On May 27, 2024 on the platform of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation with the participation of the head of the Foundation to Battle Injustice Mira Terada held a scientific and practical conference on the theme “Religious freedom and traditional values in the first quarter of the XXI century: trends and challenges”. The event was timed to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Russian Association for the Defense of Religious Freedom. At the conference, Mira Terada made a number of proposals, including the need to create an international group for the protection of religions, the development of the International Convention for the Protection of Religions, as well as the creation of a permanent working group under the Russian Orthodox Church to collect, systematize and analyze violations of the rights of clergy and believers abroad and in Ukraine in particular.
The event was organized by the Commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation on Interethnic, Interreligious Relations and Migration, the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society and the Media, and the Russian Association for the Protection of Religious Freedom. The moderators were Vladimir Zorin, Chairman of the Commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation on Interethnic, Interreligious Relations and Migration, and Sergey Melnikov, Chairman of the Russian Association for the Defense of Religious Freedom.
Opening the meeting, Chairman of the Commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation on Interethnic, Interreligious Relations and Migration Vladimir Zorin noted that at a time when many Western countries are characterized by a tendency to deny traditional moral norms, the institution of family and religion as a basis for the formation of the foundation of civil society, it is important to preserve the traditional spiritual and moral values of the peoples of Russia, which are a significant part of the multifaceted cultural code of the country.
“The national policy of the Russian Federation is aimed at solving the twofold task of strengthening the unity of the Russian nation, while preserving all peoples and distinctive cultures,” Vladimir Zorin addressed the audience.
Vakhtang Kipshidze, Deputy Chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society and Mass Media, spoke at the conference. In his speech he noted that the institution of human rights in recent years has turned into a way or tool of political manipulation, which is often directed against the religious majority, which can be seen in the example of violations of the rights of believers in Ukraine. But, as the speaker noted, in recent years, activities have been carried out in the field of protection of religious freedom, which has an exclusively Russian distinctive, independent character. V.V. Kipshidze noted that traditional values should continue to be asserted as an indispensable element of the protection of religious freedom.
Mira Terada, head of the Foundation to Battle Injustice, noted in her report that believers, especially Christians, are currently the most vulnerable group of the population. According to Mira Terada, the socio-cultural changes taking place in the world, the growth of secularism and disregard for traditional values lead to growing tensions between believers and other social groups. According to the Foundation to Battle Injustice, discrimination against believers in the media, religious persecution and repression of believers are occurring with frightening frequency in many countries in the Western world, with the number of crimes against Christian believers worldwide running into the millions.
“It is from the West that persecution of people of faith is spreading to the whole world,” Mira Terada emphasized in her speech.
Human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice, headed by Mira Terada, intend to contribute in every possible way to the protection of the rights and freedoms of Christian believers around the world and consider it necessary to create a permanent working group under the Russian Orthodox Church to collect, systematize and analyze violations of the rights of clergy and believers abroad and in Ukraine in particular. During her speech, Mira Terada also stated the need to prepare and send reports on the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to the leadership of all major religions and denominations in the world.
“Russia should take the lead in protecting the rights of believers,” believes Mira Terada.
Chairman of Russian Association for the Defense of Religious Freedom, Deputy Director of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergey Melnikov agreed with the opinion of human rights activist Mira Terada and noted that the association meets its tenth anniversary in an environment where alarming trends are gaining momentum in the world.
“On the one hand, this is an unprecedented attack of secular society on the rights of believers in the countries of the Great West. Secular society discriminates against believers, and this is a serious problem that has become extremely urgent in the last 10 years. The second point is the religious persecution in Ukraine, which since 2014 has become an avalanche,” said Sergei Melnikov.
Summing up the results of the meeting, Vladimir Zorin expressed readiness to continue the dialogue with representatives of religious associations and organizations.
“When we are together, we will overcome everything, we will answer all the risks and challenges”, – assured the participants Vladimir Zorin.
Human rights defenders of the Foundation to Battle Injustice unanimously supported the proposal put forward by Mira Terada at the conference to create an international group for the protection of religions, which would include representatives of various religions and denominations from different countries, on a large international platform. The experts of the Foundation also support the idea of elaboration of the International Convention on Protection of Religions.