Externe

ROMANIA: Controversial Law promulgated; legal challenges planned -
By Felix Corley, Oslo, Forum 18 News Service <http://www.forum18.org>


Romanian President Traian Basescu has approved a controversial new Religion Law, despite calls from human rights activists and religious communities for it to be reconsidered. Challenges are planned in the Constitutional Court and, potentially, the European Court of Human Rights, Forum 18 News Service has been told. Adventist pastor Adrian Bocaneanu told Forum 18 that he is worried about the new ban on "religious defamation" and "public offence to religious symbols," as "the essence of religious freedom is to be able to express views on religious beliefs and to compare your religious beliefs with those of others." He stressed that the way the law is implemented is crucial. "If the law is interpreted to silence other religions and this becomes a pattern, this would be dangerous," he told Forum 18. "At present this does not seem probable." Others critics of the Law include the Assemblies of God Pentecostal Church, the Baha'i community and the Baptist Union.

Human rights activists and members of several religious communities have expressed surprise and concern to Forum 18 News Service that, on 27 December, Romanian President Traian Basescu approved the controversial new Religion Law. Some had earlier called for the President to send the Law back for reconsideration.

The Law completed a hasty passage through parliament on 13 December (see F18News 12 December 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=887) and the presidential website reported that it was promulgated by President Basescu on 27 December. However, the adoption of the Law gained little attention in the Romanian media &#8211; even though its rushed final stages broke parliamentary procedures (see F18News 15 December 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=889). "It was not a public issue," Iustina Ionescu of the Centre for Legal Resources told Forum 18 from Bucharest on 3 January.

As well as opposing the different levels of legal recognition for religious communities &#8211; which is one of the more controversial aspects of the Law (see F18News 7 October 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=669) - Seventh-day Adventist pastor Adrian Bocaneanu is also very worried about the new ban on "religious defamation" and "public offence to religious symbols." These provisions were introduced into the Law late in the parliamentary process. "We do not aim to speak out against the beliefs and religious practice of others &#8211; we aim to be respectful," he told Forum 18 from Bucharest on 3 January. "But the essence of religious freedom is to be able to express views on religious beliefs and to compare your religious beliefs with those of others."

Bocaneanu stresses that the way the law is implemented is crucial. "If the law is interpreted to silence other religions and this becomes a pattern, this would be dangerous," he told Forum 18. "At present this does not seem probable."

"This law is very restrictive," Pastor Ioan Ceuta, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God Pentecostal Church in Romania, told Forum 18 from Bucharest on 3 January. "It is aimed not to benefit the whole of society but selectively to help a few religious communities."
Strongly backing the law was the dominant Romanian Orthodox Church and several other faiths (see F18News (see F18News 31 January 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=721). Bishop Christoph Klein of the German-speaking Lutheran Church told Forum 18 from Sibiu on 3 January that he is "pleased" the religion law has finally been adopted after sixteen years of discussion. Echoing government claims, he insisted (wrongly) that all but the Greek Catholic Church among the eighteen recognised religions had backed the law.

The Baptist Union &#8211; one of the eighteen recognised religions - has been consistently highly critical of many provisions of the Law (see eg. F18News 6 October 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=667). The Baptists are determined to try to mitigate what they see as the Law's worst aspects. "I fully support the idea to take further steps to the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg," the Union's president Paul Negrut told Forum 18 on 29 December. "It may take time and resources but I am confident that this barrier could be removed."

Both the Assemblies of God and the Baha'is are among those unhappy that in future any new community must wait twelve years and have 0.1 percent of Romania's population (i.e. more than 22,000 adherents nationwide) to be able to gain recognition as a faith, the highest of three levels of recognition. "If you read between the lines it is very clear that the intention is to make it impossible for any religious communities not currently recognised by the government to be able to attain this status," Pastor Ceuta told Forum 18. With only a few thousand adherents in its 128 congregations, he says his denomination cannot meet these criteria for recognition.

"Directors have to be cautious." He also noted the problems religious minorities facing finding somewhere to bury their dead according to their own traditions, as most graveyards in Romania are controlled by the Orthodox Church, which often refuses burial to those of other faiths or insists that such burials must be conducted by the Orthodox Church according to Orthodox rites.

Pastor Ceuta of the Assemblies of God is also concerned that the law bars religious communities with similar names to existing recognised communities from gaining recognition. "There are more than forty different Pentecostal denominations, but only one &#8211; of which we are not a part &#8211; has official recognition at the moment. This means that other Pentecostal groups will never be recognised."

Ionescu of the Centre for Legal Reforms told Forum 18 that a coalition of human rights groups is planning to undertake strategic litigation to the Constitutional Court to challenge what it regards as some of the more restrictive provisions of the new law.

Legea se gaseste pe situl Secretariatului de Stat pentru Culte si pe situl de la Antena 3. Dupa ce o cititi va puteti pronunta in cunostinta de cauza.
Ceuta il cunosc personal din America de cand lua sute de mii de dolari de la organizatii penticostale misionare din America sa arunce Biblii cu avionul peste Romania. Daca v-a cazut vreuna in cap sa ma anuntati, va tratez gratis. O sa scriu in presa din SUA si de peste tot depre pastorul cel zburator.
Intrebati-l pe domnul Ceuta de ce s-a rupt de gruparea principala a penticostalilor. Poate va informeaza cei al caror presedinte este Rives Tipei.
Domnul pastor Adrian Bocaneanu are si el multe "specializari" si putem scrie cate ceva despre ele. De la asa oameni care dau din gura , pecialisti redutabili in drepturile omului si dereglarile lui nu avem nevoie de sfaturi.