KOSOVO'S DRAFT LAW ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM STILL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000392

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL, INL, EUR/SCE, AND EUR/SSA, NSC FOR BBRAUN,
USUN FOR DSCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR SSTEGER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PREL UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO'S DRAFT LAW ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM STILL
CONTENTIOUS

REF: 05 PRISTINA 170

Sensitive but unclassified; please protect accordingly.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Drafted by Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi's
government in 2004, Kosovo's draft law on religious freedom
remains a point of contention between the government and
religious communities in Kosovo. Kosovo's Islamic Community
opposes the internationally approved draft because it
arguably would formally recognize as "official" minor
religions and sects with few adherents. Although all
involved support the general principle of religious
tolerance, there is no consensus on implementation. The head
of the Assembly committee responsible for compiling
amendments and moving legislation to plenary sessions has
proposed breaking the impasse by dividing the statement of
general support for religious tolerance from the more
difficult implementing provisions. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) An internationally acceptable draft law on Religious
Freedom and the Legal Status of Religious Communities in
Kosovo passed its first reading in Kosovo's Assembly in May
2005, but remains dogged by complaints from the influential
Islamic Community of Kosovo (BIK). Kosovo's Mutfi, Naim
Ternava, has demanded both in public hearings and at Kosovo's
landmark May 2, 2006, interfaith conference hosted by the
Pec/Peja monastery, that the law specifically list the
"official religions" of Kosovo as well as include provisions
for a minimum number of adherents and a listing of their
names and affiliations in order for government authorities to
register them as religious organizations in Kosovo.
According to Hydajet Hyseni, the head of the parliamentary
legislative committee, because of the BIK's protestations of
the current draft, the committee has chosen to let the law
languish, potentially until Kosovo's final status is decided.



3. (SBU) Initially drafted by Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi's
government in 2004, the draft law has been contentious since
its inception. An UNMIK-led 2004 working group established
to comment upon the government's draft removed references to
"official religions" of Kosovo, a minimum number of
adherents, and a provision requiring a group to have been
registered as a legal entity for five years before it can be
registered with the government as a religious organization.
BIK demanded these amendments be included and they found
their way back into the law when the working group received
it back from the government in March 2005 (reftel). UNMIK,
OSCE and the Council of Europe protested and the current
draft contains none of these problematic provisions.


4. (SBU) Although the current draft is internationally
accepted, the BIK is still adamant that it will not accept
the legislation without its requested amendments. In
December 2005, representatives of the BIK, the Serbian
Orthodox Church (SOC),the Catholic Church and Kosovo's
Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG) met in
Vienna and proposed amendments again re-introducing
problematic provisions, but also included onerous criteria
for registering religious communities in Kosovo such as
demanding the names, signatures and identification documents
of members, and that the name of the organization must not
conflict with any other on record in Kosovo.


5. (SBU) Artur Krasniqi, leader of the Protestant Evangelical
community, told poloff May 5 that no one from Kosovo's
Protestant community attended the Vienna meeting and that he
disagreed with its recommendations. He is particularly
concerned with amendments the group proposed on "special
rights" vis-a-vis the government: that public authorities
must cooperate with official religious communities by
inviting them to render their opinions on government and
legislative decisions, and that "special status" religious
communities "will have the right to charge persons with the
provision of spiritual services, and make use of facilities
of security forces, in hospitals, and social training

PRISTINA 00000392 002 OF 002


facilities." Krasniqi believes the latter provision to be
designed to authorize teaching of religion in schools, a
proposal he says Ternava reiterated at the May 2 inter-faith
conference hosted at the Pec Patriarchate.


6. (SBU) Ternava told poloff on April 28 that he signed on to
these Vienna suggestions to restrict the May draft law's
scope. Without these provisions, Ternava warned Kosovo will
open a door to "destructive Saudi elements" around which "any
Saudi with money can buy a religious community." The last
time the Assembly's Legislative Committee debated the issue
in June 2005 Ymer Muhaxheri of the Democratic League of
Kosovo (LDK) voiced similar concerns and demanded amendments
that would seem to satisfy the BIK's problems with the draft.
Ternava invoked criticism for Kosovo's government as well,
saying that the government should "help the Islamic Community
because by doing this, they help Kosovo."


7. (SBU) The draft law has been stuck in committee since May

2005. In June 2005 the Assembly's Committee on Juridical and
Legislative Matters debated the draft law internally and
tabled the decision to accept or refuse amendments. It held
a public hearing on the draft law later that same month.
According to Krasniqi, no one from the SOC attended, and
Ternava used the platform to reiterate his desire for
religious teaching in public schools. The committee's head,
Hydajet Hyseni, told poloff May 5 that he prefers to table
the legislation until a decision on Kosovo's final status,
saying "Kosovo cannot enforce a separation of church and
state without a state." Hyseni said he has tasked members of
his committee with canvassing religious communities to
determine concerns and support, but is inclined to send the
draft law back to the government "if the law is critical to
final status talks." (NOTE: The government's legal office
drafts most all PISG legislation. END NOTE.)


8. (SBU) Hyseni told poloff that since the contentious issue
is the practical provision of registering religious
communities and not the importance of ensuring religious
freedom, he may propose dividing the legislation for separate
approval by the Assembly: the first stating a general
assurance of the rights of religious freedom and the second
subsidiary piece containing the contentious registration
provisions.


9. (SBU) A joint statement released following the May 2-4
interfaith conference hosted by the Pec Patriarchate clearly
outlines a commitment by the participants to engage in the
drafting of the religious freedom law. We will continue to
push the government to pass draft laws without pernicious
amendments as the international community looks to it to
deliver concrete results on a commitment to multi-ethnicity
and tolerance in Kosovo.


10. (SBU) Post clears this message in its entirety for
release to Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari.
GOLDBERG