WASHINGTON—Helsinki Commission Ranking
Member Rep. Joe Wilson (SC-02) and Commissioner Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, II
(MO-05) yesterday introduced the bipartisan Ukraine Religious Freedom Support Act (H.R. 5408) in the House of Representatives. The legislation
combats Russia’s religious freedom violations in the Crimea and Donbas regions
of Ukraine. Helsinki Commission Co-Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (MS) plans to
introduce a companion bill in the Senate next week.
“For more than five years, Russia has illegally occupied Crimea and
controlled part of the Donbas with the armed groups it commands. Kremlin
personnel and proxies abduct, imprison, and torture people in those regions for
their faith,” said Rep. Wilson. “Russian officials are
culpable, and this bill helps ensure they are held accountable.”
“The Kremlin persecutes peaceful religious communities in occupied
Crimea and crony-controlled eastern Donbas even more brutally and broadly than
it does in Russia,” said Rep. Cleaver. “The
Russian Government is violating international humanitarian law and its
international commitments to respect and protect religious freedom. Creating
consequences for the Kremlin for this lawlessness will mean justice for the
people of Ukraine.”
The Ukraine Religious Freedom Support Act would require the President of
the United States to consider particularly severe violations of religious
freedom in Russia-occupied or otherwise controlled territory in Ukraine when
determining whether to designate Russia as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC)
for such violations. The bill clarifies that Russia should be held responsible
for violations in territory it occupies illegally or controls, not just for
violations inside Russia’s internationally-recognized borders.
The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 requires the president
to designate CPCs when their governments engage in or tolerate particularly
severe violations of religious freedom. It also requires the president to take
15 specific actions, or commensurate action, in response. Last year, on behalf
of President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo designated Russia for
the Special Watch List of countries where violations are severe.
Russian forces first invaded Crimea in February 2014 and continue to
illegally occupy it. Since April 2014, Russia has controlled parts of the
Donbas region in eastern Ukraine with non-state armed groups and illegal
entities it commands. Under international humanitarian law, including the
Geneva Conventions, Russia is responsible for religious freedom violations in
Crimea and parts of the Donbas.
As a participating State of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, Russia has repeatedly committed to respect and protect
freedom of religion or belief. The Helsinki Commission has compiled 16 documents outlining religious freedom
commitments made by OSCE participating States.
Original co-sponsors of the legislation include Helsinki Commissioners
Rep. Gwen S. Moore (WI-04), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Rep. Marc A. Veasey
(TX-33), and Rep. Steve Cohen (TN-09). Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (CA-18), Rep. Mark
Meadows (NC-11), Rep. Mike Quigley (IL-05), Rep. Gus M. Bilirakis (FL-12), Rep.
Daniel W. Lipinski (IL-03), Rep. Andy Harris, M.D. (MD-01), and Rep. Marcy
Kaptur (OH-09) are also original co-sponsors.
