c. 1997 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Legislation to”put teeth”into efforts to curb the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities in foreign lands by imposing a variety of economic and other sanctions was unveiled Tuesday (May 20) in the House and Senate with broad religious backing.

The proposed bill _ offered in the Senate by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and in the House by Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va. _ would also create a senior White House position to monitor religious persecution abroad and would expedite proceedings for those claiming asylum from religious persecution.

Sudan _ where Christians say they are sold into slavery and otherwise persecuted with the backing of the nation’s Muslim rulers _ was singled out in the proposed legislation for immediate sanctions.

Wolf likened the proposed sanctions against Sudan to those imposed on South Africa during the apartheid era.”The persecution of people of faith is the great untold story of this decade,”he said.

However, Specter, speaking at a Capitol Hill news conference, conceded the bill’s call for trade sanctions will be a tough sell in Congress.

For example, the bill could affect trade with China, which religious activists say discriminates against Christians, Tibetan Buddhists and Muslims. China is already the focus of a trade debate, with President Clinton urging Congress to renew Beijing’s”most favored nation”trading status _ a move opposed by some supporters of the Specter-Wolf bill.”We have to be realistic about the difficulty,”said Specter, hinting that the proposed bill’s broad definition of religious persecution may be narrowed to gain congressional and White House approval.

As offered, the”Freedom from Religious Persecution Act”would impose automatic sanctions if the director of the proposed White House Office of Religious Persecution Monitoring, who would report annually, found a nation guilty of religious persecution.

Religious persecution is defined in the bill as”ongoing and widespread … killing, rape, imprisonment, abduction, torture, enslavement or forced mass resettlement … carried out by the government or with the government’s support.” A second category of religious persecution is defined as the above acts”not carried out with government support but where the government fails to take serious and sustained efforts to eliminate the persecution.” The president would have the power to waive sanctions _ which include a ban on all exports and non-humanitarian aid to nations guilty of religious persecution _ for national security reasons. Additional sanctions include denying visas to officials from offending nations and opposing a country’s efforts to gain international development loans or join the World Trade Organization.

The persecution of religious minorities overseas has been building as a human rights issue among U.S. religious leaders. Evangelical Christians _ who say their co-religionists are particularly at risk in such nations as Vietnam, Pakistan, Egypt, Kuwait and elsewhere _ have been at the forefront of the effort.

Last year, the White House established a Special Advisory Committee to the Secretary of State on Religious Freedom Abroad. The 20-member panel is looking at the persecution of Christians, Buddhists in Tibet, Baha’is in Iran and other minorities. However, the panel has little authority.

Specter said the proposed bill was designed”to put teeth into the U.S. effort to combat the persecution of religious minorities aboard.” The bill drew immediate support from as broad range of religious activists.”It is time for the citizens of the United States, people whose ancestors often were forced to flee to these very shores to escape religious persecution, to send this strong signal to those nations where persecution is evident,”said Thomas D. Ellif, president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Said Rabbi David Saperstein, executive director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism,”When God’s children are imprisoned for praying, then Americans must speak out.” Saperstein said the helping hand extended by non-Jews to Russian Jews when they faced persecution in the former Soviet Union compels Jews to support the Specter-Wolf legislation.”By taking a strong stand, our nation has the opportunity to profoundly impact the lives of millions of people suffering under religious persecution,”said Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, Roman Catholic archbishop of Philadelphia.

Other religious groups supporting the bill include the Christian Coalition, the Family Research Council, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, the National Association of Evangelicals, Evangelicals for Social Action, the Traditional Values Coalition and International Christian Concern.

MJP END RIFKIN