BELARUSIAN RELGIOUS LEADERS SHARE THEIR CONCERNS

C O N F I D E N T I A L MINSK 001119

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
DEPT FOR DRL/IRF PHIL BARTH
DEPT FOR DRL PETER SAWCHYN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/17/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREF BO
SUBJECT: BELARUSIAN RELGIOUS LEADERS SHARE THEIR CONCERNS
WITH AMBASSADOR

REF: MINSK 957

Classified By: Charge Jonathan Moore for reason 1.4 (d).

Summary
--------------


1. (SBU) As her first official event at her residence,
Ambassador hosted a breakfast for leaders of various
religious communities in Minsk and visiting EUR/UMB deskoff.
While the representative of the GOB-sympathetic Catholic
Church was hesitant to air his concerns openly, the
Protestant and Hare Krishna representatives spoke freely
about their problems with registering buildings of worship
with the GOB. The Jewish representative informed Ambassador
about anti-Semitism and lack of property restitution in
Belarus. All the guests thanked Ambassador for the unique
opportunity to meet as a group and discuss the problems
affecting their respective communities. End summary.

Hare Krishnas and Protestants Share Registration Woes
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2. (C) On October 13, Ambassador hosted a breakfast for
EUR/UMB Belarus Desk Officer Laura Jordan to meet four heads
of religious communities in Belarus. Vyacheslav Goncharenko,
pastor of the unregistered, 1,000-member New Life Church
(NLC),confirmed that he and 130 of his parishioners were on
hunger strike to protest the forced sale of the "cow-barn"
building in which they worship (reftel). (Comment:
Goncharenko has grown particularly thin but otherwise
appeared to be in good health. End comment.) Although the
NLC received the government's payment for the building on
October 8, the community refused to vacate the premises and
set up a round-the-clock vigil at the building for church
members and hunger strikers. One hunger striker was
hospitalized briefly, but there have not been other problems.
On October 13, press reports indicated that the NLC refused
to sign the certificate acknowledging their acceptance of the
sale of the building to the authorities. On the same day,
the NLC barred a state televi
sion crew and Minsk City Executive Committee representatives
from entering the building.


3. (C) Minsk Krishna Association Chairman Sergey Malakhovskiy
stated that his organization shared NLC's registration
problems. According to Malakhovskiy, local authorities
refused to register the Hare Krishnas (HK) place of worship,
claiming the building, purchased in 1990, was zoned for
residential use only. He lamented the lack of freedom for
his association to celebrate their holidays or their
inability to distribute literature about their beliefs
without facing criminal charges. Malakhovskiy, however,
expressed gratitude to Ambassador for the support that the
U.S. repeatedly demonstrated when HK community faced pressure
from the GOB.

Jewish Leader Lays Out Concerns and Seeks Advice
-------------- ---


4. (C) President of the umbrella NGO Union of Belarusian
Jewish Associations and Congregations Leonid Levin described
the problems the Jewish community faces in Belarus, including
anti-Semitism and the lack of both property restitution and
indigenous rabbis. Levin conceded that while the level of
anti-Semitism is lower in Belarus than in surrounding
countries, Belarusian Jews remained vulnerable since they do
not have any protection from potential attacks. Moreover,
Levin noted that there are no laws that guarantee property
restitution. With only six synagogues in Belarus, Levin has
urged the government to return Jewish property and provide
funds to restore the buildings. Levin told Ambassador that
almost all the rabbis in Belarus come from Israel and the
U.S. and they possess little understanding of the "Belarusian
mentality."


5. (C) Following the breakfast, Levin spoke privately with
Ambassador to seek her advice about participating in an
official Belarusian delegation to Iran. (Note: Levin had
previously refused an invitation from the Iranian Ambassador
to visit the Jewish population in Iran. End note.) When
Levin told Ambassador that he does not want to participate in

the delegation, she advised him to find an excuse to
respectfully decline the invitation.

Catholic Bishop Reticent About Problems
--------------


6. (C) Although the situation of the Roman Catholic Church
has improved in Belarus in recent years, the church still
faces problems especially in acquiring visas for its visiting
clergy. His Excellency and Apostolic Administrator of
Minsk-Mogilev Bishop Antonij Dziamyanka, who was elected the
Chairman of the Conference of the Catholic Bishops in Belarus
on June 14, told Ambassador that more than half of the
Catholic priests in Belarus are visiting clergy. When
Ambassador inquired about the GOB's recent decision not to
renew the visas of twelve Catholic priests and nuns,
Dziamyanka dismissed the topic and curtly replied, "we're
working on it." While the Bishop was closed-mouth about the
problems the Catholic Church faces, Catholic foreign
missionaries in Baranovichi told Desk Officer on October 12
that the GOB will not allow the Catholic Church to build
additional churches in Minsk.

Comment
--------------


7. (C) This meeting represented the first time in their
memory that leaders from different religious communities
gathered to discuss issues of common concern. The discussion
was generally cordial -- the participants compared notes on
the repressions they experienced in Soviet times -- and each
guest thanked Ambassador for the unique opportunity,
expressing hope for similar meetings in the future. While
the Catholic participant was less willing to discuss the
problems his church faces -- in part due to occasional
magnanimity shown by Lukashenko -- the exchange confirmed for
the religious leaders that allies in the struggle for
religious freedom in Belarus exist not only among foreign
diplomatic missions but within the country as well.
Moore