Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses
Encyclopedia
Throughout Jehovah's Witnesses
' history, their beliefs, doctrines and practices have engendered controversy and opposition from local governments, communities, and religious groups.
Many Christian denominations consider the interpretations and doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses to be heretical
. Some religious leaders have accused Jehovah's Witnesses of being a cult
. According to law professor Archibald Cox
, in the United States, Jehovah's Witnesses were "the principal victims of religious persecution... they began to attract attention and provoke repression in the 1930s, when their proselytizing and numbers rapidly increased."
Political and religious animosity against Jehovah's Witnesses has at times led to mob action
and government
oppression in various countries, including Cuba
, the United States
, Canada
, Singapore and Nazi Germany
. The religion's doctrine of political neutrality has led to imprisonment of members who refused conscription (for example in Britain
during World War II
and afterwards during the period of compulsory national service
).
During the World Wars, Jehovah's Witnesses were targeted in the United States
, Canada and many other countries for their refusal to serve in the military or help with war efforts. In Canada
, Jehovah's Witnesses were interned in camps along with political dissidents and people of Japan
ese and Chinese
descent. Activities of Jehovah's Witnesses have previously been banned in the Soviet Union
and in Spain
, partly due to their refusal to perform military service. Their religious activities are currently banned or restricted in some countries, for example in Singapore
, China
, Vietnam
, and many Islamic states.
According to the journal, Social Compass, "Viewed globally, this persecution has been so persistent and of such an intensity that it would not be inaccurate to regard Jehovah's witnesses as the most persecuted religion of the twentieth century". The claim is disputed, as deaths resulting from persecution of Christians
of other denominations during the twentieth century are estimated to number 26 million.
, activities of Jehovah's Witnesses were banned and members were forced to undergo "demystification training."
, Jehovah's Witnesses have been targets of violence by right wing nationalist groups such as the Bulgarian National Movement
. On April 17, 2011, a group of about sixty hooded men carrying BMPO flags sieged a Kingdom Hall
in Burgas
, during the annual memorial of Christ's death. Attackers threw stones, damaged furniture, and injured at least five of the people gathered inside. The incident was recorded by a local television station. Jehovah's Witnesses in Bulgaria have been fined for proselytizing without proper government permits, and some municipalities have legislation prohibiting or restricting their rights to preach.
's communist regime, Jehovah's Witnesses were considered "social deviants", along with homosexuals, vagrants and other groups, and were sent to forced labor concentration camps to be "reeducated
". Jehovah's Witnesses could not refuse blood transfusions on religious grounds, as the Cuban Healthcare system gave no right to refuse treatment (even on religious or animal rights grounds).
In 1984, Canada released a number of previously classified documents which revealed that in the 1940s, "able bodied young Jehovah's Witnesses" were sent to "camps", and "entire families who practiced the religion were imprisoned." The 1984 report stated, "Recently declassified wartime documents suggest [World War II] was also a time of officially sanctioned religious bigotry, political intolerance and the suppression of ideas. The federal government described Jehovah's Witnesses as subversive and offensive 'religious zealots'... in secret reports given to special parliamentarian committees in 1942." It concluded that, "probably no other organization is so offensive in its methods, working as it does under the guise of Christianity. The documents prepared by the justice department were presented to a special house of commons committee by the government of William Lyon McKenzie King in an attempt to justify the outlawing of the organizations during the second world war."
, the French
government banned the Association of Jehovah's Witnesses in France, and ordered that the French offices of the Watch Tower Society be vacated. After the war, Jehovah's Witnesses in France renewed their operations. In December 1952, France's Minister of the Interior banned The Watchtower
magazine, citing its position on military service
. The ban was lifted on November 26, 1974.
In the 1990s and 2000s, the French government included Jehovah's Witnesses on its list of "cult
s", and governmental ministers made derogatory public statements about Jehovah's Witnesses. Despite its century of activity in the country, France's Ministry of Finance opposed official recognition of the religion; it was not until June 23, 2000 that France's highest administrative court, the Council of State, ruled that Jehovah's Witnesses qualify as a religion under French law. France's Ministry of the Interior sought to collect 60% of donations made to the religion's entities; Witnesses called the taxation "confiscatory" and appealed to the European Court of Human Rights
. On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that France’s actions violated the religious freedom of Jehovah’s Witnesses by demanding 58 million euros in taxes.
Jehovah's Witnesses in France have reported hundreds of criminal attacks against their adherents and places of worship.
, the magazine was covertly published under the name, La Sentinelle, though it was later learned that The Watchtower had not been banned locally. In Réunion
, the magazine was published under the name, Bulletin intérieur.
adopted its post-USSR Constitution
, the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs began a campaign to detain tons of religious literature belonging to Jehovah's Witnesses. Government officials refused permits for Jehovah's Witnesses to organize assemblies, and law enforcement officials dispersed legal assemblies. In September 2000, "Georgian police and security officials fired blank anti-tank shells and used force to disperse an outdoor gathering of some 700 Jehovah's Witnesses in the town of Natuliki in northwestern Georgia on 8 September, AP and Caucasus Press reported."
In cases when the instigators were formally charged, prosecution was impeded by a lack of cooperation by government and law enforcement. In 2004, Forum 18 News Service
referred to the period since 1999 as a "five-year reign of terror" against Jehovah's Witnesses and certain other religious minorities. Amnesty International
noted: "Jehovah's Witnesses have frequently been a target for violence ... in Georgia... In many of the incidents police are said to have failed to protect the believers, or even to have participated in physical and verbal abuse." Individual Witnesses have fled Georgia seeking religious refugee status in other nations.
On May 3, 2007, the European Court of Human Rights
ruled against the government of Georgia for its toleration of religious violence toward Jehovah's Witnesses and ordered the victims be compensated for moral damages and legal costs.
in Germany
, initially by official efforts to dismiss them from employment; persecution intensified in 1933, and continued until 1945.
On October 4, 1934, congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany sent telegrams of protest and warning to Adolf Hitler
. According to notarized eyewitness testimony of Karl R. A. Wittig, "On October 7, 1934...Dr. Frick
showed Hitler a number of telegrams protesting against the Third Reich's persecution of the Bible Students... After which Hitler jumped to his feet and with clenched fists hysterically screamed: 'This brood will be exterminated in Germany!' Four years after this discussion I was able, by my own observations, to convince myself...that Hitler's outburst of anger was not just an idle threat. No other group of prisoners of the named concentration-camps was exposed to the sadism of the SS-soldiery in such a fashion as the Bible Students were. It was a sadism marked by an unending chain of physical and mental tortures, the likes of which no language in the world can express."
The German-language newspaper Der Deutsche Weg (The German Way) of May 29, 1938 quoted Hitler as saying, "These so-called Earnest Bible Students [Jehovah's Witnesses] are troublemakers; ... I consider them quacks... I dissolve [Jehovah's Witnesses] in Germany.'" Because Jehovah's Witnesses would not give allegiance to the Nazi
party, and refused to serve in the military, they were detained, sent to concentration camps, or imprisoned during the Holocaust
. The Nazi government told Jehovah's Witnesses that they would be freed if they would renounce their faith, submit to the state authority, and support the German military, though very few agreed. Approximately 12,000 Jehovah's Witnesses were sent to concentration camps where they were identified by purple triangle
s.
According to Jehovah's Witnesses, about 2000 of their members died while incarcerated under the Nazi regime. A pamphlet about Jehovah's Witnesses published by the United States Holocaust Resource Center and Archives states that "an estimated 2,500 to 5,000 Witnesses died in the camps or prisons. More than 200 men were tried by the German War Court and executed for refusing military service."
Despite more than a century of conspicuous activity in the country, Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany were not granted legal recognition until March 25, 2005, in Berlin; in 2006 Germany's Federal Administrative Court
(BVerwG) in Leipzig
extended the local decision to apply nationwide.
were beaten by police and citizens for refusing to purchase political party cards to become members of the Malawi Congress Party
.
In February 1995, Singapore police raided private homes where group members were holding religious meetings, in an operation codenamed "Operation Hope". Officers seized Bibles, religious literature, documents and computers, and eventually brought charges against 69 Jehovah's Witnesses, many of whom went to jail. In March 1995, 74-year-old Yu Nguk Ding was arrested for carrying two "undesirable publications"—one of them a Bible printed by the Watch Tower Society.
In 1996, eighteen Jehovah's Witnesses were convicted for unlawfully meeting in a Singapore apartment and were given sentences from one to four weeks in jail. Canadian Queens Counsel Glen How flew to Singapore to defend the Jehovah's Witnesses and argued that the restrictions against the Jehovah's Witnesses violated their constitutional rights. Then-Chief Justice Yong Pung How
questioned How's sanity, accused him of "living in a cartoon world" and referred to "funny, cranky religious groups" before denying the appeal. In 1998, two Jehovah's Witnesses were charged in a Singapore court for possessing and distributing banned religious publications.
In 1998 a Jehovah's Witness lost a law suit against a government school for wrongful dismissal for refusing to sing the national anthem or salute the flag. In March 1999, the Court of Appeals denied his appeal. In 2000, public secondary schools indefinitely suspended at least fifteen Jehovah's Witness students for refusing to sing the national anthem or participate in the flag ceremony. In April 2001, one public school teacher, also a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, resigned after being threatened with dismissal for refusing to participate in singing the national anthem.
Singapore authorities have seized Jehovah's Witnesses' literature on various occasions from individuals attempting to cross the Malaysia-Singapore border. In thirteen cases, authorities warned the Jehovah's Witnesses, but did not press charges.
As of 2008, there were 23 members of Jehovah's Witnesses incarcerated in the armed forces detention barracks for refusal to carry out mandatory military service. The initial sentence for failure to comply is 15 months' imprisonment, with an additional 24 months for a second refusal. All of the Jehovah's Witnesses in detention were incarcerated for failing to perform their initial military obligations and expect to serve a total of 39 months. Failure to perform annual military reserve duty, which is required of all those who have completed their initial 2-year obligation, results in a 40-day sentence, with a 12-month sentence after four refusals. There is no alternative civilian service for Jehovah's witnesses.
In 2008–2009, the Singapore government declined to make data available to the public concerning arrests of Jehovah's Witnesses.
, Moldavia
, and Lithuania
, each of which had a Jehovah's Witness movement. Although never large in number (estimated by the KGB
to be 20,000 in 1968), the Jehovah's Witnesses became one of the most persecuted religious groups in the Soviet Union
during the post-World War II era. Members were arrested or deported; some were put in Soviet concentration camps
. Witnesses in Moldavian SSR
were deported to Tomsk Oblast
; members from other regions of the Soviet Union were deported to Irkutsk Oblast
. KGB officials, who were tasked with dissolving the Jehovah's Witness movement, were disturbed to discover that the Witnesses continued to practice their faith even within the labor camps.
The Minister of Internal Affairs, Viktor Semyonovich Abakumov proposed the deportation of the Jehovah's Witnesses to Stalin in October 1950. A resolution was voted by the Council of Minister and an order was issued by the Ministry for State Security
in March 1951. The Moldavian SSR
passed a decree "on the confiscation and selling of the property of individuals banished from the territory of the Moldavian SSR", which included the Jehovah's Witnesses.
In April 1951, over 9,000 Jehovah's Witnesses were deported to Siberia
under a plan called "Operation North
".
Importation of Jehovah's Witnesses' literature into the Soviet Union was strictly forbidden, and Soviet Jehovah's Witnesses received their religious literature from Brooklyn illegally. Literature from Brooklyn arrived regularly, through well-organized unofficial channels, not only in many cities, but also in Siberia, and even in the penal camps of Potma. The Soviet government was so disturbed by the Jehovah's Witnesses that the KGB was authorized to send agents to infiltrate the Brooklyn headquarters.
In September 1965, a decree of the Presidium of the USSR Council of Ministers canceled the "special settlement" restriction of Jehovah's Witnesses, though the decree, signed by Anastas Mikoyan
, stated that there would be no compensation for confiscated property. However, Jehovah's Witnesses remained the subject of state persecution due to their ideology being classified as anti-Soviet.
After a drawn-out litigation process in state courts and lower federal courts, lawyers for Jehovah's Witnesses convinced the Supreme Court to issue a series of landmark First Amendment
rulings that confirmed their right to be excused from military service and the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance
.
The persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses for their refusal to salute the flag became known as the "Flag-Salute Cases". Their refusal to salute the flag became considered as a test of the liberties for which the flag stands, namely the freedom to worship according to the dictates of one's own conscience. It was found that the United States, by making the flag salute compulsory in Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940), was impinging upon the individual's right to worship as one chooses — a violation of the First Amendment Free Exercise Clause in the constitution. Justice Frankfurter, speaking in behalf of the 8-to-1 majority view against the Witnesses, stated that the interests of "inculcating patriotism was of sufficient importance to justify a relatively minor infringement on religious belief." The result of the ruling was a wave of persecution. Lillian Gobitas, the mother of the schoolchildren involved in the decision said, "It was like open season on Jehovah's Witnesses."
The American Civil Liberties Union
reported that by the end of 1940, "more than 1,500 Witnesses in the United States had been victimized in 335 separate attacks." Such attacks included beatings, being tarred and feathered, hanged, shot, maimed, and even castrated, as well as other acts of violence. As reports of these attacks against Jehovah's Witnesses continued, "several justices changed their minds, and in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943), the Court declared that the state could not impinge on the First Amendment by compelling the observance of rituals."
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
' history, their beliefs, doctrines and practices have engendered controversy and opposition from local governments, communities, and religious groups.
Many Christian denominations consider the interpretations and doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses to be heretical
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
. Some religious leaders have accused Jehovah's Witnesses of being a cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
. According to law professor Archibald Cox
Archibald Cox
Archibald Cox, Jr., was an American lawyer and law professor who served as U.S. Solicitor General under President John F. Kennedy. He became known as the first special prosecutor for the Watergate scandal. During his career, he was a pioneering expert on labor law and also an authority on...
, in the United States, Jehovah's Witnesses were "the principal victims of religious persecution... they began to attract attention and provoke repression in the 1930s, when their proselytizing and numbers rapidly increased."
Political and religious animosity against Jehovah's Witnesses has at times led to mob action
Mob Action
Mob Action is a clothing label based in Leipzig, Germany. The name is synonymous with riot, outlining the company's political appeal....
and government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
oppression in various countries, including Cuba
Human rights in Cuba
Human Rights Watch is among international human rights organizations accusing the Cuban government of systematic human rights abuses, including torture, arbitrary imprisonment, unfair trials, and extrajudicial execution....
, the United States
Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States
Throughout the history of Jehovah's Witnesses, their beliefs, doctrines and practices have engendered controversy and opposition from governments, communities, and religious groups. Many Christian denominations consider their doctrines to be heretical, and some religious leaders have labeled...
, Canada
Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada
Jehovah's Witnesses experienced religious persecution in Canada during both world wars because of their evangelical fervour, conspicuous abstinence from patriotic exercises and conscientious objection to military service....
, Singapore and Nazi Germany
Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Nazi Germany
Jehovah's Witnesses were persecuted in Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945. Members of the religious group refused to serve in the German military or give allegiance to the Nazi government, for which hundreds were executed. An estimated 10,000 were sent to concentration camps where approximately...
. The religion's doctrine of political neutrality has led to imprisonment of members who refused conscription (for example in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and afterwards during the period of compulsory national service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
).
During the World Wars, Jehovah's Witnesses were targeted in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada and many other countries for their refusal to serve in the military or help with war efforts. In Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Jehovah's Witnesses were interned in camps along with political dissidents and people of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese and Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
descent. Activities of Jehovah's Witnesses have previously been banned in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, partly due to their refusal to perform military service. Their religious activities are currently banned or restricted in some countries, for example in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, and many Islamic states.
According to the journal, Social Compass, "Viewed globally, this persecution has been so persistent and of such an intensity that it would not be inaccurate to regard Jehovah's witnesses as the most persecuted religion of the twentieth century". The claim is disputed, as deaths resulting from persecution of Christians
Persecution of Christians
Persecution of Christians as a consequence of professing their faith can be traced both historically and in the current era. Early Christians were persecuted for their faith, at the hands of both Jews from whose religion Christianity arose, and the Roman Empire which controlled much of the land...
of other denominations during the twentieth century are estimated to number 26 million.
Benin
During the first presidency of Mathieu KérékouMathieu Kérékou
Mathieu Kérékou, was President of Benin from 1972 to 1991 and again from 1996 to 2006. After seizing power in a military coup, he ruled the country for 17 years, for most of that time under an officially Marxist-Leninist ideology, before he was stripped of his powers by the National Conference of...
, activities of Jehovah's Witnesses were banned and members were forced to undergo "demystification training."
Bulgaria
In BulgariaBulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Jehovah's Witnesses have been targets of violence by right wing nationalist groups such as the Bulgarian National Movement
IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement
The IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement is a nationalist political party in Bulgaria. The abbreviation IMRO references the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, a historic Bulgarian-established revolutionary political organization in the Macedonia and Thrace regions. IMRO – BNM's current...
. On April 17, 2011, a group of about sixty hooded men carrying BMPO flags sieged a Kingdom Hall
Kingdom Hall
A Kingdom Hall is a place of worship used by Jehovah's Witnesses. The term was first suggested in 1935 by Joseph Franklin Rutherford, then president of the Watch Tower Society, for a building in Hawaii...
in Burgas
Burgas
-History:During the rule of the Ancient Romans, near Burgas, Debeltum was established as a military colony for veterans by Vespasian. In the Middle Ages, a small fortress called Pyrgos was erected where Burgas is today and was most probably used as a watchtower...
, during the annual memorial of Christ's death. Attackers threw stones, damaged furniture, and injured at least five of the people gathered inside. The incident was recorded by a local television station. Jehovah's Witnesses in Bulgaria have been fined for proselytizing without proper government permits, and some municipalities have legislation prohibiting or restricting their rights to preach.
Cuba
Under Fidel CastroFidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
's communist regime, Jehovah's Witnesses were considered "social deviants", along with homosexuals, vagrants and other groups, and were sent to forced labor concentration camps to be "reeducated
Reeducation
Reeducation may refer to:* A euphemism for Brainwashing, efforts aimed at instilling certain beliefs in people against their will* Reeducation through labor, also called laojiao, a form of penal detention in China; or the Soviet gulags for "re-education of class enemies" and reintegrating them...
". Jehovah's Witnesses could not refuse blood transfusions on religious grounds, as the Cuban Healthcare system gave no right to refuse treatment (even on religious or animal rights grounds).
Canada
During both world wars, Jehovah's Witnesses were persecuted for their evangelical fervor and conscientious objection to military service.In 1984, Canada released a number of previously classified documents which revealed that in the 1940s, "able bodied young Jehovah's Witnesses" were sent to "camps", and "entire families who practiced the religion were imprisoned." The 1984 report stated, "Recently declassified wartime documents suggest [World War II] was also a time of officially sanctioned religious bigotry, political intolerance and the suppression of ideas. The federal government described Jehovah's Witnesses as subversive and offensive 'religious zealots'... in secret reports given to special parliamentarian committees in 1942." It concluded that, "probably no other organization is so offensive in its methods, working as it does under the guise of Christianity. The documents prepared by the justice department were presented to a special house of commons committee by the government of William Lyon McKenzie King in an attempt to justify the outlawing of the organizations during the second world war."
France
Prior to World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
government banned the Association of Jehovah's Witnesses in France, and ordered that the French offices of the Watch Tower Society be vacated. After the war, Jehovah's Witnesses in France renewed their operations. In December 1952, France's Minister of the Interior banned The Watchtower
The Watchtower
The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom is an illustrated religious magazine, published semi-monthly in 194 languages by Jehovah's Witnesses via the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania and printed in various branch offices around the world...
magazine, citing its position on military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
. The ban was lifted on November 26, 1974.
In the 1990s and 2000s, the French government included Jehovah's Witnesses on its list of "cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
s", and governmental ministers made derogatory public statements about Jehovah's Witnesses. Despite its century of activity in the country, France's Ministry of Finance opposed official recognition of the religion; it was not until June 23, 2000 that France's highest administrative court, the Council of State, ruled that Jehovah's Witnesses qualify as a religion under French law. France's Ministry of the Interior sought to collect 60% of donations made to the religion's entities; Witnesses called the taxation "confiscatory" and appealed to the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
. On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that France’s actions violated the religious freedom of Jehovah’s Witnesses by demanding 58 million euros in taxes.
Jehovah's Witnesses in France have reported hundreds of criminal attacks against their adherents and places of worship.
French dependencies
During the ban of the The Watchtower in France, publication of the magazine continued in various French territories. In French PolynesiaFrench Polynesia
French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
, the magazine was covertly published under the name, La Sentinelle, though it was later learned that The Watchtower had not been banned locally. In Réunion
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
, the magazine was published under the name, Bulletin intérieur.
Georgia
In 1996, one year after GeorgiaGeorgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
adopted its post-USSR Constitution
Constitution of Georgia (country)
The Constitution of Georgia is the supreme law of Georgia. It was approved by the Parliament of Georgia on August 24 1995. It entered into force on October 17...
, the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs began a campaign to detain tons of religious literature belonging to Jehovah's Witnesses. Government officials refused permits for Jehovah's Witnesses to organize assemblies, and law enforcement officials dispersed legal assemblies. In September 2000, "Georgian police and security officials fired blank anti-tank shells and used force to disperse an outdoor gathering of some 700 Jehovah's Witnesses in the town of Natuliki in northwestern Georgia on 8 September, AP and Caucasus Press reported."
In cases when the instigators were formally charged, prosecution was impeded by a lack of cooperation by government and law enforcement. In 2004, Forum 18 News Service
Forum 18
Forum 18 is a Norwegian human rights organization that promotes religious freedom. The organization's name is based on Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights...
referred to the period since 1999 as a "five-year reign of terror" against Jehovah's Witnesses and certain other religious minorities. Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
noted: "Jehovah's Witnesses have frequently been a target for violence ... in Georgia... In many of the incidents police are said to have failed to protect the believers, or even to have participated in physical and verbal abuse." Individual Witnesses have fled Georgia seeking religious refugee status in other nations.
On May 3, 2007, the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
ruled against the government of Georgia for its toleration of religious violence toward Jehovah's Witnesses and ordered the victims be compensated for moral damages and legal costs.
Germany
During 1931 and 1932, there were over 2000 legal actions against Jehovah's WitnessesJehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, initially by official efforts to dismiss them from employment; persecution intensified in 1933, and continued until 1945.
On October 4, 1934, congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany sent telegrams of protest and warning to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. According to notarized eyewitness testimony of Karl R. A. Wittig, "On October 7, 1934...Dr. Frick
Wilhelm Frick
Wilhelm Frick was a prominent German Nazi official serving as Minister of the Interior of the Third Reich. After the end of World War II, he was tried for war crimes at the Nuremberg Trials and executed...
showed Hitler a number of telegrams protesting against the Third Reich's persecution of the Bible Students... After which Hitler jumped to his feet and with clenched fists hysterically screamed: 'This brood will be exterminated in Germany!' Four years after this discussion I was able, by my own observations, to convince myself...that Hitler's outburst of anger was not just an idle threat. No other group of prisoners of the named concentration-camps was exposed to the sadism of the SS-soldiery in such a fashion as the Bible Students were. It was a sadism marked by an unending chain of physical and mental tortures, the likes of which no language in the world can express."
The German-language newspaper Der Deutsche Weg (The German Way) of May 29, 1938 quoted Hitler as saying, "These so-called Earnest Bible Students [Jehovah's Witnesses] are troublemakers; ... I consider them quacks... I dissolve [Jehovah's Witnesses] in Germany.'" Because Jehovah's Witnesses would not give allegiance to the Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
party, and refused to serve in the military, they were detained, sent to concentration camps, or imprisoned during the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
. The Nazi government told Jehovah's Witnesses that they would be freed if they would renounce their faith, submit to the state authority, and support the German military, though very few agreed. Approximately 12,000 Jehovah's Witnesses were sent to concentration camps where they were identified by purple triangle
Purple triangle
The purple triangle was a concentration camp badge used by the Nazis to identify Bibelforscher , the German name for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Nazi Germany. A small number of Adventists, Baptists and pacifists were also identified by the badge...
s.
According to Jehovah's Witnesses, about 2000 of their members died while incarcerated under the Nazi regime. A pamphlet about Jehovah's Witnesses published by the United States Holocaust Resource Center and Archives states that "an estimated 2,500 to 5,000 Witnesses died in the camps or prisons. More than 200 men were tried by the German War Court and executed for refusing military service."
Despite more than a century of conspicuous activity in the country, Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany were not granted legal recognition until March 25, 2005, in Berlin; in 2006 Germany's Federal Administrative Court
Federal Administrative Court of Germany
The Federal Administrative Court is one of the five federal supreme courts of Germany. It is the court of the last resort for generally all cases of administrative law, mainly disputes between citizens and the state...
(BVerwG) in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
extended the local decision to apply nationwide.
Malawi
In 1967, thousands of Witnesses in MalawiMalawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
were beaten by police and citizens for refusing to purchase political party cards to become members of the Malawi Congress Party
Malawi Congress Party
The Malawi Congress Party is a political party in Malawi.It was the successor to the Nyasaland African Congress , which was banned in 1959.The MCP was founded by Hastings Banda and other NAC leaders in 1960....
.
Singapore
In 1972 the Singapore government de-registered and banned the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses on the grounds that its members refuse to perform military service (which is obligatory for all male citizens), salute the flag, or swear oaths of allegiance to the state. Singapore has banned all written materials (including Bibles) published by the International Bible Students Association and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, both publishing arms of the Jehovah's Witnesses. A person in possession of banned literature can be fined up to S$2,000 (US$1,460) and jailed up to 12 months for a first conviction.In February 1995, Singapore police raided private homes where group members were holding religious meetings, in an operation codenamed "Operation Hope". Officers seized Bibles, religious literature, documents and computers, and eventually brought charges against 69 Jehovah's Witnesses, many of whom went to jail. In March 1995, 74-year-old Yu Nguk Ding was arrested for carrying two "undesirable publications"—one of them a Bible printed by the Watch Tower Society.
In 1996, eighteen Jehovah's Witnesses were convicted for unlawfully meeting in a Singapore apartment and were given sentences from one to four weeks in jail. Canadian Queens Counsel Glen How flew to Singapore to defend the Jehovah's Witnesses and argued that the restrictions against the Jehovah's Witnesses violated their constitutional rights. Then-Chief Justice Yong Pung How
Yong Pung How
Yong Pung How, DUT . He was the former Chief Justice of Singapore, serving from 1990 to 2006. Prior to his judicial career, he was a lawyer, banker and senior government official...
questioned How's sanity, accused him of "living in a cartoon world" and referred to "funny, cranky religious groups" before denying the appeal. In 1998, two Jehovah's Witnesses were charged in a Singapore court for possessing and distributing banned religious publications.
In 1998 a Jehovah's Witness lost a law suit against a government school for wrongful dismissal for refusing to sing the national anthem or salute the flag. In March 1999, the Court of Appeals denied his appeal. In 2000, public secondary schools indefinitely suspended at least fifteen Jehovah's Witness students for refusing to sing the national anthem or participate in the flag ceremony. In April 2001, one public school teacher, also a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, resigned after being threatened with dismissal for refusing to participate in singing the national anthem.
Singapore authorities have seized Jehovah's Witnesses' literature on various occasions from individuals attempting to cross the Malaysia-Singapore border. In thirteen cases, authorities warned the Jehovah's Witnesses, but did not press charges.
As of 2008, there were 23 members of Jehovah's Witnesses incarcerated in the armed forces detention barracks for refusal to carry out mandatory military service. The initial sentence for failure to comply is 15 months' imprisonment, with an additional 24 months for a second refusal. All of the Jehovah's Witnesses in detention were incarcerated for failing to perform their initial military obligations and expect to serve a total of 39 months. Failure to perform annual military reserve duty, which is required of all those who have completed their initial 2-year obligation, results in a 40-day sentence, with a 12-month sentence after four refusals. There is no alternative civilian service for Jehovah's witnesses.
In 2008–2009, the Singapore government declined to make data available to the public concerning arrests of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Soviet Union
Jehovah's Witnesses did not have a significant presence in the Soviet Union prior to 1939 when the Soviet Union forcibly incorporated eastern PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
, and Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, each of which had a Jehovah's Witness movement. Although never large in number (estimated by the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
to be 20,000 in 1968), the Jehovah's Witnesses became one of the most persecuted religious groups in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
during the post-World War II era. Members were arrested or deported; some were put in Soviet concentration camps
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
. Witnesses in Moldavian SSR
Moldavian SSR
The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic , commonly abbreviated to Moldavian SSR or MSSR, was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union...
were deported to Tomsk Oblast
Tomsk Oblast
Tomsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It lies in the southeastern West Siberian Plain, in the southwest of the Siberian Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Tomsk. Population:...
; members from other regions of the Soviet Union were deported to Irkutsk Oblast
Irkutsk Oblast
Irkutsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of Angara River, Lena, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska Rivers. The administrative center is the city of Irkutsk. Population: -History:...
. KGB officials, who were tasked with dissolving the Jehovah's Witness movement, were disturbed to discover that the Witnesses continued to practice their faith even within the labor camps.
The Minister of Internal Affairs, Viktor Semyonovich Abakumov proposed the deportation of the Jehovah's Witnesses to Stalin in October 1950. A resolution was voted by the Council of Minister and an order was issued by the Ministry for State Security
Ministry for State Security (USSR)
The Ministry of State Security was the name of Soviet secret police from 1946 to 1953.-Origins of the MGB:The MGB was just one of many incarnations of the Soviet State Security apparatus. Since the revolution, the Bolsheviks relied on a strong political police or security force to support and...
in March 1951. The Moldavian SSR
Moldavian SSR
The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic , commonly abbreviated to Moldavian SSR or MSSR, was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union...
passed a decree "on the confiscation and selling of the property of individuals banished from the territory of the Moldavian SSR", which included the Jehovah's Witnesses.
In April 1951, over 9,000 Jehovah's Witnesses were deported to Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
under a plan called "Operation North
Operation North
Operation North was the code name assigned by the USSR Ministry of State Security to massive deportation of the members of the Jehovah's Witnesses and their families to Siberia in the Soviet Union on 1–2 April 1951.-Background:...
".
Importation of Jehovah's Witnesses' literature into the Soviet Union was strictly forbidden, and Soviet Jehovah's Witnesses received their religious literature from Brooklyn illegally. Literature from Brooklyn arrived regularly, through well-organized unofficial channels, not only in many cities, but also in Siberia, and even in the penal camps of Potma. The Soviet government was so disturbed by the Jehovah's Witnesses that the KGB was authorized to send agents to infiltrate the Brooklyn headquarters.
In September 1965, a decree of the Presidium of the USSR Council of Ministers canceled the "special settlement" restriction of Jehovah's Witnesses, though the decree, signed by Anastas Mikoyan
Anastas Mikoyan
Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan was an Armenian Old Bolshevik and Soviet statesman during the rules of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, and Leonid Brezhnev....
, stated that there would be no compensation for confiscated property. However, Jehovah's Witnesses remained the subject of state persecution due to their ideology being classified as anti-Soviet.
Russian Federation
On December 8, 2009 the Supreme Court of Russia upheld the ruling of the lower courts which pronounced 34 pieces of Jehovah's Witness literature extremist, including their magazine The Watchtower, in the Russian language, and the book for children, My Book of Bible Stories. Jehovah's Witnesses claim that this ruling affirms a misapplication of the Federal Law on Counteracting Extremist Activity to Jehovah's Witnesses. The ruling upheld the confiscation of property of Jehovah's Witnesses in Taganrog (Rostov Region) in Russia, and might set a precedent for similar cases in other areas of Russia, as well as placing literature of Jehovah's Witnesses on a list of literature unacceptable throughout Russia. The Chairman of the Presiding Committee of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, Vasily Kalin, said: "I am very concerned that this decision will open a new era of opposition against Jehovah's Witnesses, whose right to meet in peace, to access religious literature and to share the Christian hope contained in the Gospels, is more and more limited." Kalin also stated, "When I was young I was sent to Siberia for being one of Jehovah's Witnesses and because my parents were reading The Watchtower, the same journal being unjustly declared 'extremist' in these proceedings."United States
During the 1930s and 1940s, some US states passed laws that made it illegal for Jehovah's Witnesses to distribute their literature, and children of Jehovah's Witnesses in some states were banned from attending state schools. Mob violence against Jehovah's Witnesses was not uncommon, and some were murdered for their beliefs. Those responsible for these attacks were seldom prosecuted.After a drawn-out litigation process in state courts and lower federal courts, lawyers for Jehovah's Witnesses convinced the Supreme Court to issue a series of landmark First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
rulings that confirmed their right to be excused from military service and the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance
Pledge of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is an expression of loyalty to the federal flag and the republic of the United States of America, originally composed by Christian Socialist Francis Bellamy in 1892 and formally adopted by Congress as the pledge in 1942...
.
The persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses for their refusal to salute the flag became known as the "Flag-Salute Cases". Their refusal to salute the flag became considered as a test of the liberties for which the flag stands, namely the freedom to worship according to the dictates of one's own conscience. It was found that the United States, by making the flag salute compulsory in Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940), was impinging upon the individual's right to worship as one chooses — a violation of the First Amendment Free Exercise Clause in the constitution. Justice Frankfurter, speaking in behalf of the 8-to-1 majority view against the Witnesses, stated that the interests of "inculcating patriotism was of sufficient importance to justify a relatively minor infringement on religious belief." The result of the ruling was a wave of persecution. Lillian Gobitas, the mother of the schoolchildren involved in the decision said, "It was like open season on Jehovah's Witnesses."
The American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
reported that by the end of 1940, "more than 1,500 Witnesses in the United States had been victimized in 335 separate attacks." Such attacks included beatings, being tarred and feathered, hanged, shot, maimed, and even castrated, as well as other acts of violence. As reports of these attacks against Jehovah's Witnesses continued, "several justices changed their minds, and in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943), the Court declared that the state could not impinge on the First Amendment by compelling the observance of rituals."
Additional reading
- Persecution and Resistance of Jehovah's Witnesses During the Nazi Regime Edited by Hans Hesse ISBN 3-86108-750-2
- Paul Johnson, A History of ChristianityA History of Christianity (Paul Johnson)A History of Christianity is a historical study of the Christian religion written by British journalist and author Paul Johnson. The book was published in 1976 and aims to be a factual comprehensive history of the Christian religion...
, ISBN 0-689-10728-5