[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 42 (Wednesday, March 17, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E462-E463]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          GROWING RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE IN THE HEART OF EUROPE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 17, 1999

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, in the coming days the 
participating States of the Organization for Security and Cooperation 
in Europe (OSCE) will conduct in Vienna, Austria, a Supplementary 
Meeting on Freedom of Religion with the intent to discuss some of the 
key human rights concerns raised at the 1998 Human Dimension 
Implementation Meeting. The United States has a sincere interest in the 
deserved attention the OSCE is bringing to violations of religious 
liberty.
  As Chairman of the Helsinki Commission(which has the mandate to 
monitor compliance with the Helsinki Accords), I continue to be 
concerned with the growing evidence that religious intolerance is on 
the rise and violations of this precious freedom are cropping up among 
the stalwart participating States of the OSCE. This trend is especially 
noteworthy in Western Europe, in countries such as France and Belgium, 
where the parliaments, respectively, reports listing a variety of 
religious groups and institutions as ``dangerous sects.'' The French, 
Belgian, and Austrian Governments have also established governmental 
centers to advise citizens which religious groups meet government 
criteria as a bona fide religion. If I may, Mr. Speaker, I want to take 
a moment and share with my colleagues these alarming initiatives so 
that we may consider what these actions portend for all peoples of 
faith.
  The clearest and most comprehensive commitments on religious liberty 
found in any international instrument are enunciated in the OSCE 
documents. Non-interference in the affairs of religious communities is 
central to the OSCE understanding of religious liberty. The tendency of 
a number of European governments to establish themselves as the 
determiner of the rightness or wrongness of a particular belief is in 
direct contravention to this principle. In addition, OSCE States have 
committed to eliminating and preventing discrimination based on 
religious grounds in all field of civil, political, economic, social 
and cultural life. Other commitments include the freedom to profess and 
practice one's religion alone or in community, the freedom to meet with 
and exchange information with co-religionists regardless of frontiers, 
the freedom to freely present to others and discuss one's religious 
views, and the freedom to change one's religion.
  Over the past three years, the parliaments of France, Belgium, and 
Germany each established commissions to study ``dangerous sects and 
cults` that have contributed to the discrimination and harassment of 
targeted groups. For example, an investigative report undertaken by the 
French Parliament in 1996 contained a list of ``dangerous'' groups in 
order to warn the public against them. Suspect activities, according to 
the report, include ``recruitment'' through evangelistic outreach and 
distribution of tracts, activities clearly within the internationally 
recognized right to free expression. Similarly, the Belgian 
Parliament's 1997 report had a widely circulated informal appendix that 
listed 189 groups and included various allegations against many 
Protestant and Catholic groups, Quakers, Hasidic Jews, Buddhists, and 
the YWCA. In Belgium, the unofficial appendix appears to have gained 
significance in the eyes of some public officials who reportedly have 
denied access to publicly rented buildings for Seventh Day Adventists 
and Baha'i because they were listed in the appendix.
  Equally alarming, the French, Belgian, and Austrian Governments, as 
well as a number of state governments in Germany, have set up hotlines 
for the public and, through government-sponsored ``information 
centers'', distribute information on groups deemed by the government to 
be ``dangerous.'' Characterizations of religious beliefs by these 
government information centers and publication of unproven and 
potentially libelous materials have already caused problems for a 
number of minority religious groups. Such government action presumes 
that religious beliefs and spiritual convictions can be objectively 
analyzed by government bureaucrats in their consumer protection role. 
These information centers contradict the OSCE commitments to ``foster a 
climate of mutual tolerance and respect,'' and excessively entangle the 
government in the public discussion on the viability of particular 
religious beliefs.
  A few months ago, in October 1998, the French Prime Minister's office 
created the ``Interministerial Mission to Battle Against Sects'', which 
by its very name, suggests confrontation with religious minorities 
rather than tolerance. The Interministerial Mission's mandate includes 
the responsibility to ``predict and fight against actions of sects that 
violate human dignity or threaten public order.''
  This is the latest example of how the French Government has taken 
steps which have negative effects on religious liberty. In 1996, the 
French Parliament placed the Institut Theologique de Nimes, a 
mainstream Baptist seminary closely connected to the Luther Rice 
Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia, on its list of so-called ``sects.'' Since 
then, libelous articles about the Institut have been published in 
newspapers. The articles were based on hearsay of dubious origin. In 
addition, the church connected with the Institut recently reported that 
a loan application was rejected for the reason that the church is on 
the Parliament's ``sect'' list. Members of the Institut have also 
apparently suffered discrimination from people in the region; according 
to report, at least one church member has lost her job due to her 
attendance.

  Since the 1997 Belgian Parliament's report with the unofficial 
appendix listing 189 groups, the Belgian Government has moved ahead 
with plans to establish an ``Advice and Information Center on Dangerous 
Sects.'' It is my understanding that this center should be fully 
operational by the latter part of this year. According to Belgian 
officials at the Ministry of Justice, the new center will distribute 
official government views on the groups identified by the Parliament 
and may expand its inquiries to other groups not previously listed. A 
coalition of Belgian religious groups registered their concern at a 
press conference held in May 1998 in Brussels and continues to oppose 
the Belgian Government policies toward religious groups.
  In Austria, a law restricting religious freedom became effective in 
January 1998. The law requires that a religious group prove a 20-year 
existence in Austria, 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. The 
Austrian Government's opinion that the government must ``approve'' 
religious belief before it is available for the public reveals a 
shocking retreat from democratic principles which encourage the free 
exchange of ideas and quality before the law for all religions or 
beliefs.
  The tendency to increase control over religion or belief groups 
extends to Europe as a whole. Pan-European institutions such as the 
Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly and the European Parliament 
have in the last year debated the role of government in controlling 
``sects.'' The tone of these discussions has been ominous and proposals 
include instituting even more government controls over minority 
religions.

[[Page E463]]

  The people of the United States are deeply committed to religious 
liberty. The 105th Congress overwhelmingly passed the International 
Religious Freedom Act of 1998. This act establishes an Ambassador at 
Large for International Religious Freedom and a nine-member Commission 
on International Religious Freedom who will monitor the status of 
religious freedom in foreign countries. Additionally, the Act 
encourages the President of the United States to become more thoroughly 
involved by regularly reporting to Congress on the state of religious 
liberty and by requiring the President to take specific actions against 
countries which violate this freedom.
  Let me emphasize that the Act mandates U.S. Government action against 
not only countries engaged in persecution of religious believers, but 
also mandates U.S. Government action against countries that are 
actively intolerant of religious groups or those that allow societal 
intolerance to exist. The intolerant actions of Western European 
governments squarely are in the purview of the Act. The Commission, the 
Ambassador at Large, and the President are mandated to focus on issues 
of religious intolerance, and I encourage them to focus on the actions 
taken by Western European governments in light of international law an 
international commitments on religious liberty.
  Clearly the actions taken by the Governments of France, Belgium, 
Germany, and Austria call into question the commitment those countries 
made to ``foster a climate of mutual tolerance and respect.'' I urge 
the Administration to continue raising these issues with the 
Governments of Western Europe to insure through law and governmental 
practice that religious freedoms for minorities are protected.

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