The Heads of Ukrainian Churches and Religious Organizations have sent an appeal to the Ministries of Culture and Justice asking for proper public discussion of the draft Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations

A roundtable on Dialogue between the Authorities and Faiths within the Context of a European Value System has reiterated the need for dialogue, a single body on religious affairs and immense care and consultation with any legislative moves

The Council is concerned that the abolition of the State Committee of Ukraine on Nationalities and Religions and transfer of its functions to other authorities would jeopardize social harmony and Church-State dialogue

The memorial plaque erected in 2005 was removed from the wall of what was once the Kharkiv prison where in the 1960s the Patriarch, a prisoner of conscience for 18 years, was held on his way to Siberia

Two National Deputies from the Party of the Regions are proposing to waive tax on the construction of the tallest cathedral in Europe which the Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate is undertaking in Kyiv

The consequences of any form of favouritism tend to be negative. The dangers, however, when one religious group is favoured above others by those in power, as is now happening in Ukraine, are incalculable.

The Council of Evangelical Protestant Churches of Ukraine believes that the lack of a proper note of protest from the Foreign Ministry over the deportation from Uzbekistan of Bishup Nesteruk could place other Ukrainians at threat of similar treatment

Under the radical restructuring set out by Presidential Decree, religious organizations will be registered by a newly created State Registration Service and all other functions will fall under the new Ministry of Culture. These changes clash with present legislation which religious organizations believe should not be changed

The Crimean authorities are once again trying to stop the building of the Soborna or Assembly Mosque in Simferopol

It asserts that Donetsk businessmen, together with representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate [UOC MP] tried to hold an unlawful “meeting of village residents” in order to formalize documents for transferring the Ascension Church to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate

A memorial plaque to Patriarch Joseph Slipy, erected in 2005 has been removed from the wall of what was once the Kharkiv prison where in the 1960s the Patriarch, a prisoner of conscience for 18 years, was imprisoned

The report on Ukraine found no major problems during this period although it commented that local officials at times took sides in disputes between religious organizations. The events at the end of July involving obstruction by traffic police of believers fall outside the reporting period.

The Ukrainian Association for Religious Freedom at a recent meeting pointed to a a worsening in relations between faiths. The reason for this was seen as being the special attitude to one particular Church demonstrated by those in power

The US Delegation are scathing of obstructions or bans on movement and peaceful protests, including the obstruction of believers from the Orthodox Church under the Kyiv Patriarchate trying to reach Kyiv for ceremonies to mark the Festival of the Baptism of Kyiv-Rus on 28 July 2010

The Minister of Internal Affairs has, in response to a deputy’s query, asserted that an official check by the MIA found that there had been no cases where the traffic people obstructed believers of the Orthodox Church under the Kyivan Patriarchate. No explanation for specific cases cited was given

Azerbaijan authorities are refusing to register Evangelical communities under the new law on religion

The traffic police have almost certainly now been used twice to deny citizens their most fundamental human rights. With local elections looming, the consequences of ignoring such violations surely do not need to be spelled out

The Minister of Internal Affairs should carry out a thorough check into numerous violations by the police of the rights of believers from the Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate [UOC KP) during their attempted pilgrimage to Kyiv to celebrate the Baptism of Kyivan Rus.

Despite calls from human rights, media and business groups, the President yesterday signed into law the potentially disastrous Law on Personal Data Protection

At present religious organizations are discriminated against since the law on freedom of conscience imposes a permission-based system of informing, 10 days in advance, of a planned religious gathering