Title: A resolution 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.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Urges the President to strengthen U.S. efforts to combat religious freedom violations in Eurasia.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 539 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 11, 2018

 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

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  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.

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;
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 States 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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