[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 1907-1908]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, ANTI-SEMITISM, AND RULE OF LAW IN THE OSCE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 12, 2016

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak about human 
rights crises in Europe and Eurasia. With the collapse of the Soviet 
Union and end of the Cold War, many people expected that freedom, 
democracy, and peace, would spread throughout Europe and Eurasia. And 
yet now, the religious freedom of Christians, and people of other 
faiths, is being regularly violated. Russia invaded its neighbor 
Ukraine, illegally annexed Crimea, and is fueling and funding violent 
proxies in the eastern Donbas region of that country. Deadly anti-
Semitism is again stalking European Jewish communities. The worst 
refugee and migrants' crisis in Europe since World War II has engulfed 
the continent. Autocrats are using the law, and acting outside the law, 
to crush democratic opposition to their despotism.
  Violent anti-Semitic attacks increased 100 to 400 percent in some 
European countries between 2013 and 2014. Anti-Semitism, and the evil 
goal of killing Jewish people, is hardwired into ISIS and those it 
inspires. Perhaps no other group in Europe is more at risk from ISIS 
attacks than the European Jewish community. That is why I authored 
House Resolution 354 as a blueprint for vital actions that are needed 
to prevent another Paris, Brussels, or Copenhagen. The House of 
Representatives passed it unanimously and I intend to hold a hearing 
over the coming weeks to explore what is necessary to ensure these 
actions are taken.
  In Crimea, the occupying authorities have targeted and retaliated 
against the Crimean Tatar people for opposing the annexation and the 
rule that has followed. Crimean Tatars have been arrested, detained, 
interrogated,

[[Page 1908]]

and sometimes charged with extremism, illegal assembly, or belonging to 
an unregistered religious group. Religious minorities, including the 
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, have likewise been repressed. Crimeans 
who opposed or oppose the Russian takeover of Crimea, or have been 
unwilling to seek a Russian passport, have been at risk of a crackdown. 
Restrictions have proliferated, including even on the teaching of the 
Ukrainian language or access to Ukrainian culture.
  Repression is also rife in Azerbaijan. The Commission recently held a 
hearing on the terrible plight of political prisoners in Azerbaijan, 
particularly the imprisonment of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty 
journalist Khadija Ismayilova. According to the Committee to Protect 
Journalists, Azerbaijan leads all of the countries in Eurasia in 
jailing journalists. In 2015, the government imprisoned many well-known 
activists, including Anar Mammadli, the courageous head of EMDS, the 
leading election monitoring organization in Azerbaijan. He spoke the 
truth about the fraudulent 2013 presidential election and is still 
paying the price. I met with Anar's father--a very gentle man--just a 
few months after Anar was arrested and saw how Anar's family is 
suffering from this injustice.
  More than 40 years ago, all the countries of Europe, the United 
States, and Canada, formed the Conference on Security and Cooperation 
in Europe, to prevent and respond to these kinds of crises. This week, 
I chaired a hearing of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in 
Europe, the Helsinki Commission, where we heard testimony from 
Ambassador Michael Link, Director of the OSCE's Office of Democratic 
Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
  Mr. Speaker, his testimony was a reminder of the serious threats to 
European Jewish communities, Christians and other religious minorities, 
and to the rule of law in Europe and Eurasia. We must remain vigilant 
and ensure that the United States, as an original participating State 
of the OSCE, strongly supports the OSCE's efforts to ensure European 
Jewish communities are safe and secure, that Christians and other 
religious minorities are free to fully practice their faith, and that 
the rule of law prevails.

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