1997 NCC General Assembly, Nov. 11-14, 1997, Washington, D.C.

An NCC Statement: Elements Needed in Any Legislation
Authorizing the United States Government
to Address Religious Persecution Globally

We very much appreciate the new energy from both evangelical Christian groups and Congress which calls attention to the pain of this issue and to the need to seek fresh solutions. The time is ripe for deeper examination of religious persecution and ways to address it.

We believe that any legislation addressing religious persecution must:

Treat persecution against all religious groups as extremely serious, and refrain from any hint that persecution against any specific religious group is somehow more important or less important than other religious persecution.

Provide a definition of religious persecution broad enough to recognize both the overt and the subtle ways in which religious persons and communities experience both hostility and limitation on religious freedom. (See the 1981 United Nations Declaration on the elimination of all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion.)

Treat religious persecution in the broader context of all human rights abuses, avoiding any hierarchy of human suffering or abuse of rights.

Provide for imposing sanctions only when the varying contexts have been taken into account and other avenues of amelioration have been appropriately pursued. We especially believe that the imposition of sanctions needs to be informed by the wisdom and overwhelming wishes of those facing persecution with some idea of what measures will help or hurt. Extreme care must be taken that any proposed solution addressing religious persecution does not do more harm than good, and provides for humanitarian exemptions.

Pursue multilateral responses and penalties in addressing persecution, including religious persecution. Attention should be given to this issue at meetings of the United Nations Human Rights Commission where compliance with article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is regularly reviewed.

Keep the coordination of U.S. government action addressing religious persecution within the State Department. Existing human rights work within the State Department should be strengthened and the position of Ambassador-at-large for Religious Freedom should be created.

Provide for better reporting of religious persecution and better training of U.S. personnel in relating to religious communities abroad and in addressing religious persecution effectively.

Provide more responsible asylum provisions for victims of religious persecution and other forms of human rights persecution. Because so much progress in addressing religious persecution and other forms of human rights abuses could be made in this area, separate legislation beyond any religious persecution bill is probably needed.

Provide assistance for poverty reduction and sustainable development in an effort to reduce the social conditions which foster religious persecution.

NCC Home Page
Religious Freedom and Persecution Main Page