[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 139 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 139

Condemning violence against religious minorities in the Middle East and 
  any actions that limit the free expression and practice of faith by 
                           these minorities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 3, 2015

  Mrs. Black (for herself, Mr. Pearce, Mr. Latta, Mr. Huelskamp, Mrs. 
Walorski, Mrs. Ellmers of North Carolina, Mr. Neugebauer, Mrs. Wagner, 
   Mrs. McMorris Rodgers, and Mrs. Hartzler) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Condemning violence against religious minorities in the Middle East and 
  any actions that limit the free expression and practice of faith by 
                           these minorities.

Whereas international law recognizes the right to religious liberty and the 
        right to worship and manifest one's faith of choice freely without fear 
        of discrimination;
Whereas Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that 
        ``everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; 
        this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and 
        freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or 
        private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, 
        worship and observance'';
Whereas the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 
        states that ``everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, 
        conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to 
        adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either 
        individually or in community with others and in public or private, to 
        manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and 
        teaching . . . [and] no one shall be subject to coercion which would 
        impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his 
        choice'';
Whereas the Pew Research Center found that as of 2012 nearly a quarter of the 
        world's nations and territories have anti-blasphemy laws or policies, 
        and laws restricting blasphemy and apostasy are most common in the 
        Middle East and North Africa, where 14 of 20 countries criminalize 
        blasphemy and apostasy;
Whereas the rights and safety of religious minorities in the Middle East have 
        increasingly come under attack over the last several years as a result 
        of violence and instability throughout the region, with many religious 
        minorities being singled out and specifically targeted because of their 
        faiths;
Whereas more than 2 million people have been internally displaced in Iraq or 
        have become refugees in third party countries due to sectarian fighting 
        or targeting by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), also known 
        as the Islamic State (IS) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant 
        (ISIL);
Whereas, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC), at 
        least 469,000 people were displaced in June and July 2014 alone after 
        ISIS took control of Iraq's second city of Mosul and fighting spread 
        across Ninewa and the governorates of Salah al Din, Diyala and Kirkuk, 
        as well as other cities in Anbar governorate;
Whereas ISIS has brutally massacred, murdered, and enslaved thousands of 
        Christians, Shiites, Yazidis, Druze, Shabaks, Mandeans, and other 
        religious minority groups that do not conform to its radical ideology, 
        including reportedly kidnapping more than 100 Assyrian Christians in 
        northeastern Syria;
Whereas the Syrian Civil War, which has resulted in an estimated 6,500,000 
        people being internally displaced, and more than 3,800,000 million 
        registered refugees and tens of thousands more unregistered, has led to 
        widespread sectarian violence committed by the Assad regime, ISIS, and 
        other extremist and terrorist groups, and reports of religious cleansing 
        and escalating attacks against Christian minorities;
Whereas a 2014 United Nations report found that the Iranian government continues 
        to arrest and imprison Christians, Baha'is, Zoroastrians, and other 
        religious minorities simply because of their faith, including pastor 
        Saeed Abedini, an American citizen who was imprisoned in 2012 for 
        alleged crimes related to his Christian faith;
Whereas Coptic Christians have been targeted and violently attacked for their 
        beliefs by groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, including a 
        four-day series of attacks in August 2013 that destroyed 38 Coptic 
        churches, 58 Coptic-owned houses, and 85 Coptic businesses, and by ISIS, 
        which kidnapped and viciously murdered 21 Copts in Libya in February 
        2015;
Whereas Congress unanimously passed the International Religious Freedom Act in 
        1998, making it the official policy of the United States ``to condemn 
        violations of religious freedom, and to promote, and to assist other 
        governments in the promotion of, the fundamental right to freedom of 
        religion'' and to ``[stand] for liberty and [stand] with the persecuted, 
        to use and implement appropriate tools in the United States foreign 
        policy apparatus, including diplomatic, political, commercial, 
        charitable, educational, and cultural channels, to promote respect for 
        religious freedom by all governments and peoples''; and
Whereas the United States must show strong international leadership when it 
        comes to the advancement of religious freedoms, liberties, and 
        protections: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) strongly condemns violence against religious minorities 
        in the Middle East and any actions that limit the free 
        expression and practice of faith by these minorities;
            (2) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to 
        promoting religious freedom and tolerance around the world and 
        helping to provide protection and relief to religious 
        minorities facing persecution and violence;
            (3) calls on the governments of the Middle East to uphold 
        the internationally recognized human right to freedom from 
        religious persecution and to end all forms of violence and 
        discrimination against religious minorities; and
            (4) urges the Obama Administration to appoint a Special 
        Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in 
        the Near East and South Central Asia, as Congress called for in 
        the Near East and South Central Asia Religious Freedom Act of 
        2014 (Public Law 113-161).
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