Iran Rejects UN Accountability for Baha’i Treatment

Iran Rejects UN Accountability for Baha’i Treatment

("niacINsight," June 18, 2010)

Tehran, Iran - The Baha’i International Community expressed its deep disappointment with Iran’s refusal to adopt recommendations made by the UN during Iran’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Iran’s Secretary General of the High Council for Human Rights, Mohammad Javad Larijani, brazenly rejected a number of the council’s key human rights concerns and accused the Baha’i International Community of acting on behalf of Western powers.

“We are deeply disturbed by the Iranian government’s refusal to accept basic recommendations concerned with ending injustice, persecution and discrimination in that country,” a representative of the Baha’i International Community said at the meeting.

The UPR recommendations aimed to end discrimination against Baha’is and the Iranian government’s repression of the community, among many other recommendations about human rights in Iran. Specifically, the council called on Iran’s government to do away with policies restricting Baha’i access to universities and official lists barring Baha’is from pursuing twenty five different professions.

Despite the statements of 26 states urging Iran to account for their human rights violations against the Baha’i community, Larijani flatly denied many of the allegations. “Baha’is enjoy full civil and citizenship right[s] in Iran… The government is supporting all of their economic activity. They go to school, they go to universities …I can name for you more than 200 students at universities,” he told the council last Thursday.

U.S. Appoints New Ambassador for International Religious Freedom

http://www.iclrs.org/?blurb_id=398&table=blurb_new&page_id=8

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced on 15 June 2010 President Barack Obama's nomination of Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, filling an 18-month vacancy in this critical diplomatic post. "Dr. Johnson Cook is an experienced religious leader with a passion for human rights and an impressive record of public service," said Secretary Clinton. "President Obama could not have found a more fitting choice for this important position." Dr. Johnson Cook will serve as a principal advisor on religious freedom to President and the Secretary of State, supported by the Office of International Religious Freedom in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.

      Dr. Johnson Cook holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Emerson College, Master of Arts from Columbia University, Teachers College, Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary, and Doctor of Ministry from United Theological Seminary. She taught at the New York Theological Seminary from 1988-1996 and is a Founder/Board Member of the Multi-Ethnic Center (an enrichment program for youth), of which she has been Executive Director since 1996.  She was co-Partner/Owner of Jonco Productions from 1994-2009 and is the Founder and President of Wisdom Worldwide Center and the owner of Charisma Speakers. From 1983-1996 she served as Senior Pastor to the Mariners Temple Baptist Church and has served as Senior Pastor of Bronx Christian Fellowship Baptist Church in New York City since 1996 and as chaplain to the New York City Police Department since 1990. She served as an advisor on President Clinton’s Domestic Policy Council.

      Also part of the 15 June announcement were two appointments to the nine-member U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Felice D. Gaer and Dr. William J. Shaw.  Dr. Shaw is Immediate Past President of the National Baptist Convention, USA. Inc. and Pastor of White Rock Baptist Church in Philadelphia. Ms. Gaer, who has served on the Commission since 2001, including three times as Chair, three times as Vice Chair, and one time on the Executive Committee, was originally appointed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). A graduate of Wellesley College, Ms. Gaer directs the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights of the American Jewish Committee.  She was 2010 Regents Professor at UCLA and remains the first American to serve as an Independent Expert on the UN Committee against Torture.

      Membership of the Commission is defined in Section 201 of the International Religious Freedom Act. Three Commissioners are selected by the President, three by the Senate, and three by the House." Current members of the Commission may be viewed here.

VIENNA: Council of Europe Secretary General calls for intensified co-ordination to promote democratic stability

Press release

Council of Europe Secretary General calls for intensified co-ordination to promote democratic stability

http://www.osce.org/item/45123.html

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VIENNA, 1 July 2010 - Intensified co-operation between the OSCE and the Council of Europe is needed to reinforce both organizations' work to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law and to avoid duplication, said the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, in Vienna today.

Addressing the OSCE Permanent Council, Jagland discussed reforms at the Council of Europe, European Union accession to the European Convention on Human Rights and reinforcing interaction with international partners, including the OSCE.

Jagland stated that the co-operation between the Organizations at political and expert level can be further improved: "Our objective should be to ensure, to the highest extent possible, the coherence and effectiveness of our activities, whilst avoiding duplication and a waste of resources."

He added: "Europe is challenged by new and demanding forces, by the economic crises, by the social unrest and by the ever-growing multicultural dimension of its societies. The European institutions will be, and must be, crucial actors in this situation."

The Permanent Council is a main decision-making body of the 56-country OSCE. It meets weekly in Vienna to discuss developments in the OSCE area and to make appropriate decisions.

(Photo: FOREF Europe)

Contacts:

Frane Maroevic
Deputy Spokesperson

• OSCE Secretariat
• Press and Public Information Section
• Wallnerstrasse 6
• 1010 Vienna
• Austria
• Tel: +43 1 514 36 6150
• +43 664 8847 4908 (mobile)
• Fax: +43 1 514 36 6105
• Send E-mail

KAZAKHSTAN: Parliament to go against international human rights commitments?

By Felix Corley Following a police raid on his ordination service, Baptist pastor Oleg Voropaev in Kazkhstan's northern Pavlodar Region has become the latest victim of the Administrative Code's punishments for leading unregistered worship, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Voropaev told the court that he considered himself not guilty, as Kazakhstan's Constitution guarantees the right to worship individually or collectively. As a community without a bank account the church does not need legal status, and does not need or want registration to exist or meet.  Human rights defenders and religious communities are concerned that punishments for religious activity under the current Administrative Code are retained under the proposed new Code now in Parliament. Deputy Serik Temirbulatov, who chairs the Majilis working group preparing the new draft, expects a draft to be presented to the Majilis' Legislative and Judicial-Legal Committee in late October, and a draft to reach the full Majilis in December. Asked if the majority view among deputies will prevail even if proposed Articles still violate Kazakhstan's international human rights commitments, Temirbulatov responded: "Yes." Following a police raid on his ordination service as a Baptist pastor in April, Oleg Voropaev is the latest victim ofKazakhstan's Code of Administrative Offences punishment of leading unregistered worship, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Pastor Voropaev was fined about seven months' average wages on 8 June, a fine upheld on appeal on 22 June,Pavlodar Regional Court told Forum 18. It is the fourth time he has been fined in the past decade, but each time he has refused to pay the fine after being convicted of leading, participating in or financing an unregistered, halted or banned religious community or social organisation. Voropaev leads a Council of Churches Baptist congregation, who refuse on principle to register with the authorities, arguing that this leads to unwarranted state interference in their internal affairs. Many of their leaders and members have been fined for their religious activity in Kazakhstan in recent years. Not only the ordinary police, but also Internal Policy Departments of local Akimats (administrations), Prosecutor's Offices, the National Security Committee (KNB) secret police and police Departments for the Fight against Extremism, Separatism and Terrorism take part in raids and pressure on unregistered religious communities. Police Departments for the Fight against Extremism, Separatism and Terrorism in at least three of Kazakhstan's regions are known to have raided or pressured Muslim and Baptist communities since the beginning of 2010.

UNHRC Session 14 Geneva June 1-2, 2010

UNHRC Session 14 Geneva



GENEVA - UPF, WFWPU International, FOREF Europe & Human Rights Without Frontiers have submitted a joined statement to the UNHRC, protesting abduction & forced confinement of Unification Church members & other beleivers in Japan. On June 1st 3 victims submitted a petition at the Japanese Embassy. June 2nd a side-event was held at the UN Geneva to draw international attention to this severe violation of human rights. And the day after (June 3rd) a delegation of victims visited the international HQ of the World Council of Churches in Geneva, protesting that Japanese christian ministers are acting as kidnappers & faithbreakers with impunity.

Symposium Uni-Graz: Religious Discrimination in Europe

Symposium Uni-Graz: 
Religious Discrimination in Europe

GRAZ - VIENNA (FOREF Europe): Top Experts from all over Europe have met at Graz University at the Symposium on "Religious Discrimination in selected European Countries". Over 70 participants have attended the conference which lasted 2 days (May 27-28). The international experts and audience were greeted with a welcome-message by the Mayor of Graz Mag. Siegfried Nagl. The mayors message was delivered by City councilor Bernhard Hofmann-Wellenhof followed by another welcoming speech of Prof. Fischerthe host-universities vice-rector.  The University of Graz, known for it’s progressive standards and  scholarship projects  for international underprivileged students gave it’s full support to this high profile European human rights symposium.

The lectures included up to date country-reports (14 countries incl. Scandinavia & Eastern-Europe) as well as experts-analysis on international organizations such as the Council of Europe (COE), theOrganization for Security & Cooperation of Europe (OSCE) & theEuropean Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the service for religious freedom.

Peter Zoehrer, FOREF secretary general and spokesperson evaluates conference as landmark event in the field of religious freedom and as exemplary with regards to excellence as well as international cooperation among experts in the field.  Conference initiator Prof. Dr. Christian Bruenner, President of the Vienna based human rights organization FOREF Europe says, lectures and country reports will be published later this year in a book on religious discrimination in European countries and on the FOREF Website. 
Photo-Album: click here ...  PHOTO-LINK

Japanese Buddhist Leader Denounces Religious Intolerance in Japan

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Calls for Prosecution of Forced-Conversion Professionals

New York, NY – A respected Buddhist priest in Japan has called for Japanese authorities to prosecute those responsible for kidnapping and imprisoning members of the Unification Church.

In an official letter to a Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution assisting the state prosecutor dated March 14, Rev. Dohki Mihara, a Sotoshu Buddhist priest, wrote:  “Getting to know about Mr. Toru Goto’s case of religious kidnapping and confinement that lasted for 12 years and 5 months, a case which was clearly based on a purpose to break his faith in the Unification Church, I felt deep despair and grief to find out that Japan, although calling itself a cultured nation, has not acquired human decency, common sense in respect for human rights, or the basic attitude of democratic nation.”

Mr. Goto's case was dismissed by Tokyo prosecutors with no indictments but will now be considered by a citizens’panel empowered to re-open the case." The letter continued:  “I strongly ask the police and the prosecutor’s office to courageously act against such illegal crimes according to the law. For this, I ask the people who have been chosen as the members of the committee for this case to indict this case so it may be judged righteously in court.”

Street demonstrations in Japan protest kidnappings

Street demonstrations in Japan protest kidnappings

April 18, 2010, over 150 members of the Unification Church and supporters of religious freedom marched in Kurashiki City in Okayama Prefecture, near Japan’s west coast, to publicly accuse a local Japanese minister of complicity in the kidnapping and unlawful confinement of members of the Unification Church in often failed attempts to force them to abandon their faith.

According to the Unification Church Website in Japan, Pastor Masaharu Takayama, the head of the Kurashiki Grace Christian Church, attempted without success to break the faith of a Unification Church member last year. The faith-breaking victim was a young lady from Tottori Prefecture who was kidnapped in the Kurashiki area but who was rescued and returned to the Unification Church.
Read more:Street demonstrations in Japan protest kidnappings

From Times Online

April 1, 2010

Belgium poised to be first in EU to ban the burqa

(Nicolas Asfouri/AFP)

Women who flout the ban will face up to seven days in jail or a fine of up to 25 euros

David Charter, Brussels

With Belgium on course to become the first EU country to ban the burqa, the Muslim tradition of covering women’s faces seems destined to end up in a European court battle pitting individual rights against society’s values.

MPs on Belgium’s home affairs committee have unanimously approved a ban on garments concealing the whole face or making it unrecognisable, setting up a vote in Parliament on April 22 that seems certain to pass given the cross-party consensus.

This would prohibit the full body burqa or face-covering niqab being worn in streets, public gardens, sports grounds and buildings "meant for public use or to provide services" to the public, according to draft Bill.

Women who flout the ban will face up to seven days in jail or a fine of betweem €15 and €25. Headscarves are not affected.

Belgian politicians rarely agree on anything but common ground has been reached on the veil amid a growing atmosphere of concern at Islamic extremism in the country. A group of Muslims are currently involved there in a high-profile trial for allegedly recruiting jihadi fighters for Afghanistan, where the Government has recently agreed to extend its mission as part of the Nato force.

Tokyo Resident Believed to be the Latest Kidnap Victim in Japan

A 30-year-old Japanese bank employee is believed to be the latest victim of kidnapping and forced confinement, according to reports from Japanese Unification Church officials. She is among five active Japanese church members believed to be held against their will by opponents of their faith since August of 2009.

Ms. Yoshiko Majima, a member of the Musashino Youth Branch of West Tokyo, went home to visit her parents in the Tochigi Prefecture on Feb. 7, 2010 and did not return to her job in Tokyo. She reportedly loved singing in the church choir and wanted to invite her parents to her church in order to show her performance. It is believed that she first reported her church membership to her parents in 2008.
Ms. Majima has been working in Tokyo for a major credit card company, called JCB.  In 2009, she reportedly fasted for seven days as a preparation for the marriage blessing ceremony of the Unification Church. Ms. Majima had joined the Unification Church in 2004 and participated in church programs as a trainee from 2004 to 2006 and has served as a faithful church member since then.

On February 7th she told friends she planned to visit her parents’ home and return on the same day. However, she called a trusted friend in the church about 7 p.m. and said, “Although I was planning to go back to the church today, I cannot go back today.  I think I cannot go back for a while.” She did not respond to questions from her friend during the call.

After that call, her cell phone service reportedly was stopped. Visitors to her parents’ residence report that it appears to be vacant. According to Japanese Unification Church officials, they do not release photos of persons believed to be confined against their will, since the kidnappers have been known to force their victims to renounce their church membership and to file lawsuits against the Unification Church for reporting the kidnapping and confinement, on the grounds of false statement and invasion of privacy.

Since 1969 more than 4,300 members of the Unification Church have been kidnapped and confined by misguided relatives and opponents of the church. Some of the victims have been beaten, sexually assaulted or tortured while in captivity.

On Feb. 19, 2010 the Forum for Religious Freedom, a religious-freedom nonprofit, posted an appeal to the international community on the newsletter of the Brussels-based Human Rights Without Frontiers [http://www.hrwf.net], with the following opening statement: “On behalf of The Japanese Victims' Association Against Religious Kidnapping and Forced Conversion we appeal to the international community to influence the government of Japan to take action urgently to halt the impunity related to the long-term and persistent use of kidnapping, forced confinement and even torture of its citizens. These cases involve denial of multiple rights, including and especially freedom of religion during which time members of religious communities are being coerced to change their beliefs while confined against their will.”

 On January 12, 2010 the Institute on Religion and Public Policy, a human rights monitoring group in Washington, D.C. issued a statement calling upon the government of Japan “to bring to a halt the long-term and persistent use of kidnapping and forced confinement of its citizens to deny and change their religious beliefs.”
Contributed by Douglas Burton

Link: http://www.familyfed.org/news/index.php?id=111&page=1&apage=1

Kidnapping, Confinement & Forced Conversion in Japan: UN-Human Rights Council

13th Session, United Nations Human Rights Council
Written Statement Item 3: Civil and Political Rights/ Freedom of Religion
JAPAN
Submitted in English by: Universal Peace Federation, ECOSOC special consultative status

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UN Representative, Heiner Handschin, ch des la Pierreire 1c,
1092 Belmont sur Lausanne,  079 250 3477,  europe2@upf.org

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Religious freedom is one of the fundamental freedoms and rights to which all people are entitled and we must be vigilant against all violations of religious freedom. The Universal Peace Federation affirms the essential value and significance of religion, and hence religious freedom, for the achievement of global peace. If we hinder freedom of religion, we endanger the prospects for peace. This applies not only to majority religions, but minority religions as well.

As such, we appeal to the United Nations Human Rights Council to influence the government of Japan to take action urgently to halt the impunity related to the long-term and persistent use of kidnapping, forced confinement and even torture of its citizens. These cases involve denial of multiple rights, including and especially freedom of religion during which time members of religious communities are being coerced to change their beliefs while confined against their will.

It has been reported that in the Unification Church alone more than 4,300 members have been victimized to date. During the past four decades, over 1,300 adherents have managed to escape their captors, sometimes at great personal risk, and return to their religious communities. They report human rights violations such as long-term confinement, mental and physical abuse, and psychological manipulation designed to force them to recant their faith.

Despite numerous complaints to police, not one indictment has been brought against the perpetrators of these crimes. Currently at least five Unification Church members remain missing in Japan, suspected to have been confined and held against their will because of their faith: Momoyo Yamada (30), Fusako Tomoda (22), Yuko Majima (60), Masako Kudo (35), and Takashi Nishikawa (26).


The Case of Toru Goto 

One recent shocking example of Japan’s religious intolerance is the case of Mr. Toru Goto, who was confined for over 12 years and 5 months against his will in an apartment in Tokyo. Already in his 30s at the beginning of this confinement (his second), Mr. Goto was imprisoned in one small room, guarded day and night, just blocks away from the municipal authorities. He was not allowed to leave the apartment even to exercise and was not permitted communication with the outside world during these 12 years. He was at times constrained by force and required to listen to his captors’ indoctrination and ridiculing day after day, in an attempt to make him convert from Unificationism to mainline Protestant Christianity. The ringleaders in this case were the Christian minister Toridechi Yasutomo Matsunaga and professional “deprogrammer” Shun Takashi Miyamura in collusion with members of Mr. Goto’s family.

When, after 12 years of imprisonment, the captors were forced to admit that Mr. Goto was not going to succumb to their brainwashing techniques, they cruelly threw him out into the street in February 2008, a tall man but weighing only 39 kilo and barely able to walk. He went directly to the police station to report the crime but was refused help. He finally reached the church headquarters in Tokyo and was then taken to the hospital for a prolonged rehabilitation. He filed charges against the perpetrators of this crime in 2008, and yet on December 9, 2009, Tokyo prosecutors refused to indict them. Their claim of “insufficient evidence” is a travesty of justice and the government’s action of turning a blind eye allows those responsible to continue their activities with impunity.

Here are just a few of many documented testimonies showing how severely human lives have been affected through these crimes: 

Religious symbols and reminders of religious freedom: My purchase of a menorah

I announced to my family a few weeks ago that I was going to purchase a menorah. They looked at me kind of funny, wondering why I, being a Christian, would do such a thing. But as I was reading about Hanukkah (or Chanukah), I was struck by the symbolism of the menorah and its relationship to religious freedom. Although it is not a part of my religion, it still bears some sacredness for me.

The story goes like this: In 175 BCE, Antiochus IV, the Syrian king of the Seleucid Empire, invaded Jerusalem and recaptured Jerusalem. His soldiers plundered and looted the temple, putting a stop to further temple worship. The practice of Judaism was outlawed, which prompted the successful Maccabean revolt in 165 BCE and the subsequent rededication of the temple.

According to wikipedia: "The festival of Hanukkah was instituted by Judah Maccabee and his brothers to celebrate this event. After recovering Jerusalem and the Temple, Judah ordered the Temple to be cleansed, a new altar to be built in place of the polluted one and new holy vessels to be made. According to the Talmud, olive oil was needed for the menorah in the Temple, which was required to burn throughout the night every night. But there was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight day festival was declared by the Jewish sages to commemorate this miracle."

The martyrdom of Hannah and her seven sons is also linked to Hanukkah. Antiochus, in his demonstration of control over the Jews and their religious practices, had required her sons to eat pig or to be put to death. Each son, in turn, refused, and was, as promised, killed. Prior to the youngest son's death, Antiochus had appealed to Hannah to convince her youngest to eat pig rather than to die. But Hannah was not swayed and the son refused, and that son, as well, was put to death. Ultimately Hannah, too, suffered death in connection with these events. Her and her sons' courage and strength are commemorated to this day.

I wanted to purchase the menorah so that I would have this symbol as a reminder of these important events and of the strength and courage of these Jews nearly 2200 years ago and so that I could teach my children about these things. The principles that the menorah represent are universal and bear meaning to this non-Jew. And so today I finally received my "traditional pewter menorah" in the mail, having ordered it from Judaica.com, and was pleased to bring this symbol into my home.

By the way, I decided not to purchase the "Multi-color Puzzle Menorah," the "Inflatable Festival Menorah Decoration," the "Clef Note Menorah," the "Woven Garden Wall Menorah," or the "Giant Lawn Decoration Inflatable Menorah." The "traditional pewter menorah" works just fine for me.

This article was posted by James Blood on the International Religious Freedom Blog.

RUSSIA: Setback for anti-missionary law

Ministry of Justice sacks people who conducted incompetent
anti-missionary policy against non-Orthodox

By Roman Lunkin

Portal-credo.ru (10.02.2010) / HRWF (17.02.2010) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - The uproar evoked by a series of initiatives of the Ministry of Justice of RF in the religious sphere roiled society and roused up against the ministry many believers and defenders of freedom of conscience in Russia and abroad. Since Alexander Konovalov's assumption of the post of minister in 2008, radical sect-fighters have been appointed the chief experts on religion in the Ministry of Justice, intimidating investigations of religious associations have begun, and in October 2009 the Ministry of Justice proposed a draft law harshly restricting missionary activity in Russia. All of this has sharply undermined the confidence of believers in the authorities in general, and they have begun talking about the onset of new persecution.

Meanwhile, when the situation had already flared up to the limit, at the beginning of 2010 it became known that key figures responsible for the incompetent policy with respect to believers had been dismissed from the Ministry of Justice. These were a deputy minister, Aleksei Velichko, and the head of the Department on Noncommercial Organizations, which includes work with religious associations, Sergei Milushkin. The press service of the Ministry of Justice confirmed that this is indeed so; the odious figures do not work in the Ministry of Justice any longer.

Instead of Velichko, on 14 January 2010 by order of Russian President D. Medvedev, Alexander Fedorov was named first deputy minister of justice; previously he had served as deputy head of the Federal Service for Drug Control of Russia.

From the moment of appointment (June 2008) Velichko was authorized from the very beginning to oversee noncommercial organizations, since they were moved out of the purview of the Federal Registration Service to be immediately under the Ministry of Justice. Previously he worked as deputy director of the administration of state registration of rights to immoveable property of the Federal Registration Service. And since 2006 he was the assistant of Alexander Konovalov, who then was the presidential envoy for the Volga federal district. Aleksei Velichko naturally complemented his director, Alexander Konovalov, since Velichko is the author of books about the symphony of authorities in Byzantium and Russia. Naturally, almost immediately after the "Byzantine party" arrived at the ministry, it began to construct the ideal of symphony of church and secular authorities in the way that it understands it.

Kazakhstan: International Protest against imprisonment of reknown human rights defender Zhovtis

Statement of the World Movement for Democracy Steering Committee regarding Developments in the Case against Yevgeniy Zhovtis

The Steering Committee of the World Movement for Democracy calls on the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan to honor the appeal submitted on 27 January 2010 by the defense team of human rights activist and fellow Steering Committee member, Yevegniy Zhovtis.  In the appeal, citing article 67 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Zhovtis' defense team calls on the Supreme Court to overturn the guilty verdict against Mr. Zhovtis and immediately release him from prison.

On 26 July 2009, Mr. Zhovtis was involved in a car accident, resulting in the tragic death of a pedestrian, Kanat Moldabayev. It is now clear that Kazakhstani authorities exploited this unfortunate accident to politicize the investigation and punish Mr. Zhovtis for his human rights work, evidenced by the fact that the investigation and the subsequent trial were rife with procedural violations.  Mr. Zhovtis was convicted and sentenced to serve a four-year prison term on 3 September 2009.

On 2 February 2010, the US Helsinki Commission will convene a hearing on Kazakhstan's current chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).  The Steering Committee urges the Commission to consider Mr. Zhovtis' case, which demonstrates Kakazhstan's disregard of fair trial standards.

We express our solidarity with fellow Steering Committee member Yevgeniy Zhovtis.

On behalf of the Steering Committee of the World Movement for Democracy:

The Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell

Former Prime Minister of Canada

To read the full statement, go to: www.wmd.org/documents/SCStatementZhovtis020110.pdf

For the statement made on 3 September 2009, go to: www.wmd.org/documents/Zhovtis93.pdf and (in Russian) www.wmd.org/documents/ZhovtisRus93.pdf

For the statement made on 1 September 2009, go to: www.wmd.org/documents/Zhovtis.pdf and (in Russian) www.wmd.org/documents/ZhovtisRus.pdf