US embassy cable - 05MINSK1167

UNCLAS MINSK 001167 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL/IRF BARTH 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, KIRF, BO 
SUBJECT: Protestant Churches Pressured 
 
REF: MINSK 0420 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: The New Life Church has employed numerous 
techniques to protest the GOB's denial of its re- 
registration, but thus far without success.  The latest 
meeting between the church and the GOB has proven unfruitful 
and neither side will yield its position; thus a cooperative 
resolution to the problem seems unlikely.  End summary. 
 
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Large Protestant Church Stands Up to the GOB 
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2.  (U) Formed in 1992, the 1,000 member New Life Church 
operated in Belarus without government interference until 
1999, when a presidential decree altering the laws on 
meetings and mass gatherings greatly restricted its ability 
to assemble.  Since it could not find a place to rent, the 
church purchased a cow barn to hold its services.  Further 
complications arose in 2004, when the GOB refused to re- 
register the church under the 2002 "Law on Religious 
Freedom".  The GOB claimed that the church lacked a legal 
address and that a cow barn is not a place of worship. 
Lacking re-registration, the congregation has continued to 
meet at its cow barn.  The GOB responded previously by 
fining New Life Church Pastor Alexandr Goncharenko and 
Administrator Vaseliy Yurevich (reftel), and evicting the 
church from its building in August. 
 
3.  (U) New Life Church leaders, refusing to give up, have 
implemented a series of nonviolent measures to keep their 
building.  Over the past three weeks, church members have 
held a press conference, conducted round-the-clock worship 
services, and sent a written appeal signed by 60 Protestant 
Church representatives to the GOB.  Most recently, 
Goncharenko and Yurevich planned for their entire 
congregation to march to Minsk City Hall and demand a 
meeting with the mayor on September 15.  However, they 
agreed to postpone it after Deputy Interior Minister Viktor 
Filistovich approached the church leaders and offered them a 
meeting on Monday September 19 with senior city officials. 
 
4.  (U) Not surprisingly, the senior officials backed out of 
the meeting.  Instead, they sent their deputies, including 
Committee on Religious and Nationality Affairs (CRNA) deputy 
Aleksandr Kalinov and Minsk City Executive Committee 
Representative for Religious Affairs Alla Ryabtseva.  The 
deputies admitted they did not have authority to make 
decisions about the New Life Church, and thus the meeting 
proved to be unproductive. 
 
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GOB Offers New Life Church Nothing New 
-------------------------------------- 
 
5.  (U) When Poloff met with CRNA Head Stanislav Buko and 
Kalinov on September 16, Buko repeated the GOB position that 
the New Life Church's building is a barn and therefore 
cannot legally be registered as a place of worship.  In 
addition, Buko stated that the Minsk City Council has re- 
zoned the land where the cow barn is located for apartment 
buildings and therefore the New Life Church cannot remain 
there.  Buko explained the New Life Church has three 
options: re-register at a legal address of one of the other 
Protestant churches in Minsk; accept a government buyout for 
the building; or chose another piece of land from the GOB to 
build a place of worship. 
 
6.  (SBU) In a meeting with Poloff on September 20, Yurevich 
and Goncharenko stated that the authorities presented them a 
placebo, not a solution.  They maintain that the GOB appears 
to resolve the issue by offering to re-register at a 
different address or move their place of worship.  However, 
the New Life Church cited several problems with changing 
their legal address.  First, gaining re-registering is very 
difficult if not impossible in Lukashenko's Belarus. 
Second, even if the government re-registers the church, the 
GOB still has the legal authority to deny the New Life 
Church approval to assemble for worship at its legal 
address.  Third, the church's efforts to find a different 
location have been unsuccessful because the GOB pressures 
potential landlords not to rent to the church.  Finally, the 
large size of the congregation prohibits it from meeting 
anywhere else in Minsk. 
 
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The Struggle Must Go On 
----------------------- 
 
7.  (U) Goncharenko and Yurevich stated that the church 
would neither re-register nor give up its land.  They told 
Poloffthat the congregation is planning to march to the 
Mayor's office to demand that the authorities reslve the re- 
registration issue.  They fully expet to be beaten, fined, 
and possibly jailed, but are prepared to see this struggle 
"to the end."  [ote: On September 23, Yurevich stood trial 
for ilegal assembly charges dating from July.  The cour 
found him guilty and fined him BYR 4 million [UD 1,860].] 
 
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The New Life Church is Not Alone 
-------------------------------- 
 
8.  (U) The New Life Church is not the only Protestant group 
being targeted by the GOB.  On September 21, the Minsk City 
Council annulled the registration of the Belarusian 
Evangelic Church.  The community registered in 1992 using 
the pastor's home as their legal address.  Authorities cited 
the 2002 religion law prohibiting the use of a residential 
building for office space as the reason for de-registration. 
In addition, the GOB noted the church does not meet the 
minimum membership requirement of 20 people.  Evangelical 
Church Pastor Ernest Sabilo, however, will not let the GOB's 
decision stop him for he plans to continue holding services 
wherever possible. 
 
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Comment 
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9.  (SBU) The CRNA's three alternative solutions for the New 
Life Church blatantly overlook the underlying issue - a 
political decision was seemingly made to deny re- 
registration to the New Life Church.  The church leaders, 
however, are not ready to give up their cause without a 
fight, suggesting that cooperative attempts for a resolution 
have been exhausted.  In addition, the GOB's annulment of 
the Evangelical Church's registration indicates an increase 
in the trend of GOB violations on freedom of religion. 
 
KROL