USCIRF 2023 Annual Report shows serious regression in several countries and a few new entries. In China and Russia, minorities continue to be persecuted.
Russia
Scandal: FECRIS Falsifies the Program of a 2017 Conference to Hide that a Fanatical Anti-Ukrainian Russian Lawyer Was Among the Speakers
Alexander Korelov claims “former Ukraine” is still “part of my country, the USSR.” FECRIS retroactively changes the program of a 2017 conference to eliminate his name and speech.
Liquidating the SOVA Center: The Official End of Religious Freedom in Russia
By destroying the leading organization monitoring religious liberty violations, the Putin regime can no longer pretend that relics of freedom of religion remain in Russia.
Russian FECRIS Leader: “US and Ukraine Have Infiltrated ‘Cult Sleeping Cells’ Inside Russia”
Archpriest Novopashin’s bizarre ramblings against “cults” continue. They are absurd—but not inoffensive.
Russia: Anapa Pastor Sent to Labor Colony for Contacts with “Undesirable” Foreign Churches
Pastor Nikolai Bogoslavsky of Christ the Savior Church was convicted for keeping in touch with the Latvian-based New Generation movement.
The United States, Russia, and “Cults”: The Paranoid Theories of the Russian FECRIS
Alexander Novopashin claims that the U.S. turned from an “anti-cult” to a “pro-cult” nation only when the Soviet Union fell.
PMC Ryodan: A Strange Story of Comics, Anti-Cultists, and the Kremlin
Anti-cultists persuaded Russian authorities that fans of a Japanese comic are “cultists” controlled by Ukraine—where they are also arrested, as “Russian agents.”
Russia, Pastor Moskvitin’s Church Headed for Liquidation
After its leader’s arrest, the Ministry of Justice is now seeking a “final solution” destroying the New Creation Church.
Russia, Hare Krishnas Accused of Planning Attacks Against Military Conscription Bureaus
A “ISKCON leader” was arrested in Novouralsk. The evidence of his connection with “Ukrainian Nazis”: a swastika (which is however a common Hindu symbol).
Russia: Pastor Moskvitin Sentenced to 1.5 Years in Penal Colony for “Brainwashing”
New Creation’s leader in Omsk was told that Article 239.1 of the Russian Criminal Code makes “psychological abuse” a crime.