Yesterday, the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations, of the U.S. House International Relations Committee held hearings on "Monitoring Respect for Human Rights Around the World: A Review of the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2005". (A webcast of the hearings, as well as selected transcripts, is available online- scroll to March 16, 2006.) Among those testifying specifically about issues of religious freedom were Catholic Bishop Thomas Wenski, Nina Shea (Director of Center for Religious Freedom), and Serbian Orthodox Bishop Kyr Teodosije. (See prior related posting.)
In a related matter, the House on Wednesday passed H.Con. Res. 190 expressing the sense of the Congress that the Russian Federation should fully protect the freedoms of all religious communities without distinction, whether registered and unregistered, as stipulated by the Russian Constitution and international standards. Text of the debate and passage are available online.
