Expressing Sense of the House Regarding Religious Persecution in Afghanistan

EXPRESSING SENSE OF THE HOUSE REGARDING RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION IN AFGHANISTAN -- (Extensions of Remarks - March 30, 2006)

SPEECH OF
HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF
OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 2006

* Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 736, a resolution to Condemn Afghan Attempts to Prosecute Converts. I share my colleagues' deep concern regarding the case of Mr. Abdul Rahman and the questions it raises regarding Afghanistan's commitment to religious freedom and human rights. I have sent a letter to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and I submit it for the RECORD.

DEAR PRESIDENT KARZAI: I am writing to you concerning the case of Abdul Rahman, whose conversion to Christianity could have cost him his life under traditional Sharia law.

Along with many in the U.S. as well as in Britain, Germany, Italy, and Australia, I am relieved that Mr. Rahman will not be tried for exercising a right that is guaranteed to him by national and international law. I recognize that you face strong domestic opposition to this decision, but I urge the Afghan government to stand by it and to use this opportunity to demonstrate your Government's commitment to tolerance, the rule of law, and the democratic ideals that are just beginning to take root in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's Constitution stipulates that Afghanistan shall abide by the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that "everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief." Additionally, although Afghanistan is an Islamic state, its Constitution expressly grants followers of other religions the right to freely exercise "their faith and perform their religious rites within the limits and the provisions of law." The case of Abdul Rahman highlights the need to define these limits.

Your steady and principled leadership during the uncertain post-war period earned you the admiration and trust of the citizens of Afghanistan, who chose you to defend their hard-won freedoms and rights as their first democratically-elected President. Similarly, the international community has supported your reform efforts and we congratulate you on the major social, political, economic and security improvements in Afghanistan since the defeat of the Taliban.

The strength and legitimacy of your democratically-elected Government will ultimately depend upon that government's ability and willingness to protect and promote the fundamental human rights of all Afghani citizens. While it may be permitted under Islamic Sharia law, the threatened execution of Mr. Rahman would have violated the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Afghan Constitution. We are grateful this man's life has been spared, and we hope that your government will take this opportunity to clarify the supremacy of Afghanistan's constitution within your country's legal framework.

http://thomas.loc.gov/