I'd like to welcome everyone to this hearing on religious persecution in the Middle East. Our hearing today will focus on the faces of the persecuted. In addition to witnesses who have dedicated their lives to the betterment of the lot of oppressed Christians, we have a few witnesses today who will provide first hand testimony to the persecution they have endured for their faith.

We greatly appreciate the courage of these witnesses in speaking out. They do so at potential getting out word of the risk to themselves and their families and yet they remain committed to persecution being perpetrated in their countries.

Indeed, this is a subject that for too long has remained unnoticed or deliberately ignored. But silence has only served to give free reign to the persecutors.

Today's hearing is the second one on this subject held by this subcommittee and we are planning more. This is a subject about which -- unfortunately-- there is much to say.

After the last hearing I chaired on religious persecution, I received critiques to the effect that our hearings deal only with Christians. I would like to say that this hearing, like the last one, is one of a series that this subcommittee will be holding. Future hearings will not only focus on the persecution of Christians but also that of other religious minorities in the Middle East.

As I mentioned at the last hearing, I believe that as Americans, we have a unique obligation to speak out against religious persecution. The right to freely practice the religion of one's choice is a freedom central to our republic. We must not fall to defend a principle that our founding fathers viewed as fundamental to our democracy.

Senator Lieberman Testimony

Good afternoon. I would like to thank Senators Brownback and Robb and the other members of the Subcommittee for inviting me here today. Secretary Bennett and I recently initiated an effort to raise public awareness about on-going religious persecution around the world. These hearings are a welcome and important step toward addressing this heinous problem, and I am grateful for the opportunity to speak about those who, literally, are dying for their faith.

In too many corners of the globe, innocent men, women and children are being suppressed, tortured, imprisoned, and murdered simply because of their religious beliefs. They number, at least, in the thousands. The persecution they suffer is familiar and fatal. It did not stop with the defeat of Nazism or the cease-fire in Bosnia. It goes on today, mainly targeted against Christians, and mostly occurring in a few remnant communist countries and fanatical Islamic states. It seems to be gaining strength as the millennium approaches.

Some of the most awful persecution is being perpetrated against Copts in Egypt, and Christians in Lebanon, Sudan and Saudi Arabia, the region this Subcommittee focuses on. According to knowledgeable observers, including Amnesty International and the UN's Special Representatives, and as documented by Nina Shea of Freedom House and others, the persecution of Christians and others who refuse to convert to a fanatical brand of Islam is on the increase in these countries. While much of the evidence is anecdotal -- these governments are not anxious to catalogue and share this damning information -- it is nonetheless compelling. Where we can quantify the problem, it is shocking enough: in Saudi Arabia, more than 1,000 Christian expatriates have been arrested and imprisoned since 1990 for simply participating in private worship services. And where we can only describe it – arresting Christian activists in Lebanon because they do not want to abide to the Syrian controlled regime; driving Copts from their homes in Egypt; beating and then murdering evangelical pastors in Iran -- it is a call to action.

We Americans cannot help but be repulsed by the kind of savagery that turns faith into a death sentence. Our nation was founded by religious people seeking freedom to follow their faith. Their political vision -- as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution -- was based on their spiritual conviction that freedom, and especially freedom of religion, is an endowment from our Creator, not a gift to be granted or taken away by governments. So as Americans, we have a unique obligation to speak out and to act against religious persecution wherever we find it.

We are here to ask you to help put an end to this tragedy. The persecution of people of faith must stop, and America, by her very nature and convictions, must lead the effort to stop it.

Raising public awareness will do part of the job; and so will energizing the churches, synagogues and temples of the United States to rail against the persecution of their brothers and sisters around the world. We already know enough to be outraged, to be mortally offended, by what is happening. A number of dedicated people have devoted their recent life's work to informing and challenging our consciences, and our presence here today is an effort to amplify their cries of shame. But we still do not have a complete picture of the enormity of this problem. Part of the effort we must make is to collect reliable information about this issue and to disseminate it widely. We need to get the facts, to get them reliably, and to make them known.

But public awareness is not enough. We also need to make sure that the many arms of our government become more actively involved in this fight. In multilateral and bilateral discussions, from President and Secretary of State and Ambassador, to consular officer, INS inspector and intelligence analyst, we need to make sure that the people who set and execute our foreign policies understand that one of their priorities is to take seriously claims of religious persecution and thereby help stop the flow of innocent blood. Congress needs to establish that expectation, and, if necessary, the legislative tools to meet it.

Ambassador Paul Wolfowitz recently suggested that the main goal of foreign policy in the days ahead should be to make sure the 21st century is not a repeat of the 20th century. Two world wars, a cold war, several genocides, and a host of smaller conflicts make the last 100 years among the bloodiest in history. A frightening number of those victims have been perversely singled out because of their faith. In fact, according to some credible reports, more Christians have died because of their religious beliefs in the 20th century than in the first nineteen after the birth of Jesus. For too long, the world has ignored the plight of these victims. It is time for us to make clear once again that we hear their blood crying out from the ground. It is time for us once again to embrace our most fundamental values and to put an end to innocent suffering.

Would you like to comment on this testimony?

USCFL Home     Golden Circle     Membership     Mission Statement   Current Views
US Testimonies     Intelligence  Special Reports    Activities    Action Alerts    Selected Links
Selected Readings      Guestbook     FAQs     How to Contact Us     Search