This legislation mandates the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Director of National Intelligence, to submit annual reports to Congress for three years. These reports must provide a detailed description of the Russian Federation's activities involving the persecution, suppression, or discrimination against Christians, Jews, Muslims (including Crimean Tatars), and other religious minorities not affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories. The reports must also identify religious facilities damaged or appropriated and assess the overall impact on religious freedom. A key provision requires the reports to include a list of individuals and entities affiliated with the Russian government or de facto authorities responsible for these abuses. Within 30 days of each report, the President must certify whether there are reasonable grounds to determine that any listed foreign persons have engaged in such conduct. An affirmative certification then obligates the President to impose applicable sanctions on those individuals or entities. These sanctions are to be applied under existing authorities, including those related to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and various Ukraine-/Russia-related sanctions regulations. The bill allows for the waiver or termination of sanctions if an individual or entity is later determined to no longer be engaged in the specified conduct. All reports are to be submitted in an unclassified form, though they may include a classified annex.
This legislation mandates the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Director of National Intelligence, to submit annual reports to Congress for three years. These reports must provide a detailed description of the Russian Federation's activities involving the persecution, suppression, or discrimination against Christians, Jews, Muslims (including Crimean Tatars), and other religious minorities not affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories. The reports must also identify religious facilities damaged or appropriated and assess the overall impact on religious freedom. A key provision requires the reports to include a list of individuals and entities affiliated with the Russian government or de facto authorities responsible for these abuses. Within 30 days of each report, the President must certify whether there are reasonable grounds to determine that any listed foreign persons have engaged in such conduct. An affirmative certification then obligates the President to impose applicable sanctions on those individuals or entities. These sanctions are to be applied under existing authorities, including those related to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and various Ukraine-/Russia-related sanctions regulations. The bill allows for the waiver or termination of sanctions if an individual or entity is later determined to no longer be engaged in the specified conduct. All reports are to be submitted in an unclassified form, though they may include a classified annex.