[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 96 (Monday, June 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3605-S3606]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 539--URGING THE PRESIDENT TO STRENGTHEN EFFORTS OF 
 THE UNITED STATES TO COMBAT RELIGIOUS FREEDOM VIOLATIONS IN EURASIA, 
ESPECIALLY THE USE OF TORTURE OR CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT 
    OR PUNISHMENT, PROLONGED DETENTION WITHOUT CHARGES, CAUSING THE 
 DISAPPEARANCE OF PERSONS BY THE ABDUCTION OR CLANDESTINE DETENTION OF 
THOSE PERSONS, AND OTHER FLAGRANT DENIAL OF THE RIGHT TO LIFE, LIBERTY, 
                       OR THE SECURITY OF PERSONS

  Mr. WICKER (for himself, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Tillis, Mr. 
Gardner, and Mr. Boozman) submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 539

       Whereas the National Security Strategy of the United States 
     issued in 2017 stated that ``[t]he United States also remains 
     committed to supporting and advancing religious freedom . . . 
     Our Founders understood religious freedom not as the state's 
     creation, but as the gift of God to every person and a 
     fundamental right for our flourishing society,'' and national 
     security strategies issued in 2015, 2006, 2002, 2000, 1999, 
     1998, and 1997, likewise committed the United States to 
     promoting international religious freedom to advance the 
     security, economic, and other national interests of the 
     people of the United States;
       Whereas religious freedom is the first freedom enumerated 
     in the Constitution of the United States, enshrined as a non-
     derogable freedom in international law, enumerated in Article 
     18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the 
     United States voted for, enumerated in Article 18 of the 
     International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which 
     the United States ratified, committed to as part of 
     comprehensive security by the 57 participating States of the 
     Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, 
     including in the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, the Madrid 
     Concluding Document of 1983, the Vienna Concluding Document 
     of 1989, the CSCE/OSCE Copenhagen Document of 1990, the 
     Charter of Paris for a New Europe of 1990, the Budapest 
     Document of 1994, and the Istanbul Document of 1999, and 
     affirmed in specific decisions of the Ministerial Council in 
     2002 to 2007, and 2013;
       Whereas the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 
     U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) defines particularly severe violations 
     of religious freedom as ``torture or cruel, inhuman, or 
     degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention 
     without charges, causing the disappearance of persons by the 
     abduction or clandestine detention of those persons, other 
     flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the 
     security of persons,'' requires the President to ``designate 
     each country the government of which has engaged in or 
     tolerated [particularly severe violations of religious 
     freedom in that country during the preceding 12 months or 
     since the date of the last review of that country] . . . as a 
     country of particular concern for religious freedom,'' and 
     requires the United States as a matter of policy 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'';
       Whereas the Secretary of State designated as CPC OSCE 
     participating States Uzbekistan in 2006, 2009, 2011, 2014, 
     2016, and 2017, Turkmenistan in 2014, 2016, and 2017, and 
     Tajikistan in 2016 and 2017;
       Whereas the United States Commission on International 
     Religious Freedom recommended for CPC designation OSCE 
     participating States Turkmenistan from 2000 to 2018, 
     Uzbekistan from 2005 to 2018, Tajikistan from 2012 to 2019, 
     Russia from 2017 to 2018, and Turkey in 2012;
       Whereas the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom 
     Act (Public Law 114-281) requires the President to 
     ``designate each country that engaged in or tolerated severe 
     violations of religious freedom during the previous year, but 
     does not meet, in the opinion of the President at the time of 
     publication of the Annual Report, all of the criteria . . . 
     for designation'' as a CPC as ``being placed on a `Special 
     Watch List','' and the Secretary of State designated no OSCE 
     participating States as a Special Watch List country when 
     designating countries of particular concern and one Special 
     Watch List country on December 22, 2017;
       Whereas the United States Commission on International 
     Religious Freedom has included on its annual Tier Two list or 
     Watch List countries in which the government has engaged in 
     or tolerated serious violations of religious freedom, 
     Azerbaijan from 2013 to 2018, Kazakhstan from 2013 to 2018, 
     Turkey from 2009 to 2011 and 2014 to 2018, Russia from 2009 
     to 2016, Belarus from 2004 to 2012, Tajikistan from 2009 to 
     2011, Uzbekistan from 2003 to 2004, and Georgia in 2004;
       Whereas, on July 17, 2017, the Supreme Court of the Russian 
     Federation upheld a ban against Jehovah's Witnesses as an 
     extremist group, enforcing extremism laws that violate 
     religious freedom, including July 7, 2016, amendments to the 
     prohibitive 1997 Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious 
     Associations that further restrict missionary activities of 
     Russians and foreigners in Russia, restrict or ban online and 
     printed religious materials, impose fines, confiscate assets 
     and property, prohibit public and private religious assembly 
     and expression, criminalize and ban religious activities and 
     groups as extremist without legally defining extremism to 
     include the threat or use of violence, and put religious 
     minorities such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslims, Protestant 
     Christians, and Mormons, especially at risk of severe and 
     particularly severe violations of religious freedom;
       Whereas, since forces of the Government of the Russian 
     Federation invaded Crimea, Ukraine, in February 2014, they 
     have forcibly and illegally occupied the territory, and as 
     the occupying power are required under international law such 
     as the Geneva Conventions to protect the religious freedom of 
     the inhabitants of the occupied territory, are responsible 
     for violations of religious freedom in Crimea for the 
     duration of their occupation, and there have been violations, 
     including abduction, detention and imprisonment, forced 
     psychiatric hospitalizations, fines, restrictions on 
     missionary activities, confiscations of property including 
     churches and meeting halls, expulsions and obstructions to 
     reentry, denying registration of religious groups, vandalism, 
     fines, and banning peaceful religious groups, and targeted 
     groups have included Muslim Crimean Tatars, the Ukrainian 
     Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate, the Ukrainian 
     Greek Catholic Church, and Protestant Christians, as reported 
     in International Religious Freedom Reports and by the United 
     States Commission on International Religious Freedom;
       Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation-led 
     separatist forces have effectively controlled the Donbas 
     region of eastern Ukraine since April 2014, are therefore 
     required under international law to protect the religious 
     freedom of the inhabitants of the territory they control, are 
     responsible for violations of religious freedom in the Donbas 
     for the duration of their control, proclaimed the Donetsk 
     People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic, 
     established illegal entities to govern the territory, and 
     religious freedom violations in the region have included 
     detention and imprisonment, confiscation of property, 
     including churches and meeting halls, physical assaults and 
     threats of violence, vandalism, fines, restrictions on 
     missionary activities, religious services, ceremonies, 
     gatherings, and literature, and banning of peaceful religious 
     groups, and targeted groups have included the Ukrainian 
     Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate, Jehovah's Witnesses, the 
     Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and Protestant Christians, 
     as reported in International Religious Freedom Reports and by 
     the United States Commission on International Religious 
     Freedom;
       Whereas the draft ``Law Introducing Amendments and 
     Additions to Laws on Questions of Religious Activity and 
     Religious Associations'' would amend the already restrictive 
     religion law of Kazakhstan to further control and punish 
     people who communicate religious teachings the government has 
     not approved, restrict sharing religious beliefs, confiscate 
     religious literature that does not pass mandatory state 
     censorship, make it easier to permanently ban religious 
     organizations for violating the Religion Law, and double some 
     fines for exercising religious freedom;
       Whereas, since the second President and the Prime Minister 
     of Uzbekistan assumed office on December 14, 2016, the 
     Government of Uzbekistan has taken steps towards improvement 
     on religious freedom, including the release of some religious 
     prisoners and the ``road map'' resolution issued on May 4, 
     2018, by the Legislative Chamber and the Senate instructing 
     government offices to implement the recommendations in the 
     February 22, 2018, ``Report of the Special Rapporteur on 
     Freedom of Religion or Belief on His Mission to Uzbekistan'' 
     within a year, and the Government has shown openness to the 
     recommendations of the United States Government regarding 
     religious freedom;

[[Page S3606]]

       Whereas the Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act 
     includes a sense of Congress that ``ongoing and persistent 
     waivers of the application of any of the actions . . . (or 
     commensurate substitute action) . . . with respect to a 
     country do not fulfill the purposes of'' the International 
     Religious Freedom Act of 1998, and ``because the promotion of 
     religious freedom is an important interest of United States 
     foreign policy, the President, the Secretary of State, and 
     other executive branch officials, in consultation with 
     Congress, should seek to find ways to address existing 
     violations, on a case-by-case basis, through the actions . . 
     . or other commensurate substitute action'' in the 
     International Religious Freedom Act of 1998;
       Whereas section 212(a)(2)(G) of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(G)) provides that 
     ``[a]ny alien who, while serving as a foreign government 
     official, was responsible for or directly carried out, at any 
     time, particularly severe violations of religious freedom, as 
     defined in section 3 of the International Religious Freedom 
     Act (22 U.S.C. 6402) is inadmissible'' to the United States;
       Whereas the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability 
     Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114-328; 22 U.S.C. 
     2656 note) authorizes the President to take actions based on 
     credible evidence that a foreign person is ``responsible for 
     extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of 
     internationally recognized human rights committed against 
     individuals in any foreign country who seek . . . to obtain, 
     exercise, defend, or promote internationally recognized human 
     rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, 
     expression, association, and assembly, and the rights to a 
     fair trial and democratic elections,'' including denying 
     entry to the United States, or revoking the United States 
     visa, and ``blocking . . . all transactions in all property 
     and interests in property . . . if such property and 
     interests in property are in the United States, come within 
     the United States, or are or come within the possession or 
     control of a United States person'' of any such foreign 
     person or foreign person who acted as an agent of or on 
     behalf of such a foreign person; and
       Whereas the Government of Turkey has detained Pastor Andrew 
     Brunson, a United States citizen, since October 7, 2016, on 
     false charges of membership in an armed terrorist group, 
     espionage, and attempting to overthrow the state, provided no 
     credible evidence, and denied him timely and credible due 
     process: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate urges the President--
       (1) to redesignate Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan 
     as countries of particular concern, grant a waiver on the one 
     or more actions or commensurate action the International 
     Religious Freedom Act of 1998 requires the President to take 
     toward them as CPCs, condition the waiver on the governments 
     of these countries ceasing, or taking substantial and 
     verifiable steps to cease, particularly severe violations of 
     religious freedom within 180 days of the designation, and 
     revoke the waiver and take the statutorily required action or 
     commensurate action if these governments do not take such 
     steps;
       (2) to designate Azerbaijan, Russia, and Turkey as special 
     watch list countries, urge the Government of Kazakhstan to 
     refrain from adopting amendments that would make the religion 
     law more restrictive, and if the Government of Kazakhstan 
     adopts such restrictions, to designate Kazakhstan as a 
     special watch list country for that year;
       (3) to instruct the Ambassador-at-Large for International 
     Religious Freedom, under statute the principal adviser to the 
     President on international religious freedom, to develop and 
     transmit to Congress a one-time inter-agency strategy to 
     advance religious freedom in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, 
     Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkey, and parts 
     of Ukraine occupied by Government of the Russian Federation 
     forces or controlled by Government of the Russian Federation-
     led separatist forces, and that this strategy shall--
       (A) emphasize the value of adopting religious freedom as a 
     means of enhancing economic growth and undermining religion-
     related violence and terrorism;
       (B) include details on how resources from Federal 
     departments and agencies, including the United States Agency 
     for International Development, will be used to implement the 
     strategy;
       (C) be developed in consultation with advice from the 
     United State Commission on International Religious Freedom, 
     governments, private sector and civil society entities; and
       (D) prioritize supporting ongoing reforms in Uzbekistan; 
     and
       (4) to apply visa, entry into the United States, and 
     property blocking sanctions targeting any foreign person 
     found to engage in or be complicit in severe violations of 
     religious freedom in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, 
     Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Russia, and Ukraine, 
     including government authorities of Russia or persons 
     appointed by the Government of the Russian Federation 
     effectively governing or otherwise exercising control of 
     occupied Crimea, Ukraine, and Government of the Russian 
     Federation-led separatist forces in the Donbas region of 
     eastern Ukraine, and including officials, agents, or others 
     acting on behalf of the Government of Turkey responsible for 
     the wrongful detention of Pastor Andrew Brunson, actions 
     authorized by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 
     (22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.), the Global Magnitsky Human Rights 
     Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 
     114-328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note), or other applicable laws.

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