FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 18, 2003

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

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent and bipartisan federal agency, welcomes the release today by the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom of the fifth annual report documenting conditions of religious freedom in every foreign country.

"Among the countries cited in the new State Department report for egregious religious freedom violations are Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam. In the case of Saudi Arabia, the report states, as it has every year, that freedom of religion does not exist. The extent of the religious freedom violations in Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam demonstrates clearly the importance of U.S. action to ensure their compliance with international human rights standards," said USCIRF Chair Michael K. Young. "The new report leaves no doubt that Secretary of State Colin Powell should promptly designate Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam as ‘countries of particular concern' (CPCs) under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA)," said Young.

CPCs are those countries whose governments engage in or tolerate "systematic, ongoing, and egregious" violations of religious freedom. Currently Burma, China, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, and Sudan are designated as CPCs. Once a country is designated, the IRFA requires the President to oppose those violations by taking actions specified in the IRFA. Such measures can vary, ranging from a private diplomatic demarche to sanctions or a waiver of action. In addition, the Commission recommends the following:

• Saudi Arabia: The U.S. Congress should fund and authorize a study that investigates Saudi government funding of the global propagation of any religious ideology that promotes hate, intolerance, or violence;

• Turkmenistan: The U.S. government should immediately suspend all non-humanitarian assistance to the government of Turkmenistan, a government whose persistent and flagrant violations of religious freedom and other human rights are documented by the State Department;

• Vietnam: The U.S. Congress should pass the Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2003, which would condition future increases in non-humanitarian bilateral assistance to Vietnam on a Presidential certification of demonstrated improvements in the Vietnamese government's protection of religious freedom and other human rights.

The USCIRF appreciates the year-long monitoring, reporting, and dedication necessary to compile such a detailed report.

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
December 17, 2003

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

WASHINGTON - The Weekly Standard published an article in its December 22 edition in which U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Commissioner Nina Shea was quoted as having made a statement regarding Islam and democracy. This quote is inaccurate, according to Commissioner Shea. Moreover, Shea's interview does not reflect the views of the Commission, which is on record in reports, op-eds, and press releases as repeatedly stressing the compatibility of Islam and democracy and human rights.

"We greatly value the contribution Commissioner Shea is making to the work of the Commission and look forward to her contribution in the future. She has published extensively on issues of freedom of religion and belief, and her support of this principle, so critical to the work of the Commission, is unquestioned," said USCIRF Chair Michael K. Young.

Below is the text of her letter to The Weekly Standard:

Letters

The Weekly Standard

To the Editor:

"The Muddle of the Moderate Muslim," December 22, 2003, abridged my quotation about Islamic systems of government and democracy, which changed its meaning. I said that Islam and democracy are not easily compatible. This is undoubtedly as much for political as doctrinal reasons. The documentation compiled by Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom demonstrates that in the major Islamic law (sharia) states of contemporary times - Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Afghanistan - individual rights to freedom of religion and expression, and the legal equality of women and religious minorities are not recognized. As one of the consequences, in all these states Muslim political dissidents have been arrested for the capital crimes of blasphemy and apostasy for having proposed liberal reforms or criticized the government. Furthermore, when Islamic constitutions provide that no law can be repugnant to Islam, as the Iranian and the proposed Afghanistan constitutions do, legislative power risks being undermined by unelected sharia jurists and clerics. Prof. Abou El Fadl is one of the few who possess the scholarship in both legal traditions needed to identify and develop the democratic potential in the Koran. He believes that "For Muslims, a democratic commitment cannot be made in a doctrinal vacuum, but will require that it reconcile with their religious convictions." He has undertaken efforts in this direction, making arguments that individual human rights are moral, "divine law must be distinguished from fallible human interpretations" and the "state should not pretend to embody divine sovereignty and majesty." This work may be more than a motive for some in the Egyptian press to discredit him.

Nina Shea

Director, Center for Religious Freedom

Freedom House

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
December 12, 2003

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

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is deeply concerned over the recent passage of a harshly repressive new law on religion in Turkmenistan. This new law further codifies the Turkmen government's already highly repressive policies on religion that effectively ban most religious activity in Turkmenistan. Even worse, the new legislation calls for criminal penalties for those found guilty of participating in "illegal religious activity."

"The adoption of this law marks a deterioration in the already appalling situation for religious freedom in Turkmenistan, reaffirming the Commission's recommendation that the country be named a ‘country of particular concern' under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998," said USCIRF Chair Michael K. Young. "The enactment of new legal prohibitions on religious practice show that President Niyazov has no intention of easing his repressive policies - let alone of respecting Turkmenistan's international obligations to protect the right to freedom of religion or belief."

Even before the new Turkmen law on religion went into effect on 10 November, only the government-controlled Sunni Muslim and the Russian Orthodox communities have been able to officially register. As a result, the country's Baha'is, Shia Muslims, Jews, Baptists, Pentecostals, Adventists, Armenian Apostolics, Lutherans, Hare Krishnas, Jehovah's Witnesses, and others cannot practice their religion without fear of official sanctions, which have included harassment, detention, imprisonment, beatings, deportation, and fines. On top of this they now face criminal prosecution. Even Sunni Muslims do not escape government repression, as a mosque was closed by the authorities when the imam refused to put a copy of the Ruhnama (President Niyazov's "spiritual writings") on the same stand as the Koran during televised Friday prayers.

The severe repression of religion in Turkmenistan - even before the enactment of the current religion law - has prompted the Commission to recommend that the Secretary of State designate Turkmenistan a "country of particular concern" (CPC). According to Chairman Young, "the passage of an even more repressive law on religion in Turkmenistan is an unambiguous indication of the Turkmen government's continuing and flagrant disregard of its international human rights commitments and clearly puts Turkmenistan in the category of the world's worst religious freedom violators deserving CPC designation."

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.