FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 10, 2003

Contact:
Anne Johnson, Director of Communications, (202) 523-3240 (202) 523-3240, ext. 27

U.S. Refugee Admissions Program: Improve Access for Those Fleeing Religious Repression

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), has written Undersecretary of State Paul Dobriansky calling on the State Department to improve access to the U.S. Refugee Program for individuals fleeing religious freedom violations. Citing the plight of religious groups fleeing repression in Burma, China, Iran, North Korea, and Sudan, the Commission recommended that "systematic consideration of groups benefiting from improved access to the refugee program should, at the very least, be triggered when the Secretary, pursuant to Section 402 of IRFA, designates ‘countries of particular concern' (‘CPCs') to the United States on the basis of ‘systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.'"

"The United States Refugee Admissions Program helps more than just those individuals whom it resettles. Resettlement also serves a strategic purpose by drawing domestic and international attention to the human rights abuses that force refugees to flee, including severe violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief," wrote USCIRF Chair Michael K. Young.

The text of the letter follows:

Dear Undersecretary Dobriansky:

On behalf of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, I am pleased to inform you that the Commission has adopted policy recommendations relevant to the recent Report to Congress on Proposed Refugee Admissions for FY2004. I hope these will inform State Department efforts to "identify populations and priorities that make achieving the FY2004 refugee admissions ceiling (of 70,000) possible."

With Thanksgiving approaching, we are reminded that the earliest European settlers to North America risked their lives to sail across the ocean in search of religious freedom. The inextricable link between religious freedom violations and refugee flows continues to this day, and is acknowledged throughout Title VI of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA).

The United States Refugee Admissions Program helps more than just those individuals whom it resettles. Resettlement also serves a strategic purpose by drawing domestic and international attention to the human rights abuses that force refugees to flee, including severe violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief.

With this in mind, the Commission encourages the Department of State to more systematically facilitate access to the Refugee Program for individuals fleeing religious freedom violations. We would propose this be done by taking into account information contained in reports of this Commission, as well as those of the Department of State's own Office of International Religious Freedom. Systematic consideration of groups benefiting from improved access to the refugee program should, at the very least, be triggered when the Secretary, pursuant to Section 402 of IRFA, designates "countries of particular concern" ("CPCs") to the United States on the basis of "systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom."

In countries designated as CPCs, the link between severe violations of religious freedom and refugee flows is clear. Last year, the Secretary designated six "Countries of Particular Concern." To name just a few examples demonstrating the link between CPC designations and vulnerable refugee groups in need of a durable solution: North Koreans in China, Chinese Uighur Muslims in Central Asia and Nepal, Tibetan Buddhists in Nepal and India, Chinese Christians and Falun Gong scattered throughout the world, Southern Sudanese in Egypt and Kenya, Iranian religious minorities in Europe, Turkey and Pakistan, Burmese Chin in India, and Iraqi Chaldeans and Mandaeans throughout the Middle East. The Taliban regime in Afghanistan was also designated to be of "particular concern" to the United States for severe violations of religious freedom, creating many refugees with religious persecution claims, even though they were of the same faith as the Taliban.

The FY04 Admissions Document, however, indicates that only nationals fleeing religious persecution from one CPC - Iran - may apply for refugee status (under "Priority Two") without a referral from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Nationals of Burma and Sudan are also permitted to apply under the "Priority Three" designation, but only if they have a spouse, child or (in limited circumstances) parent in the United States.

The Commission recognizes the delicate and complex issues raised by expanding access to the refugee program, and is not proposing that nationals from "Countries of Particular Concern" be granted the automatic right to apply for refugee status. Rather, the Commission recommends that the Department use its expertise to carefully consider each CPC designation and deliberate how the U.S. Refugee Program could strategically re-enforce U.S. policy to promote religious freedom, and to protect those who seek to exercise this fundamental human right.

The Annual Report on Proposed Refugee Admissions, pursuant to section 601(d) of IRFA, already contains "information about the religious persecution of refugees eligible for consideration for admission..." It would be useful, however, if the document also included a review of each CPC designation, including an explanation of how the U.S. Refugee Program has considered processing priorities for those who have fled Countries of Particular Concern.

Finally, the Commission would like to reiterate the concern, originally expressed in its May 2002 Annual Report, that the Refugee Program has yet to develop the guidelines mandated by sections 602(c)(1) and (2) of IRFA to eliminate hostile biases in refugee program personnel and ensure proper refugee case file preparation. The Commission would be pleased to lend its own expertise in support of the efforts of the Refugee Program to comply with these statutory provisions.

The Commission would welcome the opportunity to work with the U.S. Refugee Program to identify populations and processing priorities and achieve its stated goals for FY2004.

Sincerely,

Michael K. Young

Chair

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to monitor the status of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international instruments, and to give independent policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and the Congress.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 5, 2003

Contact:
Anne Johnson, Director of Communications, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27

WASHINGTON - U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Vice Chair Nina Shea will join Representatives Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) at a press conference today on Capitol Hill to call on Vietnam to cease its latest assault on human rights and religious freedom. Reps. Lofgren, Sanchez and Smith will unveil H.Res. 427, a resolution introduced by the Congressional Caucus on Vietnam (CCV), which acknowledges the leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and the urgent need for religious freedom and related human rights in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

H. Res. 427 cites the Commission's latest report on Vietnam which urges that Vietnam be designated a County of Particular Concern (CPC) for "egregious, systematic and ongoing abuses of religious freedom." The Resolution also specifically advocates that the "Congress and the executive branch implement the recommendations of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom."

"The passage of H. Res. 427 will send another clear message to the Vietnamese government that better relations between our two countries will only be achieved when there are notable improvements in human rights," said Shea.

WHAT:Press Conference on the Vietnamese Government's Recent Crackdown on Religious Freedom

WHEN:Wednesday, November 5, 2003, 2:00 p.m.

WHERE:121 Cannon House Office Building

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to monitor the status of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international instruments, and to give independent policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and the Congress.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 4, 2003

Contact:
Anne Johnson, Director of Communications, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27

Foundation for Free and Stable Country Imperiled, says Commission Chair Young

WASHINGTON - Contrary to reports in the international media, the new Afghan draft constitution fails to protect the fundamental human rights of individual Afghans, including freedom of thought, conscience and religion, in accordance with international standards. "There is no guarantee of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion in the draft constitution's Bill of Rights. The draft threatens to institutionalize a "Taliban-lite" state where appointed judges are given the unchecked authority to ensure that all laws conform to their interpretation of the religion of Islam. Provisions protecting these freedoms are found in the constitutions of other Islamic countries. The people of Afghanistan deserve no less," said U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Chair Michael K. Young.

USCIRF Commissioners expressed concern that the draft constitution:

• subordinates to ordinary legislation most basic individual rights, including rights to life and the freedoms of expression and association. The rights provisions are thus non-binding aspirations that may be displaced by ordinary enactments of legislative bodies.

• mandates that all legislation must conform to the religion of Islam, enshrining the supremacy of Islamic law even over the individual rights provisions in the constitution.

• fails to include a specific guarantee for individual rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to both of which Afghanistan is party.

• threatens to create a judicial theocracy where judges who are unrestrained by checks and balances of other branches of government, have the ultimate authority to determine the conformity of enacted laws with Islam and must apply specific schools of Islamic jurisprudence when no provision of law addresses an issue before them. This would allow for a religious orthodoxy to be officially imposed, stifling dissent within the Islamic tradition.

Several provisions of the draft constitution enshrine the supremacy of Islamic law, threatening the rights of all Afghans. According to the draft constitution, judges should adjudicate cases based on specified schools of Islamic jurisprudence where there is no relevant constitutional provision or law. According to articles one through three, Afghanistan is to be "an Islamic Republic." Islam is proclaimed "the religion of Afghanistan" and "no law can be contrary to the sacred religion of Islam" and to the values of the constitution. The final authority to determine the conformity of legislation to Islam is granted to the Supreme Court. Afghanistan's Supreme Court Chief Justice Fazl Hadi Shinwari has shown little regard for those who disagree with his hard-line interpretation of Islam. He told the USCIRF that he rejects three crucial freedoms - expression, religion and equality of sexes - all of which are international standards protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Activist judges could pursue an Islamist political agenda, silencing political moderates and reformers with charges of apostasy, blasphemy, or "offending Islam," a concept that is already part of the legal system. Charges have already been made on several occasions. Recently, the Washington Post reported that a group of women producing a radio program concerning women's rights in the new Afghanistan were forced to pull the program from the air when several religious leaders complained that the show was encouraging women to leave their husbands. The women complied in fear of being labeled "infidels."

Under the draft constitution, the state has affirmative obligations to devise and implement educational curricula "based on the provisions of the sacred religion of Islam," to support Islamic religious institutions, and to ensure "the elimination of [family and child-rearing] traditions contrary to the principals of the sacred religion of Islam." The draft thus envisions, provides for, and firmly guarantees the privileged place of Sharia law.

The draft recognizes a limited right to perform religious "ceremonies" that is restricted to non-Muslims. Even the exercise of this right can be limited by ordinary law.

The draft does include an explicit statement that the Afghan state "shall abide by the United Nations Charter, international treaties, international conventions that Afghanistan has signed, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights." However, the rights provisions in the draft constitution do not track international standards, making those standards vulnerable to being ignored in practice.

The United States should strongly urge Afghans:

• to include in their Bill of Rights a specific guarantee that, "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion" as affirmed in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

• to provide in the constitution that ordinary laws cannot limit the exercise of rights, except under the limited circumstances, such as the protection of public safety and order, permitted in international human rights law; and

• to state clearly in the constitution that any law that abridges constitutionally-protected rights is void.

"Provisions such as these are found in the constitutions of other Islamic countries," said Young. "Without these protections, not only will the current transitional Afghan administration have failed its people, but the United States will have failed in its efforts to lay the foundation for a free and stable Afghanistan."

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to monitor the status of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international instruments, and to give independent policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and the Congress."