Ukraine Religious Freedom Support Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 3064 To oppose violations of religious freedom in Ukraine by Russia and armed groups commanded by Russia. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 17, 2019 Mr. WICKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To oppose violations of religious freedom in Ukraine by Russia and armed groups commanded by Russia. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ukraine Religious 4 Freedom Support Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 (1) Russia invaded the Crimea region of 8 Ukraine in February 2014, continues to occupy and 9 control that region, and has exercised control over 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3064.IS S3064 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 3064 IS part of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine since 1 April 2014 through non-state armed groups and ille- 2 gal entities it has established, instigated, com- 3 manded, and supported, including with military and 4 intelligence personnel on the ground from Russia, 5 such as the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Repub- 6 lic and the Luhansk People’s Republic. 7 (2) International humanitarian law, including 8 the Geneva Conventions, to which Russia is a signa- 9 tory, requires Russia to respect and protect the reli- 10 gious freedom of the inhabitants of the territory it 11 occupies and controls, or controls through organized 12 non-state armed groups it commands, and holds 13 Russia responsible for violations of religious freedom 14 in this territory. 15 (3) According to the Department of State’s 16 International Religious Freedom Reports, and other 17 reporting, violations of religious freedom in the Cri- 18 mea region of Ukraine since Russia invaded and oc- 19 cupied the territory have included abduction, deten- 20 tion and imprisonment, torture, forced psychiatric 21 hospitalizations, fines, restrictions on missionary ac- 22 tivities, confiscations of property, including churches 23 and meeting halls, expulsions and obstructions to re- 24 entry, denying registration of religious groups, van- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3064.IS S3064 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 3064 IS dalism, fines, and banning peaceful religious groups, 1 and targeted groups have included Muslim Crimean 2 Tatars, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, formerly 3 the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patri- 4 archate, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, 5 Protestant Christians, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. 6 (4) According to the Department of State’s 7 International Religious Freedom Reports, violations 8 of religious freedom in the part of the Donbas region 9 of Ukraine controlled by armed groups commanded 10 by Russia have included detention and imprison- 11 ment, torture, confiscation of property, including 12 churches and meeting halls, physical assaults and 13 threats of violence, vandalism, fines, restrictions on 14 missionary activities, religious services, ceremonies, 15 gatherings, and literature, and banning of peaceful 16 religious groups, and targeted groups have included 17 the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, formerly the 18 Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate, the 19 Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Protestant Chris- 20 tians, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. 21 (5) The International Religious Freedom Act of 22 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) requires the Presi- 23 dent to— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3064.IS S3064 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 3064 IS (A) designate a foreign country as a coun- 1 try of particular concern for religious freedom 2 when its government has engaged in or toler- 3 ated particularly severe violations of religious 4 freedom in that country over the previous 12 5 months; 6 (B) to take 15 actions, or commensurate 7 actions in substitution, following the designa- 8 tion of a country as a country of particular con- 9 cern for religious freedom; and 10 (C) designate a foreign country on a ‘‘Spe- 11 cial Watch List’’ when its government has en- 12 gaged in or tolerated severe violations of reli- 13 gious freedom in that country over the previous 14 12 months. 15 (6) On November 28, 2018, the Secretary of 16 State designated Russia on the ‘‘Special Watch 17 List’’. 18 (7) The National Security Strategy of the 19 United States issued in 2017, 2015, 2006, 2002, 20 2000, 1999, 1998, and 1997 committed the United 21 States to promoting international religious freedom 22 to advance the security, economic, and other na- 23 tional interests of the United States. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3064.IS S3064 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 3064 IS SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 1 It is the policy of the United States to consider— 2 (1) any alien who, while serving as an official 3 of the Government of Russia, was responsible for or 4 directly or indirectly carried out particularly severe 5 violations of religious freedom in the territory of 6 Ukraine that Russia occupies and controls, or con- 7 trols through non-state armed groups it commands; 8 and 9 (2) the spouse and children, if any, of such 10 alien, 11 to have committed particularly severe violations of reli- 12 gious freedom for purposes of applying section 13 212(a)(2)(G) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 14 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(G)) with respect to any such alien and 15 spouse and children of such alien. 16 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF RUSSIA AS A COUNTRY OF PAR- 17 TICULAR CONCERN FOR RELIGIOUS FREE- 18 DOM. 19 For purposes of making a determination of whether 20 to designate Russia as a country of particular concern for 21 religious freedom under section 402 of the International 22 Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442), the 23 President shall consider any particularly severe violation 24 of religious freedom in the territory of Ukraine that Rus- 25 sia occupies and exercises controls, or controls through 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3064.IS S3064 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 3064 IS non-state armed groups it commands, during the period 1 of time that is the basis for the determination and des- 2 ignation, to be a particularly severe violation of religious 3 freedom that the Government of Russia has engaged in 4 or tolerated. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3064.IS S3064 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS