In this chapter:
(1) Ambassador at Large The term Ambassador at Large means the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom appointed under section
6411 (b) of this title.
(2) Annual Report The term Annual Report means the Annual Report on International Religious Freedom described in section
6412 (b) of this title.
(3) Appropriate congressional committees The term appropriate congressional committees means
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives; and
(B) in the case of any determination made with respect to the taking of President
action under paragraphs (9) through (15) of section
6445 (a) of this title, the term includes the committees described in subparagraph (A) and, where appropriate, the Committee on Banking and Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.
(4) Commensurate action The term commensurate action means action taken by the President under section
6445 (b) of this title.
(5) Commission The term Commission means the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom established in section
6431 (a) of this title.
(6) Country Reports on Human Rights Practices The term Country Reports on Human Rights Practices means the annual reports required to be submitted by the Department of State to Congress under sections
2151n (d) and
2304 (b) of this title.
(7) Executive Summary The term Executive Summary means the Executive Summary to the Annual Report, as described in section
6412 (b)(1)(F) of this title.
(8) Government or foreign government
The term government or foreign government includes any agency or instrumentality of the government.
(9) Human Rights Reports The term Human Rights Reports means all reports submitted by the Department of State to Congress under sections
2151n and
2304 of this title.
(10) Office The term Office means the Office on International Religious Freedom established in section
6411 (a) of this title.
(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.
(12) Special Adviser The term Special Adviser means the Special Adviser to the President on International Religious Freedom described in section
402 (i) of title
50.
(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 ones religious beliefs;
(iii) changing ones religious beliefs and affiliation;
(iv) possession and distribution of religious literature, including Bibles; or
(v) raising ones children in the religious teachings and practices of ones choice; or
(B) any of the following acts if committed on account of an individuals 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.