Sec. 18. Assistance for promoting religious freedom

405 words·~2 min read·/bill/113/hr/5846/ih/section-18

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

Section 501 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 is amended by adding at the end the following new subsections: Of the amounts made available for fiscal years 2016 through 2021 for the Human Rights and Democracy Fund established under section 664 of the Freedom Investment Act of 2002 (subtitle E of title VI of Public Law 107–228 ), the Secretary of State shall provide to the Office— not less than 5 percent of such amounts for each such fiscal year for the promotion of international religious freedom through groups that are able to develop legal protections or promote cultural and societal understanding of international norms of religious freedom and groups that seek to address and mitigate religiously motivated and sectarian violence; and not less than 1 percent of such amounts for each such fiscal year for the Religious Freedom Defense Fund established under subsection (d).

There is established in the Department of State a fund to be known as the Religious Freedom Defense Fund (referred to in this subsection as the Fund ) which shall be administered by the Ambassador at Large. The Fund shall consist of amounts made available under subsection (c)(2). The Ambassador at Large shall use amounts in the Fund to issue grants for the following: Victims of religious freedom abuses and their families to cover legal and other expenses that may arise from detention, imprisonment, torture, fines, and other restrictions.

Projects to help create and support a new generation of defenders of religious freedom, including legal and political advocates, and civil society projects which seek to create advocacy networks, train and educate new religious freedom defenders, and build the capacity of religious communities and rights defenders to protect against religious freedom violations, sectarian violence, or legal or other restrictions of the right to the freedom of religion and belief. In issuing grants under paragraph (3), the Ambassador at Large shall, as appropriate, give preference to projects targeting religious freedom violations in countries designated as countries of particular concern for religious freedom under section 402(b) and those included on the Special Watch List.

The Ambassador at Large should consult, in developing priorities and policies for disbursing the funds referred to in subsection (c), including grant policies and the identification of potential grantees, with other Federal agencies, including the Commission, and the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute, the National Endowment for Democracy and, as appropriate, other nongovernmental organizations. .

Connections1 off-index

1 reference not yet in our index

Pub. L. 107-228

Citation graph

cites case law

Sec. 18

Assistance for promoting religious freedom

Pub. L.Pub. L. 107-228

Cites 1Cited by 0 across 0 sources