A/HRC/40/CRP.3 spray. Two participants and one journalist received injuries. Instead of isolating perpetrators police asked organizers to stop the event and forced the participants into a nearby subway station. Authorities did not launch an investigation into the disruption of the peaceful event and attacks against the participants. 105 OHCHR notes that such attacks could amount to a form of gender-based discrimination against LGBTQI people. 87. In territory controlled by ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ and ‘Luhansk people’s republic’, OHCHR did not observe any developments with regard to peaceful assembly. In territory controlled by ‘Luhansk people’s republic’, a ‘decree’ remains ‘in force’, according to which organizers of peaceful assemblies are required to seek prior approval of the ‘ministry of state security’ or the ‘ministry of the interior’. 106 C. Freedom of religion or belief 88. OHCHR continued to monitor developments related to granting autocephaly to the newly established church – the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. On 15 December 2018, members of the Unification Council of the Orthodox Churches of Ukraine formally agreed to create the new church and chose its leader. OHCHR documented incidents that could be perceived as acts of intimidation against members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. 89. During the reporting period, the SBU in several regions of Ukraine initiated four criminal investigations into incitement to religious enmity and hatred; one of these cases has an additional charge of high treason, without issuing notices of suspicion. 107 The SBU conducted searches in the premises of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and places of residence of clergymen, questioning some of them. 108 90. On 20 December 2018, the Parliament of Ukraine launched a process of mandatory renaming of religious organizations that are affiliated with religious centers in the Russian Federation. OHCHR is concerned that this process is primarily targeting Ukrainian Orthodox Church communities and may be discriminatory. 109 OHCHR is also concerned that the Parliament warranted restrictions on access of the clergymen of such organizations to the premises of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the basis of national security considerations, which contravenes article 18(3) of the ICCPR. 110 91. Following the establishment of the new church, a number of religious communities decided to join. OHCHR received reports that in a few cases the transfers were not voluntary and were initiated by state or local authorities or even representatives of extreme right-wing groups, who were not members of those religious communities. 111 Furthermore, 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 OHCHR interviews, 15 January 2019. See OHCHR report on human rights situation in Ukraine, 16 May - 15 August 2018, para. 100. OHCHR interview, 17 January 2019. The police launched criminal investigations in Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Rivne regions. OHCHR interview, 17 January 2019. According to law no. 2662-VIII of 20 December 2018, a religious organization that is affiliated with a foreign religious organization, the governing centre of which is located in a country, recognized as an “aggressor state”, should include this affiliation in its name, or risk ceasing its operations. On 18 January 2018, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the law “On the peculiarities of the state policy to ensure the state sovereignty of Ukraine in temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” which recognizes the Russian Federation as an aggressor state. President Poroshenko signed the law on 20 February 2018. Human Rights Committee in para. 8 of its general comment No. 22 (1993) emphasized that Article 18(3) of the ICCPR permits restrictions on the freedom to manifest religion or belief only if limitations are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others. This paragraph is to be strictly interpreted: restrictions are not allowed on grounds not specified there, even if they would be allowed as restrictions to other rights protected in the ICCPR, such as national security. OHCHR interview, 25 February 2019. 23