hearing transcript (pdf - 690 kb) - House Foreign Affairs Committee ...

4
Chairman Gaer underscored that the problem is widespread and that anti-Jewish
sentiment is surfacing again with apparent impunity.
She further added that it took months for European government officials to even
acknowledge that these incidents were, in fact, antisemitic. For these and other reasons,
it is disconcerting to read in the France report, for example, that: ‘‘disaffected
youths were responsible for many of the incidents.’’
This hearing will address these and other issues pertaining to specific country reports,
as well as matters relating to the implementation of the International Religious
Freedom Act, in an effort to ensure cooperation and agreement on priorities
for U.S. religious freedom policy.
I would like to welcome all of our witnesses today and give a special thanks to
the victims, who will provide first-hand accounts of the suffering they; their families;
their friends; their fellow believers endure.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I would like to yield to the Ranking Member,
my friend Cynthia McKinney of Georgia.
Ms. MCKINNEY. Thank you, Madam Chair.
On Monday the State Department released its Annual Report on
International Religious Freedom, which, according to the Administration,
will shed much needed light on governments that make it
difficult and even dangerous for people to follow the dictates of
their conscience and to practice their faith.
During this time in the history of our Nation and world, religious
freedom is of the utmost importance. While America is deciding
whether or not we send our young men and women off to war, people
throughout this country are turning to their faith and are praying
at home, in churches, in synagogues, in temples, in mosques
and wherever they can steal a moment of peace. They are praying
that, while Saddam Hussein is a brutal dictator whose regime has
terrorized the Iraqi people and the peoples of nearby countries,
that this Administration will stop and think about the needless suffering
that the women, children, elders and men of Iraq will endure
should the U.S. hastily move forward with a preemptive strike on
the country they call home. They are praying that as President
Bush is confronted with the what-to-do question, he will choose
diplomatic means to deal with the current situation in Iraq rather
than waging war on innocent people who have already suffered
greatly.
While the State Department views religious freedom as one of
the most fundamental human rights and as a liberty long championed
by the United States and the American people, we must not
forget that the American people are also firmly against the widespread
loss of life as a result of war and violence.
Madam Chair, according to the Report on International Religious
Freedom, we know that China, Burma, Cuba, Laos, North Korea
and Vietnam all engage in widespread repression of religion as
they view religious worship as a threat to their dominant ideology.
In addition, we know that several countries were listed as having
discriminatory legislation or policies, including Israel, as it refuses
to recognize the Greek Orthodox Church’s Patriarch for the Holy
Hand, Irineos I. We know that in China, unapproved religious and
spiritual groups remain under scrutiny and in some cases harsh repression.
In Vietnam, there were credible reports that in past years
Hmong Protestant Christians in several villages were forced by
local authorities to recant their faith. In India, Muslims were the
victims of sustained communal violence and genocide in the state
of Gujarat. In Burma, the government continued to view religious
VerDate May 01 2002 14:37 Dec 19, 2002 Jkt 082261 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\IOHR\100902\82261 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL