105th CONGRESS Printed for the use of the 2nd Session Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe Deteriorating Religious Liberties in Europe July 30, 1998 Briefing of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 234 Ford House Office Building Washington, Dc 20515-6460 (202) 225-1901 [email protected] Http://www.house.gov/csce/ LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS HOUSE SENATE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey (VACANT) Co-Chairman Co-Chairman JOHN EDWARD PORTER, Illinois BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado FRANK R. WOLF, Virginia KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas MATT SALMON, Arizona SPENCER ABRAHAM, Michigan (VACANT) SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas STENY H. HOYER, Maryland FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts HARRY REID, Nevada BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland BOB GRAHAM, Florida LOUISE MCINTOSH SLAUGHTER, New York RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS (VACANT), Department of State (VACANT), Department of Defense (VACANT), Department of Commerce COMMISSION STAFF DOROTHY DOUGLAS TAFT, Chief of Staff MICHAEL R. HATHAWAY, Deputy Chief of Staff ELIZABETH M. CAMPBELL, Staff Assistant\Systems Administrator MARIA V. COLL, Office Administrator OREST DEYCHAKIWSKY, Staff Advisor JOHN F. FINERTY, Staff Advisor CHADWICK R. GORE, Communications Director, Digest Editor ROBERT HAND, Staff Advisor JANICE HELWIG, Staff Advisor MARLENE KAUFMANN, Counsel for International Trade MICHAEL KOBY, Special Counsel KAREN S. LORD, Counsel for Freedom of Religion RONALD J. MCNAMARA, Staff Advisor MICHAEL J. OCHS, Staff Advisor ERIKA B. SCHLAGER, Counsel for International Law MAUREEN T. WALSH, Counsel ii ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION (OSCE) The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki process, traces its origin to the signing of the Helsinki Final Act in Finland on August 1, 1975, by the leaders of 33 European countries, the United States and Canada. Since then, its membership has expanded to 55, reflecting the breakup of the Soviet Union, Czechoslova- kia, and Yugoslavia. (The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro, has been suspended since 1992, leaving the number of countries fully participating at 54.) As of Janu- ary 1, 1995, the formal name of the Helsinki process was changed to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The OSCE is engaged in standard setting in fields including military security, economic and environmental cooperation, and human rights and humanitarian concerns. In addition, it undertakes a variety of preventive diplomacy initiatives designed to prevent, manage and resolve conflict within and among the participating States. The OSCE has its main office in Vienna, Austria, where weekly meetings of permanent representatives are held. In addition, specialized seminars and meetings are convened in various locations and periodic consultations among Senior Officials, Ministers and Heads of State or Government are held. ABOUT THE COMMISSION (CSCE) The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), also known as the Helsinki Commission, is a U.S. Government agency created in 1976 to monitor and encour- age compliance with the agreements of the OSCE. The Commission consists of nine members from the U.S. House of Representatives, nine members from the U.S. Senate, and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense and Commerce. The positions of Chair and Co-Chair are shared by the House and Senate and rotate every two years, when a new Congress convenes. A professional staff assists the Commissioners in their work. To fulfill its mandate, the Commission gathers and disseminates information on Hel- sinki-related topics both to the U.S. Congress and the public by convening hearings, issuing reports reflecting the views of the Commission and/or its staff, and providing information about the activities of the Helsinki process and events in OSCE participating States. At the same time, the Commission contributes its views to the general formulation of U.S. policy on the OSCE and takes part in its execution, including through Member and staff participation on U.S. Delegations to OSCE meetings as well as on certain OSCE bodies. Members of the Commission have regular contact with parliamentarians, government offi- cials, representatives of non-governmental organizations, and private individuals from OSCE participating States. iii BOSNIA, CROATIA, MACEDONIA AND SERBIA: ELECTORAL AND POLITICAL OUTLOOK FOR 1999 JANUARY 8, 1999 PARTICIPANTS Page Robert A. Hand, Staff Advisor, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe ................................................................................................... 1 Francesca Binda, National Democratic Institute (NDI) ......................................................... 2 Karen Gainer, NDI .................................................................................................................... 3 Eric Jowett, International Republican Institute (IRI) ............................................................ 6 Kent Patton, IRI ........................................................................................................................ 9 Paul Rowland, NDI ................................................................................................................. 14 iv DETERIORATING RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN EUROPE THURSDAY, JULY 30, 1998 COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE, WASHINGTON, DC The briefing took place in room 2200, Rayburn Office Building, Washington, D.C., at 2:07 p.m., E. Wayne Merry, Chair, presiding. Mr. Merry. Good afternoon. I would like to welcome you to this public briefing of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. My name is Wayne Merry, Senior Advisor to the Commission. To begin, I would like to introduce the Staff Director of the Commission, Mr. Michael Hathaway, who will say some words about rescheduling the joint hearing with the House International Relations Committee we had hoped to hold this morning. Mr. Hathaway. Yes. As many of you may know, we had originally been scheduled to have a hearing today at 10:00 a.m., captioned, Continuing Religious Intolerance in Europe. Because of last Fridays tragedy, and out of respect for the deceased officers and in consideration of the folks who wanted to attend the funeral, Chairman DAmato and the Co- Chairman, Congressman Smith, decided, in cooperation with Chairman Gilman (because it was going to be a joint hearing with House International Relations), that we would cancel this mornings hearing. However, we are planning to reschedule, presuming that the International Relations Committees schedule and the Commissions schedule can be made to match up, for some time in September. We do not have an agreed-upon date, and when we do we will issue a notice of the new hearing. Thank you. Mr. Merry. Todays briefing is one of a series which the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe has been conducting and will conduct on the subject of religious liberties within the OSCE region. For those of you unfamiliar with our efforts, let me just say briefly, the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe is an independent U.S. Government agency established by the Congress 20 years ago in the aftermath of the signing of the Helsinki Final Act. The statutory mandate of the Commission is to monitor the implementation of the commitments under the Helsinki Final Act, with emphasis on those affecting human rights. The Commission is composed of nine members of the Senate, nine members of the House of Representatives, and three commissioners appointed by the President. It is supported by a permanent staff. In recent years, the work of the Commission has increasingly focused on what we perceive to be a developing problem of restrictions on religious liberties in several countries who are participating States to the OSCE. Unlike in the cold war period, where the focus of this attention was primarily on countries who professed either atheistic or at least semi- adversarial positions toward religion, today we find increasingly that we must turn our 1 attention to countries which traditionally had a much more tolerant view toward religious minorities. We find that today our attentions are not only concentrated on countries of the former communist world, though in a number of those countries there are serious problems which we follow with some care, but also on countries in Western and Central Europe. Our procedure today will be to have presentations by our two guest speakers, followed by an open period of comment, questions and answers. All activities of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe are public; therefore, the proceedings today will be transcribed and will become part of our normal publication series, which is also available on our web site. Let me say that if anyone here wishes to know more about the activities of this Commission in the area of religious liberty, I refer you to our Counsel on Religious Liberty, Karen Lord, who is in the back corner of the room near the door, who will be happy to be in touch with you. One of the most important speakers scheduled for the joint hearing scheduled for this morning was Doctor Massimo Introvigne. He had already departed Italy on his way to the United States before we canceled that session, but we are very much delighted to be able to have him here this afternoon. For anyone who follows questions of religious liberty in Europe, I believe Doctor Introvigne