"Notably, President Bush has repeatedly raised religious freedom concerns with the President of China. It is important that this continue. During his visit to Beijing this summer, we urge the President to stress, in both private conversations and public action, that protecting religious freedom means more than just allowing worship. It also means individuals must enjoy the freedom of expression and association, as well as the right to choose their own leaders and freely educate their children in the principles of their religion," said Commission Chair Michael Cromartie. "President Bush has made of point of meeting the Dalai Lama and unregistered Protestant leaders at the White House. While in Beijing we urge him to visit an unregistered Protestant church and Goeden Choekyi Nyima, the Dalai Lama-selected Panchen Lama, who has been held incommunicado for 12 years. The President should also seek the immediate and unconditional release of imprisoned Roman Catholic bishops and priests, unregistered Protestant leaders, Tibetan Buddhists, and Uighur Muslims."

The United States has designated China a "country of particular concern" since 1999 for its systematic and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief. All religious groups in China face various restrictions, monitoring, and surveillance. In recent years, religious freedom conditions have further deteriorated for communities not affiliated with one of the seven government-approved religious organizations, and for those closely associated with ethnic minority groups or considered by the government to be "cults."

Religious communities that have been targeted in particular include Uighur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, "unregistered" Roman Catholics and Protestants, and various spiritual movements such as Falun Gong. Prominent religious leaders and adherents alike have been confined, tortured, "disappeared," imprisoned, or subjected to other forms of ill treatment on account of their religion or belief. More than 600 "house church" Protestants have been detained and arrested by police in the last year. Over the past two years, China has also targeted for arrest and harassment dozens of human rights activists, lawyers, and others who attempted to use the Chinese legal system to defend the rights of Chinese citizens, including those who sought to manifest their right to freedom of religion.

"President Bush has an opportunity to express the United States' concern about the repression of religious belief and practice in China and show solidarity with the suffering. His visit to the Olympic games allows him a platform to articulate again that China's future is best assured not with the repression or suspicions of the past, but in the full protection of the fundamental freedom and rights of the Chinese people. U.S.-China relations will improve vastly as a result," Cromartie said.

In order to raise the profile of religious freedom and related human rights promotion through the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the Commission has urged the U.S. Congress to

· within funds appropriated for the security of U.S. citizens in Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games, allocate sufficient resources to ensure that training and related information materials include content that:

-- instructs security officials, Olympic spectators, and athletes regarding China's commitments to uphold for all visitors certain internationally recognized human rights standards during the Olympic Games; and

-- informs U.S. citizens, participants, and spectators at the Olympic games of their rights protected under international law and identifies problem areas they may encounter with Chinese authorities, relating to the freedoms of expression, religion or belief, assembly, and association, including information on Chinese law and recent human rights practices of the Chinese government on these issues; and

·in order to promote a free and open environment, in concert with the principles of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the standards of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, designate appropriate funding to independent human rights organizations to monitor and report on human rights conditions during the summer games to ensure that the Chinese government is in compliance with relevant commitments made to the IOC to uphold human rights and international standards during the Summer Olympics.

The Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan, independent federal body, is mandated by Congress to monitor abuse of freedom of religion or belief and related human rights around the world and to make recommendations to the President, State Department and Congress on ways to address religious freedom concerns.

The Cuban government abandoned its policy of atheism in the early 1990s; Castro welcomed a visit from Pope John Paul II in 1998, and two years later, religious holidays were reinstated. Those improvements did not last. A wave of arrests of democracy and free-speech advocates began in 2003, and the old tactics of restrictions and surveillance returned. The world saw once again a series of acts that demonstrated the authorities' attempts to impose inappropriate control over religious communities. A 2005 law on religion meant to "legalize" house churches has reinforced the government's efforts to increase control over some religious practice. Political prisoners and human rights and pro-democracy activists are increasingly subject to limitations on their right to practice their religion.

"Fidel Castro's nearly 50-year-long rule was marked by a stormy, and sometimes brutal, relationship with Cuba's religious communities, including arrests, deportations, and severe restrictions on religious activities. Religious life has been unjustly repressed and controlled by his government and generations of Cuban religious adherents have suffered," Cromartie said. "Today the Cuban government has the chance to fulfill its obligation to correct past wrongs and fully protect religious freedom."

The Commission has previously recommended that the U.S. government use all diplomatic means to urge the Cuban government to undertake the following measures:

· revise government Directive 43 and Resolution 46, restricting religious services in homes or other personal property, as well as other national laws and regulations on religious activities, to bring them into conformity with international standards on freedom of religion or belief;

· cease, in accordance with international standards, interference with religious activities and the internal affairs of religious communities, such as denials of visas to religious workers, limitations on freedom of movement of religious workers, infiltration and intimidation of religious communities, arbitrary prevention of religious ceremonies and processions, and attempted interference in the elections in religious bodies;

· order, publicly and officially, the state security agencies to end the instigation of mob violence against religious persons and other human rights activists, including those recently released from prison; the mistreatment of indigenous religious communities; and the harassment of the spouses of imprisoned human rights activists during religious services and hold those involved in any further incidents accountable for their conduct; and

· take immediate steps to end restrictions on religious activities protected by international treaties and covenants, which include the following measures:

– ending the practice of arbitrarily denying registration to religious groups, as well as detaining or harassing members of religious groups and interfering with religious activities because of that unregistered status;

– issuing permits for construction of new places of worship;

– ending the practice of evictions and requisition of personal property of religious individuals or communities without due process, restitution, or provision of alternative accommodation;

– securing the right to conduct religious education and distribute religious materials; and

– lifting restrictions on humanitarian, medical, charitable, or social service work provided by religious communities and protecting persons who conduct such activities in Cuban law.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is an independent, bipartisan federal commission that advises the President, Secretary of State, and Congress on how to promote religious freedom and associated rights around the world. It was created by the U.S. Congress in the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA).