Jehovah's Witnesses report 197 cases of violation of their rights in SFO and NCFO after prohibition of the community in Rostov region

From December, 8, 2009, when the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation liquidated the community of Jehovah's Witnesses in Taganrog and prohibited the activities of believers of this confession in two more districts of Rostov region, till the end of 2001, 197 cases of violation of the rights of this religious organization took place in the South of Russia. This was told to the “Caucasian Knot” in the Management Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.

“The verdict of the court resulted in religious intolerance and mass violations of human rights by both the officials and individuals”, official web-site of Jehovah's Witnesses reports.

Among gross violations that took place since the moment, the believers point out cases of assault at members of the organization and threats to them, acts of vandalism against prayer houses, frustration of liturgy, searches, unfounded checkouts and detentions by law enforcement personnel.

153 cases of this kind were registered in SFO and 44, i.e. four times less, in NCFO. Rostov region became leader by the number of incidents: Jehovah's Witnesses counted 82 facts of violation of their rights. The second place by the number of incidents is taken by Krasnodar region with 25 episodes, then follows Volgograd region where the number of delinquencies, according to the believers, came to 20. 14 incidents of this kind were registered in Astrakhan region. The fewest number of conflict situations were registered in Adygea and Kalmykia: 5 and 7 respectively.

In NCFO Stavropol region takes the first place by the number of incidents violating the rights of believers, 16 cases of violation took place there, Management Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Russian Federation states. Next go North Ossetia with 11 and Dagestan with 10 episodes of oppression of the believers. Members of the religious organization counted five incidents in Kabardino-Balkaria and two in Karachay-Cherkessia. According to the believers, no such incidents were registered in Chechnya and Ingushetia.

Law enforcement bodies have not yet commented on the information about violations of the law concerning particular representatives of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Russian Federation in 2011 or the statistics of violations of the Witnesses’ constitutional rights.