FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 13, 2006

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

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice requesting that the United States urge President Mubarak to prevent the imminent deportation of hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers back to Sudan, where many of them reportedly faced religious persecution.

The text of the letter follows:

Dear Secretary Rice:

On behalf of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, I am writing to request that you urge President Mubarak to prevent the imminent deportation of hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers back to Sudan, where many of them reportedly faced religious persecution.

As you are aware, approximately 3,000 Sudanese had been staging a peaceful protest in Cairo since September. On December 30, Egyptian police attempted to disperse the assembly by firing water cannons at the protesters and beating many of them. In the ensuing violence, at least 25 men, women and children died.

The deaths at the hands of the Egyptian police warrant an independent inquiry. Rather than initiating an investigation, however, the Egyptian government chose to arrest 2,500 of the protesters, holding more than 650 in prisons to be deported to Sudan on the grounds that they are either "illegal immigrants or refugees who violated security conditions." The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was initially given three days to interview all 650 of them to determine which were in need of protection from deportation. The UNHCR flew staff in from its headquarters to supplement the number of interviewers, but asked the Egyptian authorities for an additional month. The Egyptian government gave UNHCR little more than a week, requiring that the agency finish talking to the detainees by Sunday, January 15.

UNHCR has repeatedly asked the Egyptian authorities that "no one (among the Sudanese) be deported." Today, UNHCR further stated that: "Egypt acceded in 1981 to the 1951 Refugee Convention and as a result has basic responsibilities towards refugees and asylum seekers, including registration and status determination. Deportation of persons of concern to UNHCR is considered a violation of the Convention."

The December 30 incident should be investigated, and the appropriate officials should be held accountable if excessive force was employed in dispersing the protesters. Instead, Egypt has ordered many potential witnesses - who claim to be either refugees or asylum seekers -- deported without access to a meaningful refugee status determination.

After more than two decades of civil war, Sudan is in the process of implementing its peace agreement. The Commission is currently on mission to Sudan to investigate progress in the area of human rights - and particularly religious freedom - in the context of that agreement. At this time, however, conditions in Sudan are such that the international community has not yet considered ending international protection for any Sudanese refugees. Moreover, according to UNHCR, some of the asylum seekers facing deportation are from the Darfur region, which continues to be beset by genocide.

We urge the United States Government to publicly - and without further delay - call upon the Egyptian government to initiate an inquiry into the tragic incident of December 30, and to prevent the involuntary removal of any Sudanese asylum seeker or refugee who may have been involved in this tragic incident.

Sincerely,

Michael Cromartie
Chair

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
January 13, 2006

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

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice requesting that the United States urge President Mubarak to prevent the imminent deportation of hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers back to Sudan, where many of them reportedly faced religious persecution.

The text of the letter follows:

Dear Secretary Rice:

On behalf of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, I am writing to request that you urge President Mubarak to prevent the imminent deportation of hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers back to Sudan, where many of them reportedly faced religious persecution.

As you are aware, approximately 3,000 Sudanese had been staging a peaceful protest in Cairo since September. On December 30, Egyptian police attempted to disperse the assembly by firing water cannons at the protesters and beating many of them. In the ensuing violence, at least 25 men, women and children died.

The deaths at the hands of the Egyptian police warrant an independent inquiry. Rather than initiating an investigation, however, the Egyptian government chose to arrest 2,500 of the protesters, holding more than 650 in prisons to be deported to Sudan on the grounds that they are either "illegal immigrants or refugees who violated security conditions." The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was initially given three days to interview all 650 of them to determine which were in need of protection from deportation. The UNHCR flew staff in from its headquarters to supplement the number of interviewers, but asked the Egyptian authorities for an additional month. The Egyptian government gave UNHCR little more than a week, requiring that the agency finish talking to the detainees by Sunday, January 15.

UNHCR has repeatedly asked the Egyptian authorities that "no one (among the Sudanese) be deported." Today, UNHCR further stated that: "Egypt acceded in 1981 to the 1951 Refugee Convention and as a result has basic responsibilities towards refugees and asylum seekers, including registration and status determination. Deportation of persons of concern to UNHCR is considered a violation of the Convention."

The December 30 incident should be investigated, and the appropriate officials should be held accountable if excessive force was employed in dispersing the protesters. Instead, Egypt has ordered many potential witnesses - who claim to be either refugees or asylum seekers -- deported without access to a meaningful refugee status determination.

After more than two decades of civil war, Sudan is in the process of implementing its peace agreement. The Commission is currently on mission to Sudan to investigate progress in the area of human rights - and particularly religious freedom - in the context of that agreement. At this time, however, conditions in Sudan are such that the international community has not yet considered ending international protection for any Sudanese refugees. Moreover, according to UNHCR, some of the asylum seekers facing deportation are from the Darfur region, which continues to be beset by genocide.

We urge the United States Government to publicly - and without further delay - call upon the Egyptian government to initiate an inquiry into the tragic incident of December 30, and to prevent the involuntary removal of any Sudanese asylum seeker or refugee who may have been involved in this tragic incident.

Sincerely,

Michael Cromartie
Chair

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
January 12, 2007

Contact:
Judith Ingram, Communications Director,
(202) 523-3240, ext. 127
cell (202) 375-3787

Bangladesh: Decision to Postpone Election Offers a Second Chance

WASHINGTON-The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom commends the caretaker government of Bangladesh for postponing the Jan. 22 national election, noting that the election's shortcomings had sparked street violence and imperiled the political future of the world's fourth largest Muslim majority nation.

As a democracy with a vibrant civil society and a constitution that enshrines universal human rights norms, including the freedom of religion or belief, Bangladesh could be a model for other emerging democracies with majority Muslim populations.

But the election was tainted by widespread allegations of unfairness and partiality among election officials. A study by the U.S. National Democratic Institute found 13 million more names on the voter rolls than would be eligible according to Bangladesh's population. Election officials, in spite of repeated urging, had failed to correct the errors, which could have severely biased the results.

There had also been repeated allegations that eligible voters from minority religious communities were excluded from the registration process. In the Commission's view, such concerns are well founded in light of the ethnic and religious violence that attended Bangladesh's last general election, in October 2001.

Representatives of those minorities had told a Commission delegation to Bangladesh last year of severe anti-minority discrimination in such areas as employment, property rights, and access to the legal system, as well as electoral disenfranchisement.

"Bangladesh was far from ready to conduct a free and fair vote," said Felice D. Gaer, who chairs the Commission, a bipartisan, independent federal agency. "The caretaker government should be commended for taking the principled position to take a time-out in order to fix the voter lists. Bangladesh now has a second chance, and the caretaker government must not squander it."

The postponement is just the start of the effort needed to calm the political unrest and safeguard Bangladeshi democracy. International help will be crucial.

The U.S. Government should urge Bangladesh's caretaker government to:

• set a tight deadline of 60-90 days to correct the voter rolls to ensure that extra names are deleted and other voters are not disenfranchised, and to hold a free and fair election;
• establish a bipartisan body to lead the correction process in order to restore Bangladeshis' faith in the democratic process;
• use transparent and numbered ballot boxes, prevent campaign and election-day violence and punish the perpetrators in order to ensure the integrity of the election; and
• take steps to satisfy the requirements of monitors from the European Union, U.S. National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute and election experts from the United Nations, all of whom refused to offer legitimacy to such a severely flawed election.

The election will be key in determining the future of the democracy of 140 million, and the repercussions will be felt throughout the South Asia region and the Islamic world.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has closely followed developments in Bangladesh, which it has put on its Watch List of countries that require intense monitoring for violations of religious freedom.

For more information on the situation, see the Policy Focus on Bangladesh on the Commission's Web site: 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.