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Recognition of religion or belief in Kosovo

According to the standards set out in the SRR, conditions for RoRB in the Republic of Kosovo are classified ambiguous-restrictive.

Recognition of religion or belief in Kosovo

Overview:


  • There doesn’t exist an official recognition system for belief systems, religious communities or otherwise in Kosovo which maintains a hegemony for the five “traditional” religions.

  • Islam, Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC), Catholic Church, Judaism and Eastern Protestantism possess some degree of existential recognition as the five “traditional” religions; however, this demonstrates how recognition is used to exclude non-traditional religions and communities.

  • The five traditional religions and organisations associated with them receive benefits not granted to other “non-traditional” religions and their associated organisations which demonstrates partial recognition.

  • There are few provisions for the legal protection of groups other than the five “traditional” ones which shows deep unstructure exists that ultimately allows for the misuse of recognition.


Positive elements:


  • An ombudsperson office has been established to monitor and investigate human rights abuse cases.


Recommendations:


  • Establish a recognition system that in the country that has the capacity to both existentially recognise and legally register all religious and belief groups simultaneously and at multiple levels of activity (from belief systems, to denominations, to single religious buildings).

  • Tighten up or remove subjective language from the legislation that is vulnerable to misuse by authorities as a means of inhibiting religious activity, especially by non-traditional groups.

RoRB Topic
RoRB Compliance
RoRB Classification
Title
Country or territory
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