TITLE 22 > CHAPTER 73 > § 6402

§ 6402. Definitions

In this chapter:

(11) Particularly severe violations of religious freedom

The term “particularly severe violations of religious freedom” means systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom, including violations such as—

(A) torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment;

(B) prolonged detention without charges;

(C) causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction or clandestine detention of those persons; or

(D) other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the security of persons.

(13) Violations of religious freedom

The term “violations of religious freedom” means violations of the internationally recognized right to freedom of religion and religious belief and practice, as set forth in the international instruments referred to in section 6401-a-2 of this title and as described in section 6401-a-3 of this title, including violations such as—

(A) arbitrary prohibitions on, restrictions of, or punishment for—

(i) assembling for peaceful religious activities such as worship, preaching, and prayer, including arbitrary registration requirements;

(ii) speaking freely about one’s religious beliefs;

(iii) changing one’s religious beliefs and affiliation;

(iv) possession and distribution of religious literature, including Bibles; or

(v) raising one’s children in the religious teachings and practices of one’s choice; or

(B) any of the following acts if committed on account of an individual’s religious belief or practice: detention, interrogation, imposition of an onerous financial penalty, forced labor, forced mass resettlement, imprisonment, forced religious conversion, beating, torture, mutilation, rape, enslavement, murder, and execution.

SOURCE:

Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute (cache)