III 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 69 

Calling for the protection of religious minority rights and freedoms in the 

Arab world. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 7, 2013 

Mr. INHOFE submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Calling for the protection of religious minority rights and 

freedoms in the Arab world. 

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 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 

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•SRES 69 IS 

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 alNejat 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 

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•SRES 69 IS 

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 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes, in this spirit of Arab Spring rev3 olution, that religious minority freedoms and rights 

4 must be protected; and 

5 (2) urges in the strongest terms that the 

6 United States Government lead the international ef7 fort to repeal existing blasphemy laws. 

Æ 

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