United Nations Experts Raise Concerns on Estonia: JPTi Welcomes the Statement and Publishes Briefing Note on Orthodox Religious Freedom in Estonia and Ukraine
- JPTi
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
On 15 December 2025, United Nations Special Procedures mandate holders issued a public press release expressing concern about escalating legislative and administrative measures affecting the Estonian Orthodox Christian Church. The experts recalled that national security is not a permissible ground for restricting freedom of religion or belief and called for a halt to further administrative and judicial measures pending the outcome of constitutional review before the Supreme Court of Estonia.
Full text of the UN Press Release: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/12/un-experts-concerned-escalating-legislative-and-administrative-measures
Justice pour Tous Internationale (JPTi) welcomes and commends this statement and respectfully thanks the United Nations Special Procedures mandate holders for their principled and independent engagement, including Mr George Katrougalos, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, Ms Nazila Ghanea, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, and Mr Nicolas Levrat, Special Rapporteur on minority issues.
In 2025, this public statement followed a long and sustained path of engagement by JPTi, including repeated submissions and follow-up communications within United Nations mechanisms, complemented by interventions within the OSCE human dimension framework and related constitutional and accountability-oriented advocacy. These efforts were undertaken to ensure that the situation affecting the Estonian Orthodox Christian Church was properly documented, legally framed, and placed under appropriate multilateral scrutiny, in line with applicable international human rights standards.
On this basis, JPTi is publishing on its website a new briefing note entitled “Defending Orthodox Religious Freedom in 2025: JPTi’s United Nations, OSCE, and Constitutional Engagement in Estonia and Ukraine.” The briefing note sets out JPTi’s work during 2025 on both the Estonia and Ukraine tracks and situates recent developments within the framework of international human rights law, including Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The briefing note is available here in both English and Russian:
