Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BELGRADE797
2006-05-18 16:06:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Belgrade
Cable title:  

AMB DISCUSSES NEW RELIGION LAW WITH LEADERS OF

Tags:  KIRF PGOV PHUM PREL SR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9879
RR RUEHAST
DE RUEHBW #0797 1381606
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181606Z MAY 06 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8604
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS BELGRADE 000797 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/SCE (PEDERSON, ROBINSON, MITCHELL) AND DRL
(MATES)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KIRF PGOV PHUM PREL SR
SUBJECT: AMB DISCUSSES NEW RELIGION LAW WITH LEADERS OF
SERBIAN RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES

REF: BELGRADE 678

UNCLAS BELGRADE 000797

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/SCE (PEDERSON, ROBINSON, MITCHELL) AND DRL
(MATES)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KIRF PGOV PHUM PREL SR
SUBJECT: AMB DISCUSSES NEW RELIGION LAW WITH LEADERS OF
SERBIAN RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES

REF: BELGRADE 678


1. (U) Summary: The Ambassador met Friday, May 12, with
leaders of several minority religious communities of
Serbia to discuss the new Law on Religion. The leaders
expressed concern that the law is both discriminatory and
invasive, requiring all but the seven "traditional"
religious communities of Serbia to re-register through a
burdensome and ambiguous application process. Ambassador
Polt briefed the group on Embassy efforts to advocate
changes in the religion law and pledged the Embassy's
continued engagement on these issues. End summary.


2. (U) Leaders of the Serbian Evangelical Alliance, the
Baptist Union and the World Baptist Alliance, the
Seventh-Day Adventist Church, and the Center for
Tolerance and Inter-Religious Relations participated in
the meeting, as did representatives from the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),the
Council of Europe (CoE),and Forum 18, a non-governmental
organization that covers religious freedom issues. All
concurred that the Law on Religion, passed by the Serbian
Parliament and signed by President Tadic in late April,
is problematic and opens the door to discrimination
against the smaller religious groups of Serbia (for more
details of the law, see reftel).


3. (U) The Ambassador told the group that he shared many
of the same concerns, and that he raised these issues
with PM Kostunica and President Tadic in recent meetings,
in letters to both Serbian leaders, and in a personal
phone call to the President. The Ambassador suggested
that the religious leaders compile a list of specific
proposed changes to the law -- either through new
legislation to amend the current law, or in the current
law's implementation stage. The leaders agreed that they
would work together on these proposed changes and share
them with the Embassy.


4. (U) The Ambassador assured the group that the issue of
religious freedom is a deeply felt American principle and
that the Embassy would continue to engage constructively
with Serbian leaders to advocate changes in the law. The
OSCE and CoE representatives said they would continue to
advocate changes in the law through their channels as
well. The Ambassador also added that the law would
receive appropriate treatment in this year's
International Religious Freedom Report.

POLT