Russia's New Soviet-Style Law

Jul 29, 2016 Issues: Foreign Affairs, Human Rights

A young man picks up the telephone and dials a number and anxiously waits as the other line rings. “Zdravstvujtye?” the voice on the other end responds. The caller picks his words carefully, knowing that the government can get its hands on a record of the conversation at any time: “Vi hotite kofe?” Would you like to get coffee? “Da,” the other line responds, “Proshchay,” Goodbye. Click. The man tucks a copy of the Bible and a tract inside his coat and checks the mirror before he walks out the door, to ensure the literature’s presence isn’t conspicuous.

Such a scene smacks of the Cold War era, when the Soviet Union cracked down on the sharing of religious beliefs and openly monitored phone conversations. However, this scene could happen today, after July 7 when Vladimir Putin signed into law a bundle of new regulations.

In early July, Vladimir Putin signed into law an amendment that will make sharing one’s faith outside of a government-recognized church a crime. It explicitly criminalizes conducting a home church service where non-believers are in attendance.

The amendment was only one slice of a package of laws designed to combat terrorism in Russia, an amalgamation of regulations that were putatively introduced in the wake of the hijacking of a Russian airliner over Egypt last year. The rules, called the Yarovaya Law (after its author), put strict limitations on missionary work, regulating evangelistic literature and the relationship between missionaries and religious organizations.

Russia asserts this new law will be used to aggressively combat terrorism; however, religious freedom is the necessary foundation for fighting terrorism. Radical Islam embraces hatred, violence and death for those who disagree with their doctrine.  To combat terrorism, governments should be promoting the opposite: freedom. Groups like ISIS oppose religious freedom because they understand it runs counter to the very foundation of their Jihad, which is a war against unbelievers.  Clamping down on fundamental human rights does nothing to stop the radicalization of these young men and women.  Instead, suppressing the liberty of religion and expression takes away a moderating force that acts as a check on radical extremism.

Additionally, how would the Russian government realistically enforce a law prohibiting individuals from sharing their religious experience in conversation and regulating the quoting of scriptures in a home setting? In order to effectively implement such a prohibition, the government would have to utilize extreme measures to monitor its people. The Yarovaya Law paves the way.

The new law instructs telecommunications providers to store text messages and records of telephone communications for six months and forces them to hand the records over to Russia’s security services if they ask for them. Additionally, telecommunications providers are required to keep metadata (information about the length and timing of calls and text messages, among other things) for three years; internet providers must retain similar information, along with information about internet users, for one year.

In order to implement draconian regulations on the freedom of religion, the Russian government has given itself the ability to monitor the most private aspects of its citizens’ lives, including constructing a legal foundation for intercepting “individual computer information.” These regulations start with the suppression of freedom of religion and lay the groundwork for even more suppressive laws and human rights violations in the future.

Russia needs to honor its international human rights commitments, all of which preclude oppressive laws like these. As the country endeavors to combat terrorism, it must avoid becoming a force of terror against its own citizens.  The suppressive methods used by the Yarovoya Law were not successful when the Soviet Union implemented them and they will not be successful now.  

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Interested members of the media may contact Anna Swick at anna.swick@mail.house.gov