Raids of Moscow Patriarchate churches may be ‘discriminatory’ — UN
Great Lavra Bell Tower, January 6, 2023 (Photo:REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko)
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) believes that searches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) may "be discriminatory,” according to a human rights update released by the group.
The report mentions that Ukraine’s SBU security service conducted searches in monasteries, offices, educational institutions, and other properties of the UOC-MP in Kyiv, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Dnipropetrovsk, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Volyn, Kherson, Ternopil, Poltava, and Zakarpattya oblasts.
The UN claims that in some cases, SBU officers interrogated clergy using a polygraph.
"OHCHR is concerned that the state’s activities targeting the UOC-MP could be discriminatory," the UN said.
“OHCHR also recalls the need to ensure that all those facing criminal charges enjoy the full spectrum of applicable fair trial rights.”
There have been numerous reported cases of UOC-MP clergy supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine, and several cases of priests from the Moscow-ledchurch acting as collaborators in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
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