Salvation Army Moscow Still Waiting for Rights to be Restored

Last October, The Salvation Army's Moscow branch won a lengthy court battle against the Russian government over the group's legal status in the country. But according to the Moscow branch's lawyer, Anatoli Pchelintsev, "the problem remains".

After a five-year court struggle, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) unanimously ruled against the Russian state for refusing to approve The Salvation Army's registration application and for labelling it a "militarised organisation".

But since then, little has changed, says Pchelintsev. The Russian government seems set to pay The Salvation Army Moscow the 10,000 euros compensation due to it by 5 April, but has yet to re-register the branch or to renounce official denigration of the group as a 'paramilitary organisation', said Forum 18 news agency.

"If they'd wanted to sort this out, they would have done so already. They had five years while our [ECHR] application was pending," he said.

The official in charge of registration of religious organisations within the Federal Registration Service, Viktor Korolev, told Forum 18 he has yet to read the ECHR's judgment. "I've only seen what's on the internet, not an official translation".

He acknowledged that governments are required to take action to remove the causes of the human rights violations identified by the ECHR, but said he had still not received any
instructions from the Russian Council of Ministers on the Moscow Salvation Army.

The ECHR in Strasbourg, France, ruled last October that Russia must pay The Salvation Army Moscow compensation of 10,000 euros.

"This is an example for other churches in Russia - it tells them that they can hope for justice," The Salvation Army Moscow's Aleksandr Kharkov said last October. "We are so glad that such a structure exists - somewhere to turn to."

The Salvation Army Moscow case was the first ruling by ECHR on a Russian religious organisation. Kharkov and the group's lawyers believe the case will be a precedent for others to follow.