The US State Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) did not see any serious violations of the rights of believers in Ukraine.
That’s according to the Commission’s report for 2023.
The Commission named 12 countries whose governments commit or allow “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations” of the right to freedom of religion or belief.
The list includes Russia, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and other countries.
Regarding the situation of Ukraine, the report states that after the invasion of the Russian Federation, “Ukrainian authorities increasingly scrutinized the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC)—which is historically and ecclesiastically linked to the Moscow Patriarchate— despite the UOC declaring in May its ‘full independence and autonomy.’”
The report also states that “the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) searched hundreds of UOC churches and other religious facilities and opened criminal proceedings against dozens of UOC clergy for collaborating with Russian authorities, spreading pro-Russian propaganda, or justifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
“In December, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered his Cabinet of Ministers to also submit a bill to parliament that would make it ‘impossible for religious organizations affiliated with centers of influence in the Russian Federation to operate in Ukraine.’ While the Ukrainian parliament had not passed any such legislation banning religious groups by the end of 2022, its potential to still do so remained a serious concern,” the report says.
