1.Congress finds the following:
(1)Seven Baha’i leaders in Iran have been
wrongfully imprisoned since 2008.
(2)In May 2010,
suspected terrorists attacked two mosques in Pakistan belonging to the
Ahmaddiya minority Muslim sect, killing at least 80 people. Ahmadis consider
themselves Muslim, but Pakistani law does not recognize them as such.
(3)Said Musa, an
Afghan Christian convert, was arrested in May 2010 on charges of apostasy, a
crime which can carry the death sentence, and was released in February 2011
only after sustained international pressure.
(4)On October 31,
2010, gunmen laid siege on Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad, Iraq
killing at least 52 police and worshipers, including two priests, making it the
worst massacre of Iraqi Christians since 2003.
(5)Iraq’s ancient and
once vibrant Christian population that numbered an estimated 1,500,000 out of a
total population in Iraq of 30,000,000 in 2003 has been reduced by at least one
half, due in significant part to Christians fleeing the violence.
(6)In November 2010,
a Pakistani court sentenced Aasia Bibi, a Christian mother of five, to death
under the country’s blashphemy law for insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
(7)On New Year’s Eve
2010, 23 people were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a Coptic Christian
church in Alexandria, Egypt.
(8)On March 2, 2011, Pakistani Federal
Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian member of the Cabinet,
who was outspoken in his opposition to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws was
assassinated by extremists.
(9)The Department of
State’s 2010 International Religious Freedom Report stated that many religious
minority groups in Uzbekistan faced heavy fines and/or short jail terms
for violations of restrictive religion laws
.
(10)The Special Envoy
for Anti-Semitism, Hannah Rosenthal, has noted that Holocaust glorification
is especially virulent in the Middle East media
.
(11)A number of
countries in the Middle East have recently undergone popular revolutions which
in some countries have left security vacuums making religious minorities
especially vulnerable to violent attacks, such as—
(A)in March 2011, the
Shahedin Church in Helwan province, Egypt, was torched, leading to protests
which spurred sectarian clashes in the streets of Cairo;
(B)on March 20, 2011,
a group of Salafists in Upper Egypt cut off a Christian man’s ear and burned
his home and car; and
(C)news reports from
April 2011 indicate that Salafi organizations in Egypt have been implicated in
the destruction of Sufi shrines across the country fueling violent
conflict.
(12)Many of these
ancient faith communities are being forced to flee the lands which they have
inhabited for centuries.
(13)The United States
Commission on International Religious Freedom has recommended that Iran, Iraq,
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan be designated by the
Department of State as Countries of Particular Concern in accordance with the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.
(14)The situation on
the ground in the region continues to develop rapidly and the United States
Government needs an individual who can respond in kind and focus on the
critical situation of religious minorities in these countries.
2.Special Envoy to
Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South
Central Asia
(a)The President shall appoint a Special Envoy
to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South
Central Asia (in this Act referred to as the Special Envoy
)
within the Department of State.
(b)The Special Envoy should be a person of
recognized distinction in the field of human rights and religious freedom and
with expertise in the Near East and South Central Asia regions. The Special
Envoy shall have the rank of ambassador and shall hold the office at the
pleasure of the President.
(c)The
person appointed as Special Envoy may not hold any other position of Federal
employment for the period of time during which the person holds the position of
Special Envoy.
3.
(a)The Special Envoy
shall carry out the following duties:
(1)Promote the right
of religious freedom of religious minorities in the countries of the Near East
and the countries of South Central Asia, denounce the violation of such right,
and recommend appropriate responses by the United States Government when such
right is violated.
(2)Monitor and combat acts of religious
intolerance and incitement targeted against religious minorities in the
countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia.
(3)Work to ensure that the unique needs of
religious minority communities in the countries of the Near East and the
countries of South Central Asia are addressed, including the economic and
security needs of such communities to the extent that such needs are directly
tied to religious-based discrimination and persecution.
(4)Work with foreign governments of the
countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia to address
laws that are inherently discriminatory toward religious minority communities
in such countries.
(5)Coordinate and
assist in the preparation of that portion of the report required by sections
116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)
and 2304(b)) relating to the nature and extent of religious freedom of
religious minorities in the countries of the Near East and the countries of
South Central Asia.
(6)Coordinate and
assist in the preparation of that portion of the report required by section
102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6412(b))
relating to the nature and extent of religious freedom of religious minorities
in the countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central
Asia.
(b)In carrying out the duties under subsection
(a), the Special Envoy shall, to the maximum extent practicable, coordinate
with the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration of the Department of
State, the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, the United
States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and other relevant
Federal agencies and officials.
4.Diplomatic
representationSubject to the
direction of the President and the Secretary of State, the Special Envoy is
authorized to represent the United States in matters and cases relevant to
religious freedom in the countries of the Near East and the countries of South
Central Asia in—
(1)contacts with
foreign governments, intergovernmental organizations, and specialized agencies
of the United Nations, the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe,
and other international organizations of which the United States is a member;
and
(2)multilateral
conferences and meetings relevant to religious freedom in the countries of the
Near East and the countries of South Central Asia.
5.Priority
countries and consultation
(a)In carrying out this Act, the Special Envoy shall give
priority to programs, projects, and activities for Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan,
and Pakistan.
(b)The Special Envoy shall consult with
domestic and international nongovernmental organizations and multilateral
organizations and institutions, as the Special Envoy considers appropriate to
fulfill the purposes of this Act.
6.
(a)Of the amounts made
available for Diplomatic and Consular Programs
for fiscal years
2011 through 2015, $1,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated for each such
fiscal year for the hiring of staff, for the conduct of investigations, and for
necessary travel to carry out the provisions of this Act.
(b)To offset the costs to
be incurred by the Department of State for the hiring of staff, for the conduct
of investigations, and for necessary travel to carry out the provisions of this
Act for fiscal years 2011 through 2015, the Secretary of State shall eliminate
such positions within the Department of State, unless otherwise authorized or
required by law, as the Secretary determines to be necessary to fully offset
such costs.
(c)No additional funds are authorized to be
appropriated for Diplomatic and Consular Programs
to carry out
this Act.
7.This Act shall cease to be effective
beginning on October 1, 2015.
Passed the House of
Representatives July 29, 2011.
Karen L. Haas,
Clerk.
January 23, 2012
Read the second time and placed on the
calendar