Ο Γενικός Γραμματέας του ΠΣΕ Αιδεσ. Δρ Olaf Fykse Tveit εξέφρασε την ανησυχία του για τη μεθοδολογία και τα αποτελέσματα
της απογραφής στην Αλβανία το έτος 2011. Διατύπωσε ερωτηματικά σχετικά
με την αξιοπιστία της διαδικασίας, η οποία, όπως δήλωσε, έχει
επιπτώσεις στα δικαιώματα των θρησκευτικών μειονοτήτων και των
θρησκευτικών ελευθεριών που εξασφαλίζονται από το Σύνταγμα της χώρας. Ο Tveit εξέφρασε
αυτήν την ανησυχία σε επιστολή που απηύθυνε στις αρχές του Μαΐου προς
τον Πρόεδρο του ΠΣΕ Αρχιεπίσκοπο Τιράνων, Δυρραχίου και πάσης Αλβανίας
Αναστάσιο, Ορθόδοξο Προκαθήμενο της Αλβανίας,
Ύστερα από αυτά τα αποτελέσματα η Ορθόδοξη Εκκλησία της Αλβανίας
μοίρασε ερωτηματολόγιο αναφορικά με την απογραφή προς τα Ορθόδοξα
πληρώματα σε λειτουργίες στα Τίρανα, το Δυρράχιο, το Βεράτιο την
Κορυτσά, τον Αυλώνα και άλλες πόλεις. Τα αποτελέσματα αυτής της έρευνας
δείχνουν το ενδεχόμενο σοβαρών παραλείψεων στη μεθοδολογία και τα
τελικά αποτελέσματα των κυβερνητικών δεδομένων.
Ο Tveit υπενθύμισε
τον σπουδαίο ρόλο των θρησκευτικών κοινοτήτων στις συλλογικές
προσπάθειες για την ανασυγκρότηση της χώρας μετά από τις κακουχίες του
προηγουμένου καθεστώτος. Πρόσθεσε ότι παρόμοιες δράσεις μπορούν να
υπονομεύουν την ύπαρξη των χριστιανικών κοινοτήτων και την απρόσκοπτη
άσκηση της θρησκευτικής ελευθερίας στη χώρα.
Ο Tveit κάλεσε
την Αλβανική κυβέρνηση να ασκήσει κάθε δυνατή προσπάθεια, σύμφωνα με
την εθνική νομοθεσία και σε αρμονία με τα διεθνή πρότυπα και τους
κανόνες των ανθρωπίνων δικαιωμάτων, ώστε να διασφαλιστεί η πλήρης
προστασία και προαγωγή της θρησκευτικής ελευθερίας για τους
Χριστιανούς και τους οπαδούς όλων των θρησκειών.
Read full text of the WCC general secretary’s letter
____________________________________________________
Letter of concern at the Albania Census 2011
The
World Council of Churches would like to express its concern on the
methodology followed and on the reliability of the results of the 2011
Census in Albania, regarding the optional question of religious
affiliation. The latest official report of INSTAT, regarding the
religious identity of the population, from the 2011 Census declares that
Orthodox Christians in Albania are 6.75% and that the overall number of
Christians has been drastically reduced from 31% to 17%.
Mr Heiner Bielefeldt
Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
United Nations Human Rights Council
Your Excellency,
Kindly accept my cordial greetings!
The World Council of Churches would like to express its concern on
the methodology followed and on the reliability of the results of the
2011 Census in Albania, regarding the optional question of religious
affiliation. The latest official report of INSTAT, regarding the
religious identity of the population, from the 2011 Census declares that
Orthodox Christians in Albania are 6.75% and that the overall number of
Christians has been drastically reduced from 31% to 17%.
The restoration of religious life in all the traditional religious
communities and especially the flourishing of the Orthodox Autocephalous
Church of Albania, in the years since the coming of democracy in 1991,
after the long antireligious persecution, are quite evident throughout
the country. The Orthodox Church possesses evidence (baptismal
registers, from both before and after the persecution, and the registers
of 460 Orthodox parishes throughout the country) that the number of
Orthodox Christians in Albania exceeds 24% of the population.
Following the results of the Census, the Orthodox Church of Albania
distributed a questionnaire regarding the Census to Orthodox
participants at liturgies held on two Sundays, December 9 and 16, 2012
in Tirana, Durrës, Berat, Korçë, Vlorë, and other cities. The results
were disturbing: 7,118 persons completed the questionnaire which
included their first and last names and their address. Of these only
2,469 persons or 34.68% declared that they were visited and questioned
regarding their religious affiliation during the Census; 4,643 persons
or 65.23% were not visited or when visited were not asked about their
religious affiliation by registrars of the Census; 56 persons declared
that the registrars wrote information in pencil or not in the official
form and an additional eleven persons testified that the registrars
refused to record religious affiliation or did so only under significant
pressure. Moreover they received testimonies that in a large number of
cases citizens were not asked to sign the Census form and that
information was written in a notebook rather than on the official form
as procedure required. The results of this questionnaire show that in
65% of the cases there were irregularities in the Census taken with
regard to religious affiliation.
It is worth mentioning that according to the Council of Europe
(“Third Opinion of the Council of Europe on Albania adopted
23.11.2011,”) the population census “cannot be considered to be reliable
and accurate, raises issues of compatibility with the principles
enshrined in Article 3 of the Framework Convention for the protection of
national minorities…’.
The Constitution of Albania guarantees freedom of religion or belief.
Article 3 charges the state with ensuring religious coexistence.
Article 20 restates protection for minority religious rights and
freedoms. Furthermore, Albania is a signatory to international human
rights instruments guarantying freedom of religion or belief.
Having
full confidence in your work for the respect, protection and promotion
of freedom of religion or belief around the world, we urge you, Prof. Dr
Bielefeld, to use your good offices to ensure that freedom of religion
or belief for all citizens of Albania, is fully respected.
Sincerely yours,
Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit
WCC general secretary
Similar
letters were sent to the WCC president Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana
and Durres, Orthodox primate of Albania and Filloreta Kodra, Albanian
ambassador to the United Nations.
http://www.orthodoxalbania.org
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