FFWPU Urges Release of Elizaveta Drenicheva, Prisoner of Conscience

Michael Jenkins
January 26, 2009

To: RELIGION EDITORS

Contact: Douglas Burton of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Rev. Michael Jenkins, Family Federation-USA President, today called on human rights organizations, news media, religious leaders, and government agencies to publicize and protest the imprisonment of Unificationist Elizaveta Drenicheva in Kazakhstan as a prisoner of conscience.

Mrs. Drenicheva, 30, was convicted and sentenced on January 9 in Almaty to a minimum two years behind bars in a district prison. According to the prosecutor, Drenicheva, a Russian citizen doing missionary work in Kazakhstan, was "guilty of heavy crimes against the peace and security of humanity." Her crime consisted of teaching the church's doctrine of original sin, which was interpreted by the court as "denigrating groups outside the church on the basis of their ethnicity or lineage." This is a fundamental violation of Mrs. Drenicheva's rights, said Jenkins. The idea that our teaching denigrates people on the basis of ethnicity is outrageous. Nothing could be further from the spirit or letter of the teachings of our church and its founder, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon.

Also expressing his concern, the Reverend Dr. Walter Fauntroy, the noted civil rights leader and the former U.S. Congressman, who was Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s personal representative to the presidents of the United States in the 1960's, stated that "Religious freedom is the cornerstone of a just and ethical society. The Unification movement's works and teachings promote the value of all races, faiths and peoples. We are deeply concerned that this injustice be immediately rectified."

Article 18 of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees members of all religions the right to practice their faith without fear of imprisonment. In recent months, human rights groups have become increasingly concerned about mounting repression against religious minorities in Kazakhstan. Commenting on the case, Evgeniy Zhovtis, chief of the Kazakhstan International Bureau of Human Rights, stated: +ACI-You could hardly imagine a better way to discredit our country." On January 16, Radio Free Europe reported that human rights defenders consider Drenicheva a prisoner of conscience and have demanded her immediate release.

"We are appealing to members of all faith communities to join us in making it clear to the government of Kazakhstan that the principle of religious freedom applies to everyone," Rev. Jenkins said, adding: "Elizaveta's only crime was sharing her faith with people who had come to our center to hear Reverend Moon's teaching on faith and reconciliation."

Michael Jenkins