Bulgaria

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices  - 2002

Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
March 31, 2003

 

Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic ruled by a democratically elected government. A coalition government headed by former King Simeon Saxe-Coburg took office in 2001 following the victory of his National Movement Simeon II (NMS) party in parliamentary elections that observers agreed were generally free and fair despite some media irregularities.

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c. Freedom of Religion

 

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion; however, the Government restricted this right in practice for some nontraditional religious groups. The Constitution designates Eastern Orthodox Christianity as the traditional religion. The Government provided financial support to the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as to several other religious communities perceived as holding historic places in society, such as the Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Jewish faiths, which also were considered traditional. These groups benefited from a relatively high degree of governmental and societal tolerance.

The law on religion requires groups whose activities have a religious element to register with the Council of Ministers. By year's end, a total of 30 denominations were registered. The Government restricted religious freedom through a registration process that was selective, slow, and nontransparent. The Government prohibited the public practice of religion by groups that were not registered. In January the Church of the Nazarene was registered after more than 6 years of obstruction, with the assistance of the Prime Minister's direct intervention.

 

Although in previous years a few municipalities passed ordinances that aimed to curtail religious practices, the Government subsequently suspended these ordinances. However, the City Council in Burgas continued to refuse to register the local branch of Jehovah's Witnesses, despite the fact that they were registered by the national Government.

In some cases, the failure of denominations to achieve registration as religious organizations caused them to function in an environment of indeterminate legality and to establish NGOs that functioned in nondenominational ways. Some groups rejected the idea of state registration. Although they operated, they were unable, for example, to rent conference halls because they did not exist as legal entities.

 

The appeal before the ECHR regarding a license for a nondenominational Christian radio station, Glas Nadezhda, remained pending at year's end.

 

The split within the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (BOC) between those who supported Patriarch Maksim and those who viewed him as illegitimate because he was selected in 1971 under Communist rule to head that church led to violence in July. A pro-Maksim Orthodox priest was arrested as a suspect in the killing on July 21 of alternative synod Orthodox priest Stefan Kamberov at a monastery near Blagoevgrad, and the alternative synod also accused the police chief of Blagoevgrad of aiding and abetting the crime. The authorities had not completed their investigation by year's end (see Section 1.a.). The Government stated the need to heal the schism but generally was perceived as favoring Maksim. The split hindered efforts to pass new legislation and to resolve outstanding claims relating to formerly Orthodox properties still held by the Government.

Except for alleged police involvement in actions against the alternative synod of the BOC, there were no reports of official harassment of religious groups during the year.

 

In December the National Assembly enacted the Law on Religious Confessions to replace the universally unpopular Communist-created law of 1949 and, indirectly, to end the schism within the BOC in favor of the Holy Synod headed by Patriarch Maksim. The law exempts the BOC from required registration and provides for an expedited registration procedure for the 30 denominations that had been registered under the 1949 law. Religious groups not registered previously under the 1949 law will not enjoy similar rights. Neither the Government nor the National Assembly requested review of the legislation by the Council of Europe or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) prior to passage, as had been done by the previous Government with respect to a draft religious affairs bill in 2001. NGOs and religious affairs observers expressed concern that the law would be used to favor the Holy Synod and to evict the Alternative Synod from properties under its control. Although the National Assembly took into consideration suggestions and critiques by Muslims, non-Orthodox Christians, and some NGOs, some media noted concerns of the Alternative Synod and the opposition UDF that the new law unfairly exempts the Maksim-led BOC from the registration requirement and would be used to suppress the anti-Maksim faction.

 

At the Department of Theology of Sofia University, all students were required to present a certificate of baptism from the Orthodox Church, and married couples were required to present a marriage certificate from the Church in order to enroll in the Department's classes. Non-Orthodox applicants could not be admitted to the Department of Theology.

A number of religious groups complained that foreign-national missionaries and religious leaders experienced difficulties in obtaining and renewing residence visas in the country; the issuance of residence visas appeared to be subject to the whim of individual authorities. New amendments to the Law on Foreign Persons, which went into effect in 2001, created problems for foreign missionaries and religious workers in the country. For example, the revised law has no visa category which explicitly applies to missionaries or religious workers, and rules for other categories of temporary residence visa (such as self-employed or business-owner) have been tightened in ways that reportedly make it more difficult for religious workers to qualify. For example, foreign evangelical missionaries in Stara Zagora, who had reported confusion, delays, and demands for unexpected fees and bribes while applying for visas, were granted 1-year visas in July following a visit to Stara Zagora by a foreign diplomatic representative. Some foreign missionaries reportedly continued to travel in and out of the country every 30 days, despite the financial costs involved, in order to avoid having to obtain visas.

 

NGOs and certain denominations claimed that a number of their properties confiscated under the communist government were not returned. For example, the Muslim community asserted that it once owned at least 17 properties around the country that the Government has not returned. The Government also reportedly retained six buildings in Sofia, three in Plovdiv, and several other buildings in other towns, as well as three monasteries that belonged to the Catholic Church. Methodists and Adventists also claimed land or buildings in Sofia and other towns. A representative of the Jewish community stated that former Jewish properties had mostly been recovered over the last 10 years, with two exceptions in downtown Sofia. The head of the Office on Restitution Issues stated that the list of outstanding claims was shorter during the year, and that the law permits resolution of claims if a timely filing was made. However, a central problem facing all claimants was the need to demonstrate that the organization seeking restitution was the same organization--or the legitimate successor of the organization--that owned the property prior to September 9, 1944. This was difficult because communist hostility to religion led some groups to hide assets or ownership and because documents had been destroyed or lost over the years.

 

Discrimination, harassment, and general public intolerance toward religious minorities, which included the great majority of Protestant denominations, remained a problem; however, the number of reported incidents decreased during the year. Strong suspicion of evangelical denominations among the Orthodox was widespread and pervasive and resulted in societal discrimination. Nevertheless, human rights observers agreed that such discrimination has gradually lessened over the last 4 years as society appeared to become more accepting of at least some previously unfamiliar nontraditional religions.

There were no reports during the year that non-Orthodox religious groups were affected adversely by media coverage. In previous years, numerous articles in a broad range of newspapers as well as television documentaries reported inaccurately on the activities of non-Orthodox religious groups, attributing the breakup of families and drug abuse by youths to the practices of these groups, and alleged that evangelical parents provided illegal drugs to young children. In February a youth with skinhead connections in Sofia stabbed a Mormon missionary; however, it was not known whether the attack was connected with the victim's religious activities or affiliation. Two assailants were arrested, charged with relatively minor offenses, convicted, and given suspended sentences. The missionary recovered.

 

In April a gang of apparent skinheads attacked a group of Roma in Pazardzhik, resulting in several hospitalizations. Although the motive for the attack was unclear, it reportedly took place following a service by a Swedish evangelical preacher at the local stadium.

 

For a more detailed discussion see the 2002 International Religious Freedom Report.

 

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