation of official powers of law enforcement officers, convince us that inspections of rehabilitation centers opened by representatives of Protestant organizations can be regarded as persecution of religious minorities in Russia.

A similar position is shared not only by the leaders of Protestant organizations, in particular, Bishop of ROSHVE Sergei Ryakhovsky, but also by religious scholar Roman Lunkin, who emphasizes that “ the persecution of rehabilitation centers for drug addicts on religious grounds has become a common practice in the regions since the mid-late 2000s .” In his opinion, the persecution also includes a “political aspect” associated with state support for independent rehabilitation programs and the growing interest in the same topic of the Russian Orthodox Church.