Sec. 1. Findings

534 words·~2 min read·/bill/113/hr/301/eh/section-1

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

Congress finds the following: More than 500 Baha'is in Iran have been arbitrarily arrested since 2005. Roughly 100 Baha'is are presently imprisoned because of their religious beliefs. In May 2010, suspected terrorists attacked two mosques in Pakistan belonging to the Ahmaddiya minority Muslim sect, killing at least 80 people. Ahmadis consider themselves Muslim, but Pakistani law does not recognize them as such. Said Musa, an Afghan Christian convert, was arrested in May 2010 on charges of apostasy, a crime which can carry the death sentence, and was released in February 2011 only after sustained international pressure.

On October 31, 2010, gunmen laid siege on Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad, Iraq, killing at least 52 police and worshipers, including two priests, making it the worst massacre of Iraqi Christians since 2003. Iraq’s ancient and once vibrant Christian population that numbered an estimated 1,500,000 out of a total population in Iraq of 30,000,000 in 2003 has been reduced by at least one half, due in significant part to Christians fleeing the violence. In November 2010, a Pakistani court sentenced Aasia Bibi, a Christian mother of five, to death under the country’s blasphemy law for insulting the Prophet Muhammad.

Since early 2011, violent sectarian attacks targeting Coptic Orthodox Christians and their property increased significantly, resulting in nearly 100 deaths, mostly Coptic Christians, surpassing the death toll of the 10 previous years combined. In Egypt, with the ascent of the Muslim Brotherhood, Coptic Christians, numbering 8 to 10 million, have been under increased threat and many are reported to have fled the country during former President Mohamed Morsi’s rule. On March 2, 2011, Pakistani Federal Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian member of the Cabinet, who was outspoken in his opposition to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws was assassinated by extremists.

The former Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, Hannah Rosenthal, has noted that Holocaust glorification is especially virulent in Middle Eastern media, some of which is state-owned and operated, which calls for a new Holocaust to finish the job . In the midst of a devastating civil war, Syrian Christians and other religious minorities, which comprise roughly 10 percent of the population, are particularly vulnerable lacking their own militias and regional protectors.

Many of these ancient faith communities are being forced to flee the lands which they have inhabited for centuries. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has recommended that Egypt, Tajikistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan be designated by the Department of State as Countries of Particular Concern in accordance with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. The situation on the ground in the region continues to develop rapidly and the United States Government needs an individual who can respond in kind and focus on the critical situation of religious minorities in these countries.

There are historical precedents, including the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, the Special Envoy for North Korea Human Rights Issues, and the South Sudan and Sudan Special Envoy, for the Department of State, either as a result of legislative mandate or initiative of the Secretary of State, to create positions with a targeted focus on an area or issue of recognized import.