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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 500 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
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.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 6, 2006

  Mr. Brownback (for himself, Mr. Biden, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Nelson of 
Florida) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
  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.

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.
                                 <all>
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