[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 31 (Thursday, March 19, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2242-S2243]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RELIGIOUS PRISONERS CONGRESSIONAL TASK FORCE
Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I take this opportunity to introduce to
the Senate and to the United States the formation of the Religious
Prisoners Congressional Task Force, which will advocate for religious
prisoners suffering persecution from foreign governments.
This bicameral, bipartisan task force was founded by Representative
Joe Pitts, from Pennsylvania, who has been the leading force on this,
and myself. We are also joined by Senator Joe Lieberman, from
Connecticut, and Representative Tony Hall, from Ohio, on this joint
task force. I would also note at the very outset that many Members are
active in this work and have been for a number of years, such Members
as Frank Wolf, from Virginia, who for years has advocated for those who
have no voice, who are prisoners of conscience in dirty cells and jails
around the world; people like Senator Lugar in this body, who has done
so quietly and effectively with many leaders of Government as have
other leaders as well. And there are many ongoing efforts along with
this task force we are announcing here today.
As leaders in a nation which ardently values religious freedom--
indeed, our Nation was founded upon the principle of religious
freedom--we take this opportunity to intervene at the highest levels
for those whose greatest crime is to express a belief in the divine, in
God. It is my personal conviction that what one does with one's own
soul is the most fundamental of human rights. I believe this is a
fundamental liberty with which people throughout the world are endowed,
the inherent right to do this, to freely express their faith. Yet
national governments routinely breach this right and wrongfully silence
peaceful minority faith communities and jail their leaders.
The statistics are striking. Fully one-half of the world's religious
believers are restrained by oppressive governments from freely
expressing their religious convictions. One-third to one-half of the
world's believers are forced to meet clandestinely in underground cell
groups or home churches, such as occurs frequently in China and Iran
and many other places around the world.
Religious persecution is waged internationally from the highest
levels of government, particularly Communist and ultranationalist
countries. One successful strategy is to intimidate and control
believing communities by incarcerating respected religious leaders,
bringing the full weight of a national government against key
individuals. These prisoners suffer abuses including beatings, torture,
extended incarceration and even death unless intervention is made. Such
violations strike at
[[Page S2243]]
the heart of the religious communities while blatantly breaching
international treaties and fundamental human rights standards. We have
the legal mandate for this action.
Through this task force, we will appeal to heads of state, both to
obtain release of key religious prisoners and to help change
antagonistic policies. Individual prisoners will be assigned to
individual task force members through this advocacy adoption program.
When congressional Members petition Government leaders, the lives of
religious prisoners change. Experienced human rights groups confirm
this as well as some of our task force members such as Tony Hall and
Joe Pitts, who confirm that such intervention improves prison
conditions, stops torture and, most importantly, results in prisoner
releases.
Ultimately, the joint effort of several Members can influence hostile
national policies for the good. Moreover, task force members will
engage in joint protests with members from the British Parliament who
have implemented a similar prisoner adoption program, providing further
weight to this advocacy.
As I speak to you today, thousands are sitting in cramped and dirty
cells, for no other reason than that they peacefully expressed their
religious beliefs. Most are nameless and lack advocates, yet they are
the Sakharovs and the Solzhenitsyns of our day, and they deserve our
help.
The national cases that we will advocate involve advocacy for
embattled religious leaders in the Sudan, Pakistan, China, Iran, and
Tibet and include persecuted Christians, Tibetan Buddhists and Bahais.
The following case profiles of incarcerated believers worldwide
illustrate the extremities faced by these communities.
In China, one of the people we will initially be advocating for is
Bishop Su. He is a 65-year-old Catholic bishop who has already spent 20
years--20 years--in jails and work camps. His crime is that he believed
in papal authority, which is prohibited by the Government, and refuses
to join the state-authorized Catholic Church, which rejects the
Vatican. Previously he was severely tortured but continues to refuse to
recant his faith.
Also in China, Pastor Peter Xu, the Protestant leader of a 3- to 4-
million member Christian movement, has been sentenced to 3 years in a
forced labor camp for his peaceful but unofficial religious activities.
His case highlights the plight of unregistered Christian groups which
are forced to meet clandestinely to avoid arrest and harassment. Such
house churches remain unregistered so that they can freely practice
their faith without Government control and censorship. These
underground movements constitute a majority of practicing Christians in
China, and their leaders constantly face arrest and incarceration.
In Iran, the task force has targeted four Bahais leaders who have
been sentenced to death for the simple reason of their religious
associations. They are presently incarcerated and awaiting execution.
The death sentence is no idle threat. Over 200 Bahais have been
executed, including women and teenage girls. And this just since 1979.
In Pakistan, four Christians have been falsely charged with blasphemy
against the Prophet Muhammed. If convicted, they will be executed.
Blasphemy charges are potent weapons of intimidation and control of
minority Christian communities in Pakistan. Sometimes violence erupts
against entire towns. For example, last year in Shantinagar, a
Christian town--we have a picture of this that I would like to show the
body--20,000 were rendered homeless after a mob looted and ravaged for
2 days as police stood by and watched.
This is a picture here that we have of a family in that community
that was dislocated when the mob violence came and the police stood
idly by.
In Tibet, the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet, a 6-year old boy, has
``disappeared'' and most likely is being held by the Chinese Government
along with his family, in an attempt to control the Tibetan Buddhists.
This is a deep assault on the Buddhist faith which honors this figure
as second only to the Dalai Lama, who is now also outlawed. Tibetan
Buddhists are suffering a systematic policy of eradication with
monasteries being razed and monks and nuns incarcerated. One prison
alone boasts over 100 monks and nuns who are presently jailed just for
their faith. This does not include the unknown numbers incarcerated in
the other six prisons.
I want to show some pictures to the body of people who have been
incarcerated, penalized, and attacked by governments for simply
practicing their faith. We remember those people pictured in various
places throughout the world that you can see, pictures of individuals
who are being persecuted for their faith.
This is another picture of people who are practicing their faith
clandestinely at a place in the world where they cannot practice their
faith in the open.
The gentleman's picture over here to the far right is also a true
case of an individual blindfolded and being attacked for his own faith.
Even though he is blindfolded and you cannot see his eyes, you can
sense in his face that here is a man of faith who knows what he is
facing, knowing that death is potential, and still standing for his
faith, for that simple right to do with his own soul what he sees fit.
Isn't it right for us to advocate for those who cannot advocate for
themselves? Isn't it up to this body and many others to say that this
is a fundamental human right, that this man should have an advocate,
that we should be standing with him as he stands there for the simple
reason of his own faith, whatever that faith might be? This is a
foundational human right. It is time we stood up, stepped forward and
spoke out around the world to the world's governments where half of the
people live who cannot practice their faith freely. This is the time
for us to do that. I hate to think that we will not step up or we will
not be up to the cause of the moment, people such as this gentleman,
who stands and faces so much more.
Mr. President, in conclusion, we hope that the Religious Prisoners
Congressional Task Force, along with many other efforts, will be a
voice for religious freedom internationally. Our goal is the release of
prisoners who have taken a stand for religious liberty, those who have
paid the high price of loss of freedom and threat to life and even
death. They deserve our advocacy for this most personal of human
rights, this most important of human rights, to freely express a belief
in God.
With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
I note the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________