On September 18th, the Hudson Institute is hosting an event titled “Religion in the Crossfire between Russia and Ukraine,” featuring speakers Nina Shea, Oleksandr Aliksiichuk, Dr. Maksym Vasin, Lauren Homer, Pavlo Unguryan, Dmitry Bodyu, and Dr. Katharyn Hanson.
Not a single one of these individuals represents the views of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the largest denomination in the country and the church which has suffered the greatest number of destroyed churches since Russia’s war began. Furthermore, the panel appears to be designed to feature known voices who are in favor of the controversial religious cleansing law against the UOC, which has been denounced not only by Pope Francis and also by the World Council of Churches, among others.
Below follows a short video statement by Robert Amsterdam on this event, along with the text of an open letter to Hudson Institute President John C. Walters, which was shared with Hudson Institute leadership days ahead of this propaganda event aimed at attacking the rights of innocent Christian believers in Ukraine.
For more information, please consult the numerous reports and facts posted on savetheuoc.com.
16 September 2024
Re: Urgent Request Regarding Event- Religion in the Crossfire Between Russia and Ukraine on 18 September 2024
Dear Mr. Walters,
It has come to my attention that an event will be held and hosted by the Hudson Institute on 18 September 2024 which is part of a campaign to perpetuate religious hatred and support the stripping of religious freedoms in Ukraine. This event entitled, “Religion in the Crossfire Between Russia and Ukraine” is being held for a singular purpose: to whitewash and legitimize laws and activities the Ukrainian government has engaged in against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (“UOC”) which include violence against clergy and parishioners, expropriations of church property, instrumentalization of the criminal justice system to unlawfully prosecute church leadership, exchange Ukrainian citizens against their will to Russia for prisoners of war, and, ultimately, to ban the religious practices of the UOC and its members in Ukraine.
Our law firm, Amsterdam & Partners LLP, represents the UOC in its ongoing existential defense against the attacks of the authorities in Ukraine. We do not believe the Hudson Institute is aware of the truth regarding the deplorable state of religious freedom in Ukraine, otherwise we do not think this event would be going ahead in the format it currently is in. This truth has been spoken about by Pope Francis, the World Council of Churches , the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Church of England, the Norwegian religious freedom NGO, Forum 18, and the
Austrian Human Rights NGO, the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe and other esteemed institutions.
This attack on religious freedom violates both the domestic constitution of Ukraine and the international covenants to which it is bound. Ukraine has now passed legislation that will ban the religious practices of the UOC. We would therefore expect that an event relating to the state of religious freedom in Ukraine would be equally and impartially represented in an event hosted by your organization. The current panel for the event does not include any representatives of the victims of the attack who would have been more than willing to participate to explain why it is wrong for a European nation that purports to observe the fundamental rights of democracy to outlaw religious practices and endorse unlimited attacks on a singular religious denomination.
Instead, the current panelists, some of whom our law firm has provided evidence to in the past, will unify in defending why it is heroic and necessary for the Ukrainian government to single out a religion based on perceived ties to the Russian Orthodox Church and destroy it. Let us be clear, in no way does our law firm or our client condone the deplorable acts or limitless aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine including against religious institutions which have been well documented. However, unlike some of the panelists such as Ms. Homer, we do not confuse the acts of the Russian government with the Ukrainian government. The current state of war does not give the Ukrainian government a free pass to ignore the fundamental rights of all Ukrainian people. We therefore annex to this letter evidence of the attacks against the UOC as well as the unlawful nature of the law just passed which will ban the church’s religious practices.
There is no evidence that the UOC has carried or promoted the political views of the Russian government during this conflict, and the UOC was the first religious organization in Ukraine to denounce Putin’s aggression. They have continued to denounce it. They have administratively severed all connections to the Russian Orthodox Church. They have provided aid to the Ukrainian war effort. Their congregants are on the front lines of the war fighting for Ukrainian freedom-freedom that is not being reciprocated to them by their government in their pursuit of their religious prerogatives.
In the United States we believe in the freedom to follow one’s religious vocation. In the United States we do not believe in collective punishment. In the United States we believe in the due process of law and fair trial. The Ukrainian government has shown through its passage of the recent law banning the religious practices of the UOC that it does not share in those ideals. The Ukrainian government has instead chosen to legislate into the religious realm based on perceived notions of Russian loyalty held by some in the UOC hierarchy. There is no real evidence of this, and if there was, these individuals should be prosecuted individually. Modern democracy does not allow for the collective punishment and banning of an entire religion based on the perceived beliefs of a few. The United States did not create a new Islamic sect after 9/11 and convert all mosques and all Muslims forcibly to a new state created mosque because that would be an unlawful, ludicrous and disproportionate reaction. That is what is happening in Ukraine with the UOC (an over 1000-year old church) and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (a church established a few years ago in Ukraine as a political initiative of President Poroshenko).
We ask the Hudson Institute to not be used in the normalization of religious cleansing by delaying this event and allowing for other panelists who can fairly represent the UOC to participate. If you do not allow for the participation of the other side, you are allowing the Hudson Institute to be used not as a forum for free discussion but as the mouthpiece of a government, whose views concerning freedom of religion are antithetical to those of the United States. Below you will find the following annexes providing evidence of our position and claims:
- Annex 1- White paper prepared by Amsterdam and Partners LLP regarding the attacks on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
- Annex 2- Submission by Amsterdam and Partners LLP to the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom requesting Ukraine to be designated as a Country of Particular Concern for violations of freedom of religion.
- Annex 3- Correspondence to President Zelenskyy from Amsterdam and Partners LLP regarding Ukrainian government position on UOC.
Please respond at your earliest convenience.
Respectfully,
Robert R. Amsterdam
Founding Partner
AMSTERDAM & PARTNERS LLP