A number of nongovernmental organizations called upon the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia and the Governor of the region to review the law whereby the Bases of the Orthodox Culture and Ethics is included as a school subject. They say that this law was adopted in a hurry, the people were not appropriately informed and the transparency of the process wasn’t ensured, Info-Prim Neo reports.
The law on the teaching of the Bases of the Orthodox Culture and Ethic was passed by the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia on April 13. “We consider that when this law was drafted and adopted, the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia did not ensure the required transparency and information degree, as stipulated by the legislation of Moldova,” Mihail Sirkeli, executive director of the Youth Center “Piligrim-Demo”, said in a news conference on April 18.
“The law was passed by a unanimous vote and I think it is rather pre-electoral in character. This way, the Gagauz administration tried to improve its rating. Most of the people in Gagauzia – about 85% - are Orthodox Christians, but there are also persons of other religions and atheists. We think that the rights of these persons are violated by this law,” said Mihail Sirkeli.
Evghenii Goloshcheapov, independent human rights expert and jurist, said that religion in schools should be taught with the aim of informing the students about all the religions of the world or about the denominations existing in Moldova, without giving priority to a certain religion. “This subject that is to be included in schools on September 1 should not be allowed or should be renamed “History of Religions” so as to respect the human rights,” he stated.
Sergiu Ostaf, executive director of the Resource Center for Human Rights, said that the NGOs call on the Bashkan of Gagauzia Mihail Formuzal not to promulgate this law and urge the People’s Assembly to review it. The NGOs are ready to provide support in drafting a bill that will meet the legislation of Moldova and will not violate the human rights. Sergiu Ostaf said that if the Gagauz administration does not react to there appeal, the decision will be appealed to court and the international organizations will be altered.
The appeal was signed by the Youth Center “Piligrim-Demo” of Gagauzia, the Public Policy Institute, the Resource Center for Human Rights, Transparency International – Moldova, the Institute for Human Rights of Moldova and other organizations.
