The High Commissioner for Human Rights meets religious leaders

THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS MEETS RELIGIOUS LEADERS

The Russian Federation High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. O. Mironov, met on September 17 in Moscow with a group of heads and representatives of religious associations in Russia. They discussed the human rights situation in the light of the recent acts of terrorism as well as the pre-election developments. Among the participants in the meeting was Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, DECR secretary for church-society relations. The participants summed up the results of the meeting in a statement, which reads in particular:

“Standing on the threshold of the 21st century, we have to state with regret that we are still unable to put an end in any way to non-civilized methods of solving social problems. This is illustrated by explosions in churches and other places of worship and outrages upon graves in cemeteries. Moreover, inter-ethnic clashes in North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Karachayevo-Cherkessia, armed conflicts in Chechnya and Dagestan and the recent blasts in Buinaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk point to the fact that national security and territorial integrity in Russia are facing a real threat.

…It is no secret that there are forces in the country, which not want to see in the country either political stability or social accord. They are seeking to turn the election campaign and the elections themselves into a fight of discrediting materials. We are especially concerned for the dangerous attempts to put pressure upon religious associations with the purpose to involve them into political struggle and to achieve narrow political and often mercantile and egoistic goals which in no way correspond to the hopes and aspirations of an overwhelming majority of Russians.

… We call upon the President and the Government of the Russian Federation, to all the people, to every citizen of Russia, to show common sense and restraint in this situation, not to succumb to provocations, nor to draw themselves into an armed confrontation, which will lead to new innumerable victims and misfortunes. Our sacred duty is to do all that is possible to preserve the unity and territorial integrity of Russia and to ensure our citizens’ constitutional rights and liberties.