FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 14, 2003

Contact:
Lawrence J. Goodrich, Communications Director, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27

WASHINGTON - A just peace in Sudan is not possible unless the Khartoum regime is prevented from using the country's oil revenues to step up its brutal war against the south, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a federal agency advising the Administration and Congress, said in a report and recommendations released today. In its three years of studying Sudan's civil war, the Commission has found that the development of Sudan's oil wealth has become an increasingly important factor in the intensification of the conflict.

"The U.S. government should not push the parties into a cease-fire agreement that allows Khartoum to continue to build up its military," said Commission Chair Michael K. Young. The Commission recommended that any comprehensive cease-fire in Sudan be conditioned on placing the country's oil revenues in an internationally administered trust fund to be expended solely for developmental and humanitarian purposes on an equitable basis in both the north and the south. "A cease-fire without such an arrangement will make the regime far less likely to engage in good-faith bargaining over power-sharing," Chairman Young said.

In order to move Khartoum to the peace table, the Commission also urged the Administration and the Senate to support the House version of the Sudan Peace Act, which includes important disclosure requirements and a provision limiting access to American capital markets by foreign oil companies involved in Sudan's oil industry (provisions that were first proposed by the Commission in its 2000 Annual Report).

"The Commission acknowledges the efforts of the President's Special Envoy for peace in Sudan, Sen. John C. Danforth, to relieve humanitarian suffering caused by the brutal 19-year civil war in that country, a war that has killed more the 2 million people and in which religion plays a major role," said Commission Chair Michael K. Young. However, with the delivery of Senator Danforth's report to President Bush, it is absolutely essential that the United States government stay engaged in the peace process, Chairman Young said. In its report, the Commission recommended that peace talks should be based on the Declaration of Principles previously agreed to by Khartoum and opposition groups under the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), including self-determination for the south and a secular government that would ensure religious freedom for all individuals, north and south.

The Commission, in its past two annual reports, found the government of Sudan to be the world's most violent abuser of the right to freedom of religion and belief. The Commission also found that religion is a major factor in Sudan's ongoing civil war, and that religious persecution by the Khartoum regime is intertwined with other human rights and humanitarian violations in Sudan, including aerial bombardment of civilians and of humanitarian facilities, deliberate denial of international humanitarian assistance, abduction of women and children into conditions of slavery, and the forcible displacement of populations from oil-producing areas.

As was graphically demonstrated in the bombing of the World Food Program's feeding center in Western Upper Nile on February 20, 2002, and the April 2002 denial of access for humanitarian relief flights on which almost 2 million people depend, Sudan's government continues to commit genocidal atrocities against civilian populations in the south and central parts of the country.

Over the past three years, the Commission has made a series of recommendations regarding U.S. policy toward Sudan, several of which have been adopted. President Bush prominently raised the situation in Sudan in a major address in May 2001. The President appointed former Senator John Danforth as Special Envoy for Sudan in September 2001. The Administration has also taken several steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis of the Sudanese people, including designation of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Andrew Natsios as Special Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan and several reforms undertaken by USAID. All of these efforts implement directly or indirectly prior recommendations of this Commission.

The complete text of the Commission's latest report and recommendations on Sudan can be found on the Commission's Web site at www.uscirf.gov ; print copies can be obtained by calling the phone number above.

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
April 24, 2002

Contact:
Lawrence J. Goodrich, Communications Director, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a federal agency advising the Administration and Congress, deplores the unwarranted rejection by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) of a resolution expressing concern over human rights abuses in Iran. Iran is a "country of particular concern (CPC)," as recommended by the Commission and so designated by the current and previous Administrations. A CPC is a country whose government has engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom as defined in the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

Since 1984, annual resolutions at the UNCHR have been extremely important in identifying and monitoring violations of religious freedom and other human rights against religious minorities in Iran, particularly Baha'is. This deplorable decision - the resolution failed by one vote - marks the first time in 19 years that the UNCHR has failed to condemn Iran. The vote also terminates the mandate of the UNCHR's Special Representative on human rights in Iran, Mr. Maurice Danby Copithorne.

Last year, the Commission recommended that the U.S. government should vigorously urge its European and other allies to support and advocate religious freedom in Iran. More specifically, "The U.S. government should continue to sponsor or support annual resolutions of the UN Commission on Human Rights ...condemning Iran's egregious and systematic violations of religious freedom and should recruit the support of other Commission member countries, until such violations cease."

Iran's violations of religious freedom and other human rights remain severe. The UNCHR's recent vote ignores the findings of its own Special Representative on Iran, who concluded in a January 2002 report that members of religious minorities continue to face persecution and discrimination in Iran, as do women, dissidents, members of ethnic minorities, and in particular, journalists. Moreover, the government of Iran has not implemented the recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance embodied in General Assembly Resolution 53/158. It is now vital that UNCHR's Special Rapporteurs on thematic issues seek and gain entry to Iran, and report on human rights abuses there.

The vote reveals the urgent need for U.S. membership on the UNCHR, from which it is involuntarily absent for the first time since 1947. This deprives our nation of a voice and a vote on religious freedom and other human rights issues in the main UN human rights forum. In the past, the United States has played a key role in helping encourage other states to condemn religious freedom and other abuses in Iran.

Meanwhile, the Commission urges President Bush to speak out against Iran's continuing religious freedom and other human rights violations and leave no doubt where the United States stands on the issue.

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
April 16, 2002

Contact:
Lawrence J. Goodrich, Communications Director, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent federal agency advising the Administration and Congress, tomorrow will release its report and recommendations on North Korea during a Congressional Human Rights Caucus briefing on human rights in North Korea. Commission Chair Michael K. Young will testify about the Commission's findings on religious freedom violations and its recommendations to the President, Secretary of State, and Congress on how U.S. foreign policy can promote religious freedom and other human rights in North Korea. Also testifying will be the Hon. Lorne W. Craner, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and other experts on North Korea.

What:Congressional Human Rights Caucus briefing on human rights in North Korea, chaired by Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.).

Where:Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2203.

When:Wednesday, April 17, 1:30pm - 3:00pm.

Background:The people of North Korea are perhaps the least free people on earth - religious freedom does not exist there. The country is also a humanitarian disaster of unimaginable proportions. The Commission has extensively studied the situation there, including holding a public hearing in January 2002. The Commission's recommendations to the Administration and Congress call for increased U.S. and international efforts against human rights violations in North Korea, help for North Korean refugees in China, and the promotion of religious freedom through official U.S.-North Korean contacts.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. Six Commissioners are appointed by the leadership of Congress and three by the President.

Chairman Young will be available to members of the press for interviews after his remarks. Copies of the report will be available at the press conference and on the Commission's Web site at www.uscirf.gov.

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." 

Michael K. Young,Chair

• Felice D. Gaer, Firuz Kazemzadeh, Richard D. Land, Bishop William Francis Murphy, Leila Nadya Sadat, Nina Shea, The Hon. Charles R. Stith, The Hon. Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Tad Stahnke, Acting Executive Director