Because of his stature within the refusenik community, Yuli expressed to me his fear that he may become the next Viktor Brailovsky. We must take action to prevent this from happening. We must let the Soviet Government know that we know about Yuli, and that we care about him.

Mr. Chairman, the plight of Yuli Kosharovsky is well known within the American Jewish community. My friend, Rabbi Gary Charlestein of Melrose Park, Pa., traveled to Moscow in March of 1981, and met with Yuli and his family. Upon his return to the United States, be began organizing a campaign on behalf of Yuli. Rabbi Charlestein should be saluted for his actions, and the passage of this resolution will do just that.

I first became involved with Yuli's case when a constituent of mine, Mrs. Ernestine Urken of Trenton, N.J., wrote me and requested my assistance on behalf of Yuli. And through the help of the National Conference of Soviet Jewry, and their Washington staff, David Harris and Mark Levin, I was able to meet Yuli personally. Now I can speak of Yuli Kosharovsky as a friend.

Mr. Chairman, I am happy to say that the response in the House to the plight of Yuli Kosharovsky has been tremendous. Since Congressman Ed Weber and I introduced House Resolution 269 on November 12, we have received over 60 cosponsors. I am pleased to say that Jim Shannon, who accompanied me to the Soviet Union and met with Yuli, has joined as a cosponsor of this resolution.

Along with my testimony, Mr. Chairman, I would like to place in the record a statement by Mr. David Harris of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry, and ask unanimous consent that his statement be accepted.

Mr. BONKER. Thank you, Mr. Smith, for your statement and your continuing commitment to the plight of those who are incarcerated in the Soviet Union.

[The attachment to Mr. Smith's statement follows:]

STATEMENT OF DAVID A. HARRIS, DIRECTOR, WASHINGTON OFFICE, NATIONAL

CONFERENCE ON SOVIET JEWRY

Mr. Chairman, the National Conference on Soviet Jewry represents a constituency of 39 national membership organizations and nearly 300 local affiliated community relations councils and federations. As the director of the N.C.S.J.'s Washington Office, I am pleased to have the opportunity to submit testimony on behalf of Yuli Kosharovsky, a central figure in the historic Jewish emigration and cultural movement in the Soviet Union.

Yuli Kosharovsky first applied to emigrate from the Soviet Union in April 1971. His application was refused a month later on the grounds of the "secret" nature of his previous work as an engineer. In May 1980, Kosharovsky was advised that his period of "secrecy" had expired, but that he would not be permitted to emigrate for a new reason-the absence of close relatives in Israel.

During the more than 10 years that Kosharovsky has been compelled to live as an internal refugee in the Soviet Union, he has been the target of unrelenting harassment and intimidation. Not being able to work in his profession because he is seeking to emigrate, he has been threatened with arrest on the unique Soviet charge of "parasitism." He was placed under house arrest during President Nixon's visit to the Soviet Union, and he has been imprisoned for 15-day periods on charges of "hooliganism" and "disturbing the public order," even to the extent of being led away from his home in chains on one occasion. Most recently, on October 15, 1981, the KGB carried out a search of his home and confiscated sackfulls of books on Jewish themes.

Why has Kosharovsky been treated this way? Because he is committed to the study and teaching of the Hebrew language, because he is regarded with great re

spect by other Jewish activists and is looked to as a leader, and because he has not feared to assert even those limited rights provided to Soviet citizens under Soviet and international covenants, including the right to study one's culture and language. Kosharovsky has recently been warned that he will face more serious charges if he persists in his efforts to teach the Hebrew language.

I met Kosharovsky most recently in September 1981. He is a gifted teacher, a learned man, a modest, self-effacing person, a devoted father to his children. His wife, Inna, has never been permitted to work in her field of mathematics because of her desire to live in Israel and his step-son, Mikhail, has been the target of physical and verbal abuse in school.

Kosharovsky's long-standing dream has been to live in Israel and to rejoice in the traditions of the Jewish people. For this "crime," he and his family have endured ten years of suffering and hardship at the hands of the Soviet Government. He and his family are part of a large and growing number of Jews across the U.S.S.R. who have come to realize that there is no future for them as Jews in their native country and who seek to establish new lives in Israel.

Mr. BONKER. The subcommittee has before it two resolutions. Are there any comments or questions of the witnesses?

Mr. GEJDENSON. I think that one thing that we have to keep in mind is that we are not asking the Soviets to live by an American standard of human rights or emigration. What we are asking the Soviets to do is to live up to the international agreements that they have signed as early as 1948, and as recently as the Helsinki accords.

It is an interesting comment on a society that, whether it is a handful of Jews that we met with in Moscow or seven Pentecostals, in a country of 260 million with the military might of the Soviet Union, that one can find seven Pentecostals in the American Embassy somehow threatening to the entire structure.

I was commenting to Congressman Rosenthal and Congressman Smith that we all seem to have come back with the same kind of just absolute amazement at the level of oppression, at the pervasiveness of the police state, and the institutionalization of KGB terror of the citizens.

Mr. BONKER. Mr. Leach.

Mr. LEACH. Mr. Chairman, I move the adoption of House Concurrent Resolution 100, with amendment. The amendment that I have before me is largely an amendment to update the resolution. It involves some of the language which has been suggested by Mr. Smith and it has been agreed upon by Mr. Frank. I think it is selfexplanatory and, frankly, it is probably in the nature of a technical amendment.

Mr. BONKER. Mr. Leach has moved that the subcommittee adopt his technical amendment to House Concurrent Resolution 100. Before voting, the subcommittee will announce for the official record that we do have a quorum.

Is there a second to the motion?

Mr. GEJDENSON. I second the motion.

Mr. BONKER. All those in favor will signify by saying "Aye."

Those opposed, "No."

The amendment is agreed to.

We will now entertain a motion on House Concurrent Resolution 100.

Mr. ROSENTHAL. Mr. Chairman, I move the adoption of the resolution.

Mr. GEJDENSON. I second the motion.

Mr. BONKER. It has been moved and seconded.

All in favor will signify by saying "Aye."

Those opposed, "No."

Mr. BONKER. The resolution is adopted.1

Mr. FRANK. Thank you.

Mr. BONKER. Thank you, Mr. Frank.

We will now move the second resolution before the subcommittee, House Resolution 269, offered by Mr. Smith from New Jersey. Are there any amendments?

Is there a motion to adopt the resolution?

Mr. LEACH. I move adoption of the resolution.

Mr. GEJDENSON. I second the motion.

Mr. BONKER. It has been moved and seconded that the resolution be adopted.

All those in favor will say "Aye."

Those opposed, "No."

The subcommittee has adopted the resolution.2

Mr. Smith, I want to thank you. We will report both of the resolutions to the full committee.

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. BONKER. We will now begin the hearing on religious persecution.

Beginning in the early 1970's, the Congress developed a human rights policy through a series of amendments to the Foreign Assistance Act. That act provides the basis for a human rights policy as envisioned by the Congress. The law can be found in sections 116 and 502(B) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended. Therein lies the description of human rights violation. That includes "torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charges, causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction and clandestine detention of those persons or other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, and the security of person

The Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations has conducted a number of hearings to make sure that successive administrations comply with the letter and the spirit of the law.

Today, many innocent people around the world are also victims of a special kind of human rights violation-religious persecution. The phenomenon of religious persecution is not limited to any particular political system or region of the world. Unfortunately, it occurs too often, and people are made to suffer because of their religious beliefs and ethical convictions.

The subcommittee has before it a map that is put out by Christian Solidarity International, which indicates where religious persecution exists in the world today. One is amazed by the number of countries that engage in this activity.

1 H. Con. Res. 100 passed the Foreign Affairs Committee on March 16, 1982, and the markup was printed in "Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan and Certain Other Human Rights Matters." The resolution passed the House of Representatives on March 23, 1982, and passed the Senate on March 25, 1982.

2 H. Res. 269 passed the Foreign Affairs Committee on April 1, 1982, and the markup was printed in "Human Rights-Soviet Union." The resolution pass the House of Representatives on May 4, 1982.

In Albania and North Korea-officially atheistic states-religion of any kind is outlawed.

In Africa, the Falasha Jews are relentlessly persecuted in Ethiopia. In South Africa, antiapartheid religious believers, both black and white, are harassed and jailed or banned.

In many Latin American countries, Jews, Catholic priests, nuns, and lay leaders, as well as those who work with Protestant mission groups, are tortured, jailed, or assassinated for their witness on behalf of the poor, the silenced, and the suffering.

In Asia, the Moslems are fighting a bitter war in the Philippines; In Taiwan, South Korea, and other countries, the Presbyterians and other Christians suffer harsh treatment because of their beliefs.

In the U.S.S.R. and other East European countries, both Christians and Jews are harshly persecuted for their beliefs, and most of them are denied the right to immigrate to countries where their freedom of worship is secure.

In the Middle East, similar repressions can be found. In Iran, the situation is desperate as the Baha'i community has been singled out for extermination by the Islamic authorities solely because of their faith; in Egypt many of the Coptic Christians languish in jails. When President Mubarak met with the committee last week, I raised the question of the Coptic Pope who is also being held in detention.

The list goes on. What is interesting to note is that this is an issue that transcends all national boundaries. It doesn't matter whether the countries are authoritarian or totalitarian or capitalistic or socialistic, or African, Asian, Latin American, or European, religious persecution is a phenomenon that is widespread in the world today.

The sad truth is that few countries in the world enjoy the religious freedoms that are so treasured in the United States. All available evidence presented to the subcommittee indicates that the free exercise of religion is limited, at least to a degree, in most regions of the world. Religious freedom is a human rights issue. As a people who profess to be "God fearing," the United States ought to give special attention to the question of religious persecution. The Bible speaks out plainly about this subject.

[Mr. Bonker's prepared opening statement follows:]

PREPARED OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DON BONKER, CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

This hearing is the first in a series of hearings the Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations is holding on the subject of religious persecution as a violation of human rights. It is an issue of particular concern to me, and one which I look forward to investigating in greater depth in the course of these hearings.

Beginning in the early 1970's, the Congress developed a human rights policy through a series of amendments to the Foreign Assistance Act. The basis of that policy is the description of violations of human rights as found in sections 116 and 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 as amended. This includes, "torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charges, causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction and clandestine detention of those persons or other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, and the security of person."

The Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations has conducted a number of hearings to make sure that successive administrations have complied with the letter and spirit of the human rights laws.

Today, many innocent people around the world are also victims of a special kind of human rights violation-religious persecution. The phenomenon of religious persecution is not limited to any particular political system or region of the world. Unfortunately, it occurs too often and people are made to suffer because of their religious and ethical convictions.

In Albania and North Korea-officially atheistic states-religion of any kind is outlawed.

In Africa, the Falasha Jews are relentlessly persecuted in Ethiopia; in South Africa, anti-apartheid religious believers-both black and white-are harassed, jailed, or banned.

In many Latin American countries, Jews, Catholic priests, nuns, and lay leaders, as well as those who work with Protestant mission groups, are tortured, jailed, or assassinated for their witness on behalf of the poor, the silenced, and the suffering. In Asia, the Moslems are fighting a bitter war in the Philippines; in Taiwan, South Korea and other countries, the Presbyterians and other Christians suffer harsh treatment because of their beliefs.

In the U.S.S.R. and other East European countries, both Christians and Jews are harshly persecuted for their beliefs, and most of them are denied the right to immigrate to countries where their freedom of worship is secure.

In the Middle East, similar repressions can be found. In Iran, the situation is desperate as the Baha'i community has been singled out for extermination by the İslamic authorities solely because of their faith; in Egypt many of the Coptic Christians languish in jails.

The list goes on-the sad truth is that few countries in the world enjoy the religious freedoms that are so treasured in the United States. All available evidence presented to the subcommittee indicates that the free exercise of religion is limited, at least to a degree, in most parts of the world. And discrimination, imprisonment, torture and death are often the price paid for one's religious belief.

Religious freedom is a human rights issue. As a people who profess to be "God fearing," the United States ought to give special attention to the question of religious persecution. The Bible speaks plainly about this subject. Jesus said of victims of persecution, "Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. . . ." At today's hearing, we have several excellent witnesses who will give us the definition, scope and historical aspects of religious persecution. In subsequent hearings we will focus on specific instances of religious persecution in the Middle East and Europe, in Latin America, in Asia, and in Africa.

Mr. BONKER. The subcommittee intends to have two such sessions in which we can hear from experts in this field and to get an idea of the scope of this very important problem. Subsequently, the subcommittee will have hearings on specific examples of religious persecution so that we can focus exclusive attention on more acute cases of persecution of religious freedoms.

At this time, I would like the three witnesses to come to the witness table, and we will hear from each of you before we open for questions and comments.

While they are approaching the table, I would like to call on the ranking minority member of the subcommittee, Mr. Jim Leach, for comments.

Mr. LEACH. Mr. Chairman, I just want to congratulate you for holding these hearings on this very important subject.

First, I would like to note that Congressman Porter had requested the opportunity to testify. I understand that the feeling was that because his resolution might be more appropriately dealt with at a later date, he could testify then.

Second, I would like to note that I have had the privilege of working for Dean Ernest Gordon at the Princeton University Chapel as a young chapel deacon. He brings before the subcommittee a background of a different type of persecution that I think all