International Religious Freedom Report 2006 Released by the US State Department: Belarusian Government Continued to Restrict Religious Freedom

The International Religious Freedom Report 2006 was released on September 15.
In the chapter about Belarus it is pointed out that “respect for religious freedom continued to be uneven during the period covered by this report, although some improvements occurred”.
The report says that the Belarusian “government continued to restrict religious freedom in accordance with the provisions of a 2002 law on religion and a 2003 concordat with the Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC), a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and the only officially recognized Orthodox denomination. Although there is no state religion, the concordat grants the BOC privileged status”.
The report says that the authorities “harassed and fined members of certain religious groups”. At the same time At the same time, it is emphasized that no measures are taken in order to stop the sale and distribution of anti-Semitic literature through state press distributors, government agencies, and stores affiliated with the BOC.