Reverend ARNOLD. Well, I think that there are very harsh measures being taken which would perhaps complement the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc nations. It's just that many of these measures are not recorded. Mr. BONKER. Are there people being summarily executed in the Soviet Union today because they wouldn't deny their faith? Reverend ARNOLD. Yes, sir. Mr. BONKER. So why are we concerned about the case of the seven Pentecostals when there are more severe cases that we know about? Reverend ARNOLD. Of course, this has come to world public opinion. This has become a test case. Mr. BONKER. The other cases ought to be coming to world public opinion too. Reverend ARNOLD. It should. And as I indicate in my report, the more we make the evidence and reports known and submit them to world public opinion, as you mention, to the appropriate individuals that can take action, the more―― Mr. BONKER. I don't think this subcommittee has received any current reports to that respect. I recall a few years ago in Idi Amin's Uganda there was very demonstrative evidence of executions because of people's faith. Bishops were assassinated because Idi Amin had embraced the Islamic faith. He was going to demonstrate his allegiance to Qaddafi and others by persecuting in a rather gruesome way the Christians in Uganda. There was an uproar but not so much because of religious persecution, but because of just killings that were occurring at the time. Did Solidarity International speak out on the Ugandan situation then? Reverend ARNOLD. Well, of course, Solidarity has only been existant for 5 years but it worked with, at that time, those who were concerned about persecution of believers with Festo Kivengere, who is one of the most outspoken persons in Uganda today. Mr. BONKER. Well, I heard it is getting worse today. Mr. BONKER. I really appreciate the work that your organization is doing. We have gotten a wealth of information for the subcommittee, so keep up the good work. Mrs. Hruby, you wanted to say something? Mrs. HRUBY. I wanted to say that the executions and torture in the Soviet Union continue, but I don't think that we can help those who have been executed; we must help those who are still suffering. I would like to quote one case which is absolutely brutal. An 83-year-old Adventist minister named Vladimir Shelkov, who had spent 25 years in camps and prisons for spreading the word of God, was arrested, charged with subversion and high treason and sentenced to 5 years at hard labor in a Siberian camp. He died 2 years ago at the age of 84. There was practically no outcry. The man was executed by a slow process. It would have been much more merciful if they had chopped off his head or shot him. These cases are repeated. There are a number of Lithuanian priests who were murdered. The torture, the mutilations are largely unreported. We are receiving information and we are trying to process as much as we can-we are just scratching the surface. I just received a couple of days ago photographs from a prayer meeting held outside of Moscow in the suburbs in a private home raided by the police. Considering the economic situation in the Soviet Union, you have to realize that this costs an enormous amount of money. Large funds are allocated to religion. It is just completely unproductive. These people should be spreading fertilizer in the fields instead of harassing peaceful people. But unless we point to it, unless we do something about it, there is no hope for them. They don't have anyone to support them. As I said, there is no one representing them in any of the elective offices. They are outlaws and police have a field day there. Anybody can harm them and they have no recourse. Mr. BONKER. Well, I suppose to the Soviet regime the ultimate threat, freedom of religion would represent is a form of liberation. That liberation could ultimately threaten the existence of the Soviet Government and the Marxist system? Mrs. HRUBY. But the Soviet Government is coming apart at the seams. It cannot hold together. So religion is naturally its greatest competitor. Mr. BONKER. What about the 40 million-plus Moslems in the Soviet Union? They hold to their faith. Mrs. HRUBY. There is great resurgence caused by the Ayatollah Khomeini, whose tapes are popular in the Soviet Union. We have from our private information, we know that Moslems are becoming very nationalistic and Islam is growing in importance, and that is going to be a tremendous problem for the Soviet Union in a few years. Mr. BONKER. I can imagine. Mrs. HRUBY. There is the cohesion of Moslems families. Mr. BONKER. The Moslem faith is just as devout as the Christian faith. Mrs. HRUBY. Yes, sir, and the Soviets are beginning to fear it very much. Mr. BONKER. Well, I think your appearance today really helps with our understanding of the issue of religious persecution. We certainly want to make this a part of our human rights policy. Again, one gets into the problem of what constitutes religious intolerance and religious persecution where sometimes religious movements take on political activism. I think that is what is perceived in some parts of Latin America. This is another in a series of hearings on religious persecution. The last hearing we focused on the Baha'is because that's a rather acute case. We are now studying the Soviet Union, which is the most notable case of religious persecution, particularly concerning the families that are in the embassy. By highlighting these individual cases perhaps we can build greater public awareness, although I don't know what kind of press turnout we had today. These hearings are a forum of sorts to allow people who are authorities and who know firsthand of these abuses to testify. It goes into a subcommittee record but it is a lot better if it appears somewhere in the Washington Post so that people would know about the abuses and we can build more public awareness to support the policies to deal with them. Well, I want to thank you for appearing and being here so late. The subcommittee stands adjourned. [Whereupon at 5:20, the subcommittee adjourned.] RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION AS A VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS Jews in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe THURSDAY, JULY 29, 1982 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, The subcommittee met in open markup session at 2 p.m., in room 2200, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Don Bonker (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. BONKER. The subcommittee will come to order. The Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations is meeting today to mark up legislation which has been introduced by the chairman of the subcommittee-House Concurrent Resolution 378-and to proceed with the fifth in our series of hearings on religious persecution. We will first take up the resolution concerning the plight of the Baha'is in Iran. We have had other resolutions introduced, one by the ranking minority member, Mr. Leach, and a second by Mr. Stark of California concerning the Baha'is. The subcommittee has conducted a hearing on the persecution of the Baha'is. Therefore it is appropriate for the subcommittee at this time to consider the resolutions that have been introduced I would like to take this opportunity to praise the efforts and the leadership of Mr. Leach and Mr. Stark for bringing this matter to our attention. I would also like to thank them for their earlier work on behalf of the Baha'is and for introducing their resolutions. The chairman consented to introduce the resolution before us today, House Concurrent Resolution 378, at the request of the Baha'i community because it parallels a resolution that was introduced by Senator Heinz in the other body and has passed the other body. In order to avoid a conference with the other body and further delay by having two different versions of the same question, it was decided that we would introduce essentially the Senate resolution and take that up today so that we can expedite action on this matter. At this time I will read just the last portion of the resolution. (357) |