[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 500 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]
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, Mr. Nelson of
Florida, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Santorum, Mr. DeMint, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Allard,
Mr. Talent, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Nelson of Nebraska, Mr. Inhofe,
Mrs. Dole, Mr. Martinez, Mr. Allen, Mr. Cochran, and Mr. Chambliss)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on Foreign Relations
July 14, 2006
Committee discharged; considered and agreed to
_______________________________________________________________________
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.
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