May 12, 1998
Washington (dpa) - The US government wants to prevent a law which would have provided for automatic economic sanctions against countries with restricted religious freedom.
The State Department regards this process as counter-productive, said a high official in Washington on Tuesday. Theoretically, Germany could also be affected by the legislation being brought before congress this week because of its politics concerning the Scientology organization.
The so-called Wolf-Spectre Law would assign a commissioner for religious freedom who would judge the situation in individual countries. If he should decide that religious persecution is taking place, sanctions would result.
The Clinton administration does not go along with such an automatic procedure, said the official. If the proposed legislation receive a majority of the vote in congress, State Secretary Madeleine Albright would recommend to the President that he veto the bill.
The Scientology organization, which is recognized in the USA as a church, claims that its members are persecuted in Germany.
dpa