[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 65 (Wednesday, May 20, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5240-S5241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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        RELIGIOUS GROUPS CHALLENGE GROWING INTOLERANCE IN EUROPE

 Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I rise today to comment on an 
issue that concerns many Americans, religious intolerance in Europe. As 
Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, I 
chaired a hearing on September 18, 1997, on ``Religious Intolerance in 
Europe Today.'' We heard compelling testimony on the rise of religious 
intolerance in Europe from representatives of the Muslim and Jewish 
faiths, Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, an evangelical 
Protestant church, the Church of the Latter Day Saints, Jehovah's 
Witness, and the Church of Scientology.

[[Page S5241]]

  The testimony indicated the following:
  Muslims in Europe have been subjected to genocide, mass killings, 
forced migration and torture, including rape, in the former Yugoslavia; 
harassment, including police brutality and attacks and other hate 
crimes by extremist groups against Muslims have been reported 
throughout Europe, particularly in Germany, France and the United 
Kingdom; Muslims have been denied permits to build or repair mosques in 
the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and elsewhere in Europe; Muslim women are 
frequently the subject of attacks, discrimination and other forms of 
abuse and harassment because they choose to wear a head covering;
  Struggling Jewish communities in Eastern Europe are often made the 
scapegoats for the pain of the transition from centrally planned 
economies to market capitalism; the desecration of Jewish cemeteries 
and memorials has been on the rise; and anti-Semitic publications, such 
as The Protocols of Zion, and neo-Nazi computer games have received 
wider distribution accompanied by the rise of skinhead gangs and 
hatemongers throughout Europe;
  The Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate has been subject to 
recurring acts of violence, and faces serious obstacles imposed by the 
Government of Turkey, including the closing of the Theological School 
of Halki, which have a detrimental impact on the activities of the 
Patriarchate and Orthodox believers in Turkey;
  Catholic believers face harassment and violence in parts of Bosnia-
Herzegovina and Croatia as well as Northern Ireland, and they face 
serious impediments to the practice of their faith elsewhere in Europe, 
including in Belarus, Russia, Greece, Turkey, and Romania;
  Some evangelical and charismatic Christian churches have been denied 
registration by the Governments of Bulgaria, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, 
and Greece and have been harassed, as well as have reportedly had 
religious materials confiscated; at least one charismatic church in 
Germany has come under intense scrutiny by the local officials and the 
German Bundestag's Commission of Inquiry on So-called Sects and Psycho-
Groups, faced other forms of harassment, and been the target of 
vandalism and threats of violence;
  Jehovah's Witnesses have been denied registration in a number of OSCE 
participating States, including Armenia, Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, and 
Latvia; have been subjected to various forms of harassment, including 
the prohibition on importation of religious literature and denial of 
the freedom to assemble for worship services; France's Parliamentary 
Commission on Sects has categorized Jehovah's Witnesses as a ``criminal 
sect'' for its prohibition against blood transfusions; Germany's 
Federal Administrative Court has denied legal status to the Jehovah's 
Witnesses;
  Mormons have been subjected to continued acts of harassment, 
including confiscation of religious materials, and assault, in 
Bulgaria; and are prevented from freely sharing their beliefs in 
several OSCE participating States, including Greece and Turkey; and
  Scientologists, including U.S. citizens, have been subjected to 
pervasive civil, political and economic discrimination, harassment, 
surveillance, and orchestrated boycotts in Germany.
  In the months following this hearing, the Helsinki Commission has 
noted a chilling effect on religious liberty from actions taken by 
national parliaments. A law passed on December 10, 1997 by the Austrian 
Parliament requires that a religious group prove a 20-year existence, 
have a creed distinct from previously registered groups, and have a 
membership of at least 0.02% of the population or 16,000 members before 
they are granted full rights under law. Concerns over this law were 
raised in Vienna by a Helsinki Commission delegation this past January. 
A similar law was passed in 1997 in Macedonia. In January 1998, a 
Helsinki Commission delegation, lead by Co-Chairman Christopher Smith, 
traveled to Moscow to discuss concerns with the 1997 Russian religion 
law with Russian government officials, minority religious groups, and 
the Russian Orthodox Church.
  Some governments have passed laws creating government information 
centers to alert the public to ``dangerous'' groups. The Austrian and 
Belgian governments have set up hotlines for the public and, through 
government sponsored advisory centers, distribute information on groups 
deemed ``dangerous.'' In official Austrian literature, Jehovah's 
Witnesses are labeled ``dangerous'' and members of this group report 
that the stigma associated with this government label is difficult to 
overcome in Austrian society. These information centers directly 
violate the commitments that Austria and Belgium have made as 
participating States of the OSCE to ``foster a climate of mutual 
tolerance and respect,'' in paragraph 16 of the Vienna Concluding 
Document, and represent excessive governmental intrusion into the 
public discussion on religious matters.

  Several western European Parliaments have or are currently 
investigating and reporting on the activities of minority religious 
groups. These parliamentary investigations have also had a chilling 
effect on religious liberty and appear to cause a public backlash 
against groups being investigated or labeled ``dangerous.'' For 
instance, the German Parliament is currently conducting its 
investigation into ``dangerous sects'' and ``psycho-groups'' and issued 
an interim report in January 1998. At the Helsinki Commission's 
September 18 hearing, at least one independent evangelical church 
reported a direct correlation between the harassment, vandalism and 
threats of violence they experience and the investigation by the German 
Parliament's commission. The French Parliament's report contained a 
list of ``dangerous'' groups in order to warn the public against them 
and the Belgian Parliament's report had an informal appendix which was 
widely circulated, which included allegations against many mainline 
Catholic groups, Quakers, Hasidic Jews, Buddhists, and the YWCA 
(although not the YMCA).
  On Wednesday, May 20, 1998, a coalition of religious groups, 
including Hasidic Jews, Hindu, Bahia, Seventh Day Adventist, 
evangelical Protestant and charismatic Catholic communities, Plan to 
hold a press conference in Brussels to announce that they are about to 
launch a court challenge to the Belgian Parliamentary Report and the 
Belgian Government's Advice and Information Center. The premise of the 
legal challenge is that these actions by the Belgian government violate 
Belgium's international commitments to religious liberty. I am pleased 
to see these and other groups such as Human Rights Without Frontiers 
standing up for this fundamental freedom, and acting to highlight and 
challenge the actions by European governments that violate the Helsinki 
Accords and other international commitments on religious liberty.
  Mr. President, the recent action by the House adopting the Freedom 
From Religious Persecution Act, and pending consideration of that bill 
and parallel measures in the Senate, clearly show that this issue is 
one that concerns Americans. Many Americans have family or friends who 
are citizens in countries that have solemnly promised to protect 
religious liberty, but then restrict it or deny it. Many Americans, 
through their own religious affiliations, make donations to support the 
work of their denominations outside this country, or take part in that 
work themselves as a personal expression of their beliefs. Actions 
taken by foreign governments that have promised to protect religious 
liberty and then violate these promises can and do directly affect 
American citizens during their travels for business or pleasure, when 
they support the overseas religious efforts of their faiths by 
donations or personal participation, or through negative effects on 
their relatives and friends who reside in these countries.
  Accordingly, I call upon my colleagues to remain vigilant on this 
subject, and assure them and all Americans that the Commission will 
remain active and engaged as we seek to document violations and protect 
the rights of affected persons.

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