FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 9, 2004

Contact:

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

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomes the introduction by Senators Susan M. Collins (R-ME) and Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) of a resolution in the U.S. Senate calling for Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to designate Saudi Arabia a "country of particular concern." The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 requires this designation for countries that severely violate religious freedom. The resolution also calls on the government of Saudi Arabia to cease its support globally for a religious ideology that explicitly promotes hatred and intolerance.

"This resolution by Senators Collins and Schumer reinforces the Commission's recommendation that Saudi Arabia should be designated a ‘country of particular concern' (CPC) for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, or belief," said USCIRF Chair Preeta D. Bansal. "While the State Department's 2003 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom again notes that freedom of religion ‘does not exist' in Saudi Arabia, the country still has not been designated a CPC." The Commission began making CPC recommendations in 2000. Each year it has recommended Saudi Arabia be designated a CPC. Since 1999, when the State Department issued its first annual report on religious freedom, the Department has recognized that religious freedom ‘does not exist' in Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia has never been designated a CPC. The Commission reiterated this recommendation during a June 16, 2004 meeting with Secretary Powell.

As the Senate resolution makes clear, the government of Saudi Arabia continues vigorously to enforce its ban on all forms of public religious expression other than the government's interpretation and presentation of the Hanbali school of Sunni Islam, often referred to as Wahhabism. This policy violates the rights of the large communities of non-Muslims and other Muslims from a variety of doctrinal schools of Islam who reside in Saudi Arabia, including Shi'a Muslims, who make up 8-10 percent of the population.

"Senators Collins and Schumer join USCIRF and a growing number of policy makers and experts, including the 9/11 Commission, calling for a greater emphasis in the U.S.-Saudi relationship on addressing Saudi support for extremism," said Bansal. In April, several Members of Congress, including Senator Collins, asked the General Accounting Office to undertake a USCIRF-recommended study to examine U.S. government efforts to identify and monitor sources of Saudi funding for institutions that advocate intolerance and violence, and what the U.S. government is doing to counter that influence. In June, an independent task force on terrorist financing at the Council on Foreign Relations endorsed the Commission's recommendation for the study, and called on the U.S. government to publicly acknowledge that serious human rights violations in Saudi Arabia are significant issues in the bilateral relationship.

A number of reports indicate that funding originating in Saudi Arabia has been used to finance activities that allegedly support religious intolerance, and, in some cases, violence. The 9/11 Commission's final report notes that Saudi Arabia funded organizations that propagate the Wahhabi doctrine have been exploited by extremists to further their goal of violence. The 9/11 Commission, along with the USCIRF, recommended that these and other problems in the U.S.-Saudi relationship be confronted openly

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 • Patti Chang • Archbishop Charles J. Chaput • Khaled Abou El Fadl • Richard Land • Bishop Ricardo Ramirez • Michael K. Young • Ambassador John V. Hanford III, Ex-Officio • Joseph R. Crapa, Executive Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 5, 2004

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

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) calls on the Secretary of State to issue without further delay his designation of "countries of particular concern" (CPCs). The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA) specifically directs the Secretary of State, delegated by the President, to designate as CPCs countries in which the government has engaged in or tolerated "particularly severe violations of religious freedom." CPC designation can happen at any time throughout the year; however, designations have not been made since March 2003. The State Department's Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, required by statute to be issued in September of each year, was delayed by several months during 2003.

In addition to the designation of countries of particular concern, IRFA requires the U.S. government to take active steps with regard to CPC countries to oppose religious freedom violations and to promote freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief. However, since the passage of IRFA, for every country named a CPC in previous years, the U.S. administration has only invoked already existing sanctions rather than taking any additional action pursuant to IRFA. What is more, the State Department has not once submitted to the Congress the required evaluation of the effectiveness of prior actions against CPCs. "This disregard of IRFA requirements represents a serious failure in the conduct of U.S. foreign policy according to law," said Commissioner Chair Preeta D. Bansal.

"The CPC designations and subsequent actions are vital to advance U.S. protection against severe violations of religious freedom," Bansal said. A new annual cycle of the IRFA process is set to begin next month. "Ensuring global respect for freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief and related human rights through the statutorily designated CPC process will further the U.S. Administration's campaign against terrorism and its goal of promoting democratic reform," Bansal said.

In February of this year, as a result of the IRFA-mandated review process, the Commission recommended to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell that he name as CPCs the following countries that have not yet been designated: Eritrea, India*, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam. The State Department's 2003 CPC designations were Burma, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), Iran, Iraq, the People's Republic of China, and Sudan.

* Commissioners Bansal, Chaput, Gaer, and Young dissent from the Commission's recommendation that India be designated a country of particular concern (CPC).

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 • Patti Chang • Archbishop Charles J. Chaput • Khaled Abou El Fadl • Richard Land • Bishop Ricardo Ramirez • Michael K. Young • Ambassador John V. Hanford III, Ex-Officio • Joseph R. Crapa, Executive Director