{"id":8951,"date":"2024-04-20T22:37:29","date_gmt":"2024-04-20T20:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/?p=8951"},"modified":"2024-04-20T22:37:29","modified_gmt":"2024-04-20T20:37:29","slug":"russia-jehovahs-witnesses-banned-since-20-april-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/russia-jehovahs-witnesses-banned-since-20-april-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia, Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses banned since 20 April 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>World Headquarters of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses (20.04.2024) \u2013 April 20<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0marks\u00a0the seventh\u00a0anniversary of Russia\u2019s nationwide ban on Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, which has led to hundreds\u00a0of peaceful believers jailed and some brutally tortured.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-8952\" src=\"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/JW-in-jail-in-Russia-November.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1392\" height=\"696\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/JW-in-jail-in-Russia-November.jpg 1392w, https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/JW-in-jail-in-Russia-November-750x375.jpg 750w, https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/JW-in-jail-in-Russia-November-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/JW-in-jail-in-Russia-November-768x384.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1392px) 100vw, 1392px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">International human rights advocates are decrying Russia for persecuting Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, which is eerily reminiscent of the repression the Witnesses faced during the Soviet-era. Experts assert that the persecution of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses in Russia has been a prelude to the return of large-scale Stalinist oppression.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>\u201cIt\u2019s hard to believe this nationwide assault on Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses has continued for seven years. For reasons passing understanding, Russia uses enormous\u00a0local and national resources to hunt down harmless Witnesses\u2014including those elderly and infirmed\u2014often breaking into their homes in the early morning hours or middle of the night,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0said\u00a0<strong>Jarrod Lopes, a spokesman for Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>\u201cDuring these home raids or when being interrogated, innocent men and women are sometimes beaten or even tortured to give up the names and whereabouts of fellow believers. The Witnesses are criminalized\u00a0simply for reading their Bibles, singing songs, and peacefully talking about their Christian beliefs. Russian authorities with an unfounded animus for non-Orthodox Christians continue to unconscionably trample on the Witnesses\u2019 human rights and freedom of\u00a0conscience. Fully aware that their personal faith and integrity are being attacked, the Witnesses have become determined to hold to their convictions.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><em>Persecution by the numbers in Russia and Crimea\u00a0since the 2017 ban<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>Over 2,090 homes of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses raided<\/li>\n<li>802 men and women have been criminally charged for their Christian beliefs<\/li>\n<li>421 have spent some time behind bars (including\u00a0131\u00a0men and women currently in prison)<\/li>\n<li>8 years\u00a0 * is the maximum prison sentence, up from 6 years\u00a0[Dennis Christensen\u00a0was\u00a0the first to be convicted (2019)\u00a0and\u00a0sentenced to prison]<\/li>\n<li>Over 500 men and\u00a0women have been added to Russia\u2019s federal list of extremists\/terrorists since the ban<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In comparison:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>According to Article 111 Part 1 of the Russian Federation\u2019s Criminal Code,\u00a0<strong>grievous bodily harm\u00a0<\/strong>draws a\u00a0<strong>maximum of 8 years sentence<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>According to Article 126 Part 1 of the Criminal Code,\u00a0<strong>kidnapping<\/strong>\u00a0leads to\u00a0<strong>up to 5 years in prison.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>According to Article 131 Part 1 of the Criminal Code,\u00a0<strong>rape<\/strong>\u00a0is punishable with\u00a0<strong>3 to 6 years in prison.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><em>The ban\u2014FAQs<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span id=\"How-did-this-all-start\" class=\"ez-toc-section\"><\/span><strong>How did this all start?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Russia\u2019s Federal Law \u201cOn Combating Extremist Activity\u201d (No. 114-FZ), was adopted in 2002, partly to address concerns about terrorism. However, Russia amended\u00a0the law in 2006, 2007, and 2008 so that it extends \u201cfar beyond any fears of extremism linked to terrorism,\u201d according to the article \u201cRussia\u2019s Extremism Law Violates Human Rights,\u201d published in\u00a0<em>The Moscow Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The law \u201c<em>simply seizes upon the \u2018terrorist\u2019 vocabulary that has become commonplace internationally since the 9\/11 assault on New York\u2019s Twin Towers, and uses it to describe unwelcome religious groups across Russia<\/em>,\u201d explains Derek H.\u00a0Davis, formerly the director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University. Hence, \u201c<em>the \u2018extremist\u2019 label has been unfairly and disproportionately used against Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses<\/em>,\u201d says Davis.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the early 2000s, Russian authorities began banning dozens of the Witnesses\u2019 Bible-based literature as \u201cextremist.\u201d Authorities then framed the Witnesses\u00a0by planting banned literature in the Witnesses\u2019 houses of worship.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Soon, the Witnesses\u2019 official website,\u00a0jw.org, was\u00a0banned, and shipments of Bibles were detained. This campaign escalated to the nationwide ban on Jehovah\u2019s\u00a0Witnesses in April 2017. Subsequently, tens of millions of dollars of the Witnesses\u2019 religious properties were\u00a0confiscated.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span id=\"Have-things-escalated\" class=\"ez-toc-section\"><\/span><strong>Have things escalated?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Yes. Russia is handing down some of the harshest prison sentences since the 2017 ban. For example, on Feb. 29, 2024, Aleksandr Chagan, 52, was\u00a0sentenced to eight years in prison, a\u00a0punishment typically\u00a0reserved for those inflicting grievous bodily harm. Chagan is the sixth Witness to receive such a harsh sentence simply for the peaceful practice of his Christian beliefs.\u00a0As of April\u00a01, 2024, 128 Witnesses are imprisoned in Russia.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">We\u2019ve also seen spikes in home raids.\u00a0 For example, there were 183 homes of Witnesses raided in 2023, with an average of 15.25 homes per month. There was a\u00a0rise in February 2024, with 21 raids reported.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201c<em>Typically, the home raids are conducted by officers armed for mortal combat<\/em>,\u201d says Jarrod Lopes, a spokesperson for Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses. \u201c<em>The Witnesses are\u00a0frequently dragged out of bed and not fully dressed, while the officers arrogantly record the whole thing. Video footage **\u00a0of these ridiculous raids is all over the internet and social media. Local\u00a0police and FSB officials want to make a theatrical spectacle as if they are risking their lives fighting dangerous extremists. It\u2019s an absurd charade, with dire consequences! During the raids or while being interrogated, some Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses have been\u00a0brutally beaten or tortured. As you can imagine, that is never recorded.\u00a0<\/em><em>However, Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses are neither surprised nor intimidated by Russia\u2019s systematic persecution. It\u2019s well documented in the history of Russia, Nazi Germany, as well as other lands, that the Witnesses\u2019 faith has always outlasted the persecuting regime.\u00a0We expect history to repeat itself.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><em>Soviet repression of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses | Operation North<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This month marks the 73<sup>rd<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary of \u201cOperation North\u201d\u2014the largest\u00a0mass deportation of a religious group in the history of the USSR\u2014in\u00a0which thousands of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses were deported to Siberia.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In April 1951, some 10,000 Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses and their children from six Soviet republics (Belorussia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine) were\u00a0essentially kidnapped when authorities deported them in crammed trains to the frozen, desolate landscape of Siberia. This mass deportation was called \u201cOperation North.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In just two days, the homes of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses were confiscated, and the peaceful adherents were banished to remote settlements in Siberia. Many of the\u00a0Witnesses were required to work in dangerous and harsh conditions. They suffered malnutrition, disease, and mental and emotional trauma from being separated from their families. The forced deportation also resulted in death for some of the Witnesses.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Many Witnesses were finally released from exile in 1965, but their confiscated properties were never returned.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Despite the government\u2019s attempt to eliminate some 10,000 Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses from the region, \u201cOperation North did not achieve its goal,\u201d according to Dr.\u00a0Nicolae Fustei, coordinating scientific researcher for the Institute of History in Moldova. \u201cThe organization of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses was not destroyed, and its members did not stop promoting their faith but instead began to do it with even more boldness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">After the fall of the Soviet regime, the number of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses spiked.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span id=\"Exponential-growth\" class=\"ez-toc-section\"><\/span><strong><em>Exponential growth<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In June 1992, the Witnesses hosted a large scale\u00a0international convention\u00a0in Russia in St. Petersburg. About 29,000 from the former Soviet Union\u00a0attended along with thousands of delegates from around the world.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The majority of Witnesses deported during Operation North were from Ukraine\u2014over 8,000 from 370 settlements. Yet, on July 6-8, 2018, Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses in\u00a0Ukraine welcomed thousands for another large\u00a0convention\u00a0held in Lviv, Ukraine. Over 3,300\u00a0delegates from nine countries traveled to Ukraine for the program, which appropriately featured the theme \u201cBe Courageous\u201d! Today, there are more than\u00a0109,300\u00a0Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses in Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>World Headquarters of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses (20.04.2024) \u2013 April 20th\u00a0marks\u00a0the seventh\u00a0anniversary of Russia\u2019s nationwide ban on Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, which has led to hundreds\u00a0of peaceful believers jailed and some brutally tortured. International human rights advocates are decrying&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8952,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8951"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8953,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8951\/revisions\/8953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}