FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 27, 2005

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

WASHINGTON - Commissioner Michael Cromartie will present the findings of the Commission's Policy Focus on Uzbekistan and recommendations for U.S. policy at a roundtable "Human Rights and Instability in Uzbekistan" at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Friday, June 3, from 8:15-9:30 a.m. Commissioner Cromartie will be joined by Robert Templer, Director of the Asia Program at the International Crisis Group, who will present Crisis Group's just-released report, "Uzbekistan: the Andijon Uprising," on recent events in Uzbekistan. The meeting will be chaired by Dr. Martha Brill Olcott, Senior Associate at Carnegie.

In April 2005, the Commission recommended to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the State Department designate Uzbekistan a "country of particular concern," or CPC, in accordance with the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, due to its egregious, systematic, and ongoing violations of religious freedom. CPC designation carries with it the requirement that the U.S. government take specific policy actions, up to and including the cessation of economic and security assistance. Policy Focus on Uzbekistan includes a number of recommendations for U.S. policy. Many of those recommendations were formulated on the basis of a Commission trip to Uzbekistan in October 2004, when the Commission met with Uzbek government officials, human rights activists, religious leaders, and former prisoners in the Ferghana Valley, including in Andijon, as well as in Tashkent and Samarkand.

Uzbek government policies towards religious groups and individuals foreshadowed the violence in Andijon. The Commission has joined others in calling for an international investigation, possibly by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) which has an on-the-ground presence in Uzbekistan, to clarify the tragic course of events in Andijon.

Please RSVP by noon June 2 to Marina Barnett at (202)939-2283 or [email protected]

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
May 11, 2005

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

Uzbekistan: Commissioner to testify on Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON - Commissioner Michael Cromartie is testifying today at a briefing of the United States Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, or Helsinki Commission, on "Unrest in Uzbekistan: Crisis and Prospects." The briefing will be held from 1:30-3:30 p.m. in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 138. Given recent events in Uzbekistan, the briefing will examine policy options for Washington and Tashkent, the causes of the current crisis, the history of the regime, including its record of human rights abuses, and the regime's relationship to the United States.

In April 2005, the Commission recommended to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the State Department designate Uzbekistan a "country of particular concern," or CPC, in accordance with the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act due to its egregious, systematic, and ongoing violations of religious freedom. CPC designation carries with it the requirement that the U.S. government take specific policy actions, up to and including the cessation of economic and security assistance. The Commission's 2005 Annual Report includes a number of recommendations for U.S. policy. Many of those recommendations were formulated on the basis of a Commission trip to Uzbekistan in October 2004, when the Commission met with government officials, human rights activists, religious leaders, and former prisoners in the Ferghana Valley, including in Andijon, as well as in Tashkent and Samarkand.

Uzbek government policies towards religious groups and individuals foreshadowed the tragedy in Andijon. Uzbekistan has a highly restrictive law on religion that severely limits the ability of religious communities to function and that criminalizes all unregistered religious activity. The Uzbek government also exercises a high degree of control over the manner in which the Islamic faith is practiced. Government authorities crack down harshly on Muslim individuals, groups, and mosques that do not conform to government-prescribed practices or that the government claims are associated with extremist political programs. Security threats do exist in Uzbekistan, including from members of Hizb ut-Tahrir and other groups that claim a religious linkage, but these threats do not excuse or justify the scope and harshness of the government's ill treatment of religious believers. The State Department and international human rights organizations have concluded that many of the thousands of prisoners in Uzbekistan have been convicted on charges related to their religious beliefs, practices, or alleged association, and not on specific evidence of advocacy of, or engagement in, acts of violence.

The recent tragic events in Andijon occurred as a result of public protests over the trial of 23 local businessmen who reportedly employed thousands of people in an impoverished region. The Uzbek government claims that the charitable activities of these 23 businessmen are "criminal" and "extremist" and linked to Hizb ut-Tahrir. Given the nature of the Uzbek judicial system-along with the Uzbek practice of convicting persons solely for their alleged membership in banned organizations-it is impossible to ascertain the veracity of such official claims.

USCIRF Commissioner Cromartie said, "The Commission joins those who are calling for an international investigation, possibly by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) which has an on-the-ground presence in Uzbekistan, to clarify the tragic course of events in Andijon."

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
May 11, 2005

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

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) urges President George W. Bush, when he meets tomorrow with Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, to repeat his message in his 2005 State of the Union Address, urging Egypt to "show the way toward democracy in the Middle East." In its just-released  2005 Annual Report , the Commission expressed serious concern about ongoing violations of the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief in Egypt, including widespread problems of discrimination and intolerance against members of minority Muslim, Christian, and other religious communities. These concerns have led the Commission to include Egypt on its  Watch List again.

There is also a growing sense that Islamic extremism is advancing in Egypt with detrimental effects on the prospects for democratic reform, religious tolerance, and the rights of women and girls. Moreover, the Muslim Brotherhood has used the group's ideological roots as a platform to engage in terrorist activity in the past, and some Islamists persist in advocating violence.

The United States has a close relationship with Egypt, including cooperation on regional stability and the war against terrorism. With nearly $2 billion in economic and security assistance, Egypt is the second largest recipient of U.S. aid in the world. USCIRF Chair Preeta D. Bansal said, "The Commission views the strength of the bilateral relationship and repeated calls for reform by the United States as an opportunity for the two countries to increase cooperation significantly to advance protection for the internationally recognized right to freedom of religion or belief and related human rights as an important aspect of U.S. policy to promote freedom and democracy in the greater Middle East."

The Commission has made specific recommendations for U.S. policy. The U.S. government should urge the Egyptian government to:

• Establish a timetable and specific steps to be taken to make progress on political and legal reforms. If the deadlines are met in a timely manner, the U.S. government should consider, within the boundaries of its overall aid to Egypt, providing economic assistance to areas where significant progress had been made. If deadlines are not met, the United States should reconsider the dimensions and direction of its economic assistance;
• Shift de facto responsibility from religious affairs from the state security services, with the exception of cases involving violence, and establish an entity or position (e.g., an ombudsman) in the office of the President to oversee religious affairs in Egypt;
• Allow full access to the constitutional and international guarantees of the rule of law and due process for those individuals charged with violating Section 98 (f) of the Penal Code, which "prohibits citizens from ridiculing or insulting heavenly religions or inciting sectarian strife," instead of having those cases heard by the State Security Courts;
• Repeal the 19th century, Ottoman-era Hamayouni Decree - which requires non-Muslims to obtain a Presidential decree to build a new place of worship - and ensure that all places of worship are subject to the same transparent, non-discriminatory, and efficient criteria and procedures for construction and maintenance;
• More actively investigate societal violence against any individuals or groups on the basis of their religion, particularly the targeting of Coptic Orthodox Christians, to bring those responsible for such violence to justice, and to ensure compensation for those targeted;
• Take all appropriate steps to prevent and punish acts of anti-Semitism, including condemnation of anti-Semitic acts, and, while vigorously protecting freedom of expression, counteract anti-Semitic rhetoric and other organized anti-Semitic activities; and
• Repeal a 1960 presidential decree banning the Baha'i community from practicing their faith.

More extensive recommendations for U.S. policy are in a policy brief on Egypt that the Commission will release at a June 1 event at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC. The Commission traveled to  Egypt in the summer of 2004 to discuss with Egyptians the nation's efforts to advance the right to freedom of religion or belief and related human rights in accordance with the international human rights instruments to which Egypt is a party.

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.

Preeta D. Bansal, Chair

• Felice D. Gaer, Vice Chair Nina Shea, Vice Chair Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Michael Cromartie, Khaled Abou El Fadl, Elizabeth H. Prodromou, Bishop Ricardo Ramirez, Michael K. Young, Ambassador John V. Hanford III, Ex-Officio Joseph R. Crapa, Executive Director