[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 14454]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Foreign 
Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration and the 
Senate now proceed to S. Res. 500.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 500) expressing the sense of Congress 
     that the Russian Federation should fully protect the freedoms 
     of all religious communities without distinction, whether 
     registered or unregistered, as stipulated by the Russian 
     Constitution and international standards.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution 
be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider 
be laid upon the table.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 500) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 500

       Whereas the Russian Federation is a participating State of 
     the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
     (OSCE) and has freely committed to fully respect the rights 
     of individuals, whether alone or in community with others, to 
     profess and practice religion or belief;
       Whereas the 1989 Vienna Concluding Document calls on OSCE 
     participating States to ``take effective measures to prevent 
     and eliminate discrimination against individuals or 
     communities on the grounds of religion or belief'' and to 
     ``grant upon their request to communities of believers, 
     practicing or prepared to practice their faith within the 
     constitutional framework of their States, recognition of the 
     status provided for them in the respective countries'';
       Whereas Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian 
     Federation declares that ``everyone shall be guaranteed the 
     right to freedom of conscience, to freedom of religious 
     worship, including the right to profess, individually or 
     jointly with others, any religion'' and Article 8 of the 1997 
     Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations 
     provides for registration for religious communities as 
     ``religious organizations,'' if they have at least 10 members 
     and have operated within the Russian Federation with legal 
     status for at least 15 years;
       Whereas religious freedom has advanced significantly for 
     the vast majority of people in Russia since the collapse of 
     the Soviet Union;
       Whereas many rights and privileges afforded to religious 
     communities in the Russian Federation remain contingent on 
     the ability of the communities to obtain government 
     registration;
       Whereas some religious groups have not attempted to 
     register with government authorities due to theological 
     considerations, and other communities have been unjustly 
     denied registration or had their registration improperly 
     terminated by local authorities;
       Whereas many of the unregistered communities in the Russian 
     Federation today were never registered under the Soviet 
     system because they refused to collaborate with that 
     government's anti-religious policies and they are now 
     experiencing renewed discrimination and repression by 
     authorities of the Russian Federation;
       Whereas over the past 2 years there have been an estimated 
     10 arson attacks on unregistered Protestant churches, with 
     little or no effective response by law enforcement officials 
     to bring the perpetrators to justice;
       Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation reacted 
     swiftly in response to the January 2006 attack on a Moscow 
     synagogue, but there have been numerous other anti-Semitic 
     attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions in the Russian 
     Federation, and there is increasing tolerance of anti-
     Semitism in certain segments of society in that country;
       Whereas there has been evidence of an increase in the 
     frequency and severity of oppressive actions by security 
     forces and federal and local officials against some Muslim 
     communities and their members;
       Whereas there are many cases involving restitution for 
     religious property seized by the Soviet regime that remain 
     unresolved;
       Whereas in some areas of the Russian Federation law 
     enforcement personnel have carried out acts of harassment and 
     oppression against members of religious communities 
     peacefully practicing their faith and local officials have 
     put overly burdensome restrictions on the ability of some 
     religious communities to engage in religious activity; and
       Whereas the United States has sought to protect the 
     fundamental and inalienable right of individuals to profess 
     and practice their faith, alone or in community with others, 
     according to the dictates of their conscience, and in 
     accordance with international agreements committing nations 
     to respect individual freedom of thought, conscience, and 
     belief: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of Congress that the United 
     States Government should--
       (1) urge the Government of the Russian Federation to ensure 
     full protection of freedoms for all religious communities 
     without distinction, whether registered or unregistered, and 
     end the harassment of unregistered religious groups by the 
     security apparatus and other government agencies, thereby 
     building upon the progress made over the past 15 years in 
     promoting religious freedom in the Russian Federation;
       (2) urge the Government of the Russian Federation to ensure 
     that law enforcement officials vigorously investigate and 
     prosecute acts of violence, arson, and desecration 
     perpetrated against registered and unregistered religious 
     communities, as well as make certain that government 
     authorities are not complicit in such incidents;
       (3) continue to raise concerns with the Government of the 
     Russian Federation over violations of religious freedom, 
     including those against unregistered religious communities, 
     especially indigenous denominations not well known in the 
     United States;
       (4) ensure that United States Embassy officials engage 
     local officials throughout the Russian Federation, especially 
     when violations of freedom of religion occur, and undertake 
     outreach activities to educate local officials about the 
     rights of unregistered religious communities;
       (5) urge the Government of the Russian Federation to invite 
     the three Personal Representatives of the OSCE Chair-in-
     Office and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom 
     of Religion or Belief to visit the Russian Federation and 
     discuss with federal and local officials concerns about the 
     religious freedom of both registered and unregistered 
     religious communities; and
       (6) urge the Council of Europe, its member countries, and 
     the other members of the G-8 to raise issues relating to 
     religious freedom with Russian officials in the context of 
     the Russian Federation's responsibilities both as President 
     of the Council in 2006 and as a member of the G-8.

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