On August 5, the first meeting of the Public Council under the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, created to promote the reform of the penitentiary system of the Ministry of Justice of Russia and control over the observance of human rights in the system of penitentiary institutions, took place.

On the night of August 5, the building of the Jewish community in Yaroslavl was again attacked by vandals. Windows were shattered in the building, a swastika and insulting inscriptions were painted on the wall. The law enforcement agencies of Yaroslavl assure that active work is underway to search for hooligans. However, over the past few months, the building has been destroyed for the fourth time. Sources Jewish center in Yaroslavl hit by another raid // Yaroslavia. 2003. August 7

In connection with the preparation of the Second International Symposium on Shamanism, a religious scandal erupted in the Republic of Tyva. The symposium is scheduled for August 9 and, in particular, involves the opening of a memorial plaque in honor of the Finnish ethnologist Heimo Lapalainen and "practical exercises" - demonstrative rituals at the foot of Mount Khyirkan in the Ulug-Khem region of the republic.

On August 6, the newspaper "NG-Religions" published an article by the Deputy Chairman of the DECR, Prot. Vsevolod Chaplin, about the meeting of delegations of the OSCE member states. The meeting was devoted to the problems of observance of freedom of religion and beliefs and was held in Vienna on July 17-18. He sharply criticized the opinion of international human rights organizations, and first of all - the Helsinki Movement (i.e.

On August 7, a charity canteen at the church in the name of the Holy Healer Panteleimon Yekaterinburg began its work. It is designed to serve about 40 people per shift. The dining room is open only on weekdays, but it is planned to arrange its daily work in several shifts in the future. The Novo-Tikhvin Convent fully took over the food supply.

On August 6, at a meeting between the Minister of Culture of Russia, Mikhail Shvydkoy, and the chairman of the local Jewish community, Chaprak, the issue of returning the Torah scrolls that are currently in the regional library to the Nizhny Novgorod synagogue was discussed. M. Shvydkoi gave guarantees that the Torah scrolls would be returned to the Jews in the near future.