On March 24, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has published a report on freedom of religion in Ukraine for the period from August 1, 2022 to January 31, 2023, where one of the sections on freedom of religion mentions discrimination against the local Orthodox Church in Ukraine. - reports the "Union of Orthodox Journalists".
We are particularly talking about the draft laws 8221, 8262 and 8371, according to which discrimination was shown against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, as well as concerns about the use of so-called "security measures" by the Security Service of Ukraine against the local Orthodox Church.
"The National Security Service conducted searches (some of them are called "security measures") in several monasteries, offices, educational institutions of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Kyiv, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Dnipropetrovsk, Khmelnitsky, Cherkasy, Volyn, in Kherson, Ternopil, Poltava and Transcarpathian regions," it is said in the report.
"In some cases, the employees of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have interrogated several clergy using a polygraph. The service has confirmed that the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have been charged with at least three counts, the first of which is Article 161 of the Criminal Code (on racial, national, religious, disability or other grounds). violation of the equality of citizens) and the second on various charges, including against the territorial integrity and integrity of Ukraine aggression, as well as denial of armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
At least two suspects are under 24-hour house arrest. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is concerned that state actions against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church might be discriminatory. The Office also recalls that safeguards are needed so that all persons against whom criminal charges are filed enjoy the full range of applicable fair trial rights," it is said in the report.