The basic human right of freedom of conscience may be under siege in Serbia, as the government is reportedly waiting for input from the Serbian Orthodox Church on a proposed new law detailing religious rights. A formerly public process is now shrouded in secrecy, religious leaders and human rights watchers say.

"At the moment there are no statements for the press and no information," Religion Minister Milan Radulovic told the Forum 18 News Service on May 12. "When the time comes, all will be informed."

Seventh-day Adventist leaders in Serbia are cautiously optimistic about the outcome of such discussions.

"The intention is to involve us in the process. The [Serbian] government is becoming more open to dialogue and better communication," said Pastor Miodrag Zivanovic, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Serbia. However, he acknowledged, "there are still not the processes which will give the equal status to the Adventist church in the area of ... involvement in the writing of the new legislation."

At the same time, cooperation and dialogue among religious communities is increasing, Zivanovic said. He also credited the influence of the European Union and the United States for advancing the progress of this legislation.

"There is visibly better communication among the denominational leaders [of the] Serbian Orthodox and Protestant [churches], as well as Islamic and Jewish organizations," he reported. "We look forward to the new legislation, which will secure better [working conditions for] the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Serbia, but moreover recognition of the [Adventist] church as a Christian [community]."

Forum 18 reports that the draft law "disappeared from public view in mid-March after the religion ministry suddenly cancelled the participation of invited guests from various religious communities" at a roundtable discussion organized jointly with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Council of Europe missions in Serbia. However, the news service reported that the meeting took place "behind closed doors" on March 17.

"The OSCE invited us to attend the roundtable, but the meeting was postponed," Dr. Zdravko Sordjan, general secretary of the Belgrade-based Centre for Tolerance and Inter-religious Relations (formerly the Association for Religious Freedoms), told Forum 18. "Later we learned that the meeting was held after all -- but without us. It is still not clear what happened." He told the news agency that his group had intended to contribute to improving the text of the draft law, holding several meetings to discuss the freedom of religious expression and the status of religious communities. "We wanted to communicate our findings to religion ministry officials."

Earlier this year Zivanovic said some progress had been made in gaining rights for so-called "new" religions under the draft legislation, while adding more needed to be done.

"We haven't measured it, but we reckon more than half our earlier objections have been resolved. The team working on this law has made a significant improvement since the beginning," Zivanovic told Forum 18 in a February 14 interview. But he said that although the Constitution and the draft law proclaim all religious communities as equal, in some articles and official regulations "the state is making a rift between the seven 'traditional' religious organizations and the rest of us."

The problem is that those "traditional" or "historic" religious communities seem to gain special privileges under the new law, despite constitutional assurances. The seven religious organizations recognized as "traditional" are the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, the Islamic Faith Community, the Jewish Religious Community, the Slovak Lutheran Church and also the Lutheran Church of Serbia, and the Hungarian Reformed Church. All were similarly recognized in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918-1941) with laws that regulated their position. Other religious communities which also had legal status at that time but without individual laws regulating their relations with the state -- such as the Baptists, Methodists and the Nazarene Christian Community -- are not considered "traditional" or "historical." The Adventist Church also had legal status in the 1918 to 1941 period.

Those religious groups lacking "traditional" status may suffer discrimination under Serbian law. A 2001 law exempting property owned by religious groups and used for worship services was limited, in late 2004, to the "traditional" religions. In the Northern province of Vojvodina, tax monies can be used to build or repair places of worship, but again only for the "traditional" faiths.

Different faith communities may or may not wish to accept such funds, but inequality before the law in one area can impact the work of churches in other areas of society. Taxing one church's property while leaving another's tax-free would also be a negative development.

Vidan Hadzi-Vidanovic, a researcher at the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, told Forum 18 the proposals on taxation of religious property are not in accordance "to European human rights standards. ... How it is possible that one constitutional right is here divided into two categories?"

In 2003, there were 10,000 Adventist Church members worshipping in over 180 congregations in Serbia. The Adventist message was first preached in Vojvodina, Serbia in 1890, and a church region was organized in 1907. [Editor: Miroslav Pujic for ANN/APD and Forum 18 News Service]