[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 230 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 230

     Expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to government 
         discrimination in Germany based on religion or belief.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 9, 1999

    Mr. Enzi (for himself and Ms. Landrieu) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
     Expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to government 
         discrimination in Germany based on religion or belief.

Whereas government discrimination in Germany against individuals and groups 
        based on religion or belief violates Germany's obligations under the 
        Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on 
        Civil and Political Rights, and the Helsinki Accords, which provide that 
        member states must ``recognize and respect the freedom of the individual 
        to profess and practice alone or in community with others, religion or 
        belief acting in accordance with the dictates of his own conscience'';
Whereas the 1993 through 1998 State Department Country Reports on Human Rights 
        Practices in Germany have disclosed acts of Federal, State, and local 
        government discrimination in Germany against members of minority 
        religious groups, including Charismatic Christians, Muslims, Jehovah's 
        Witnesses, and Scientologists;
Whereas State Department Human Rights Reports on Germany have also disclosed 
        acts of government discrimination against United States citizens because 
        of their religious beliefs;
Whereas State Department Human Rights Reports on Germany have disclosed 
        discrimination based on religion or belief in Germany in such forms as 
        exclusion from government employment and political parties; the use of 
        ``sect-filters'' (required declarations that a person or company is not 
        affiliated with a particular religious group) by government, businesses, 
        sports clubs, and other organizations; government-approved boycotts and 
        discrimination against businesses; and the prevention of artists from 
        performing or displaying their works;
Whereas United Nations reports have disclosed discrimination based on religion 
        or belief in Germany, and a 1997 report by the United Nations Special 
        Rapporteur for Religious Intolerance concluded that the Government of 
        Germany ``must implement a strategy to prevent intolerance in the field 
        of religion and belief'';
Whereas the 1998 report of the State Department's Advisory Committee on 
        Religious Freedom Abroad warned that unless the work of the German 
        Government's Parliamentary Inquiry Commission on ``so-called sects and 
        psycho-groups'', which investigated dozens of religious groups, 
        including Mormons and other minority Christian groups, ``focuses [its] 
        work on investigating illegal acts, [it] runs the risk of denying 
        individuals the right to freedom of religion or belief'', and the 
        Committee specifically reported that ``members of the Church of 
        Scientology and of a Christian charismatic church have been subject to 
        intense scrutiny by the Commission, and several members have suffered 
        harassment, discrimination, and threats of violence''; and
Whereas in 1997, a United States immigration judge granted a German woman asylum 
        in the United States, finding that she had a well-founded fear of 
        persecution based on her religious beliefs if she returned to Germany: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) urges the Government of Germany to uphold its 
        commitments to ``take effective measures to prevent and 
        eliminate discrimination against individuals or communities on 
        the grounds of religion or belief'' and ``foster a climate of 
        mutual tolerance and respect between believers of different 
        communities'', as required by the Organization on Security and 
        Cooperation in Europe's Vienna Concluding Document of 1989;
            (2) urges the Government of Germany to enter into a 
        constructive dialogue with minority groups subject to 
        government discrimination based on religion or belief;
            (3) continues to hold the Government of Germany responsible 
        for protecting the right of freedom of religion or belief of 
        United States citizens who are living, performing, doing 
        business, or traveling in Germany; and
            (4) calls upon the President to assert the concern of the 
        United States Government to the Government of Germany regarding 
        government discrimination in Germany based on religion or 
        belief.
                                 <all>