[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 33 (Thursday, March 7, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1271-S1272]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 69--CALLING FOR THE PROTECTIONS OF RELIGIOUS MINORITY 
                 RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS IN THE ARAB WORLD

  Mr. INHOFE submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                               S. Res. 69

       Whereas, on January 25, 2011, in Tahrir Square, Egyptian 
     protestors found their voice when they successfully ended the 
     30-plus year rule of President Mubarak and

[[Page S1272]]

     began the work of creating a true democratic government, a 
     government that supports and protects inalienable rights and 
     freedoms, including the freedom of religion;
       Whereas the fervor and spirit of these revolutions have 
     taken wing in other Arab nations such as Tunisia, Libya, and 
     Syria;
       Whereas, reminiscent of the 1968 ``Prague Spring'' in the 
     former Czechoslovakia, many have called this revolutionary 
     period an ``Arab Spring'', where ordinary citizens have taken 
     to the streets demanding an end to corruption, political 
     cronyism, and government repression;
       Whereas, in the midst of newly acquired freedoms, including 
     those of speech, press, and assembly, it is extremely 
     important that religious minorities in these countries be 
     protected from violence and guaranteed the freedom to 
     practice their religion and to express religious thought;
       Whereas Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human 
     Rights recognizes that ``[e]veryone 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 freedom to worship by minority religious 
     communities in Arab nations has come under repeated and 
     deadly attack in recent months;
       Whereas, on November 1, 2010, the deadliest ever recorded 
     attack on Iraqi Christians occurred at the Sayidat al-Nejat 
     Catholic Cathedral located in central Baghdad, where 
     militants stormed the church and detonated 2 suicide vests 
     filled with ball bearings, killing 58 and wounding 78 
     parishioners;
       Whereas, on January 1, 2011, a suicide bomber blew himself 
     up in front of the Saint George and Bishop Peter Church in 
     Cairo, killing 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians, a Christian 
     minority group that accounts for 9 percent of Egypt's 
     population of 80,000,000;
       Whereas the freedom to proselytize by minority religious 
     communities in Arab nations has also come under repeated and 
     deadly attack in recent months through so-called blasphemy 
     laws that are punishable by death;
       Whereas, on January 4, 2011, Governor Salman Tasser, who 
     courageously sought to release Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman 
     and mother of 5 who was sentenced to death under Pakistan's 
     blasphemy laws, was gunned down by his own security guard 
     because of his support for reforming the blasphemy laws;
       Whereas, on March 2, 2011, Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's only 
     Christian cabinet member and passionate supporter of 
     interfaith tolerance and repeal of Pakistan's blasphemy law, 
     was assassinated by multiple gunmen, leaving his body and 
     vehicle riddled with 80 bullets and anti-Christian pamphlets 
     strewn over his body; and
       Whereas, on February 21, 2013, Sherry Rehman, Pakistan's 
     Ambassador to the United States, and a vocal proponent of 
     repealing Pakistan's blasphemy law, was herself accused of 
     blasphemy, and the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered police 
     in the central Pakistani city of Multan to investigate: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes, in this spirit of Arab Spring revolution, 
     that religious minority freedoms and rights must be 
     protected; and
       (2) urges in the strongest terms that the United States 
     Government lead the international effort to repeal existing 
     blasphemy laws.

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