In a statement issued July 19, the U.S. State Department called on Russia to end its persecution of minority religions. This was prompted by the Russia Supreme Court’s decision upholding an April ruling labeling Jehovah’s Witnesses “extremist.”
The U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom has added Russia to its list of “Countries of Particular Concern” (CPC) for the first time in two decades, prompted by the country’s recent repression of the rights of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
New York Times Moscow correspondent Andrew Higgins wrote about today’s action by the Russian Supreme Court labeling the Jehovah’s Witnesses an Extremist Group: “Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday declared Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Christian denomination that rejects violence, an extremist organization.“
