Sep 30, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 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) expresses concern about a proposed amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka that has been put before the Sri Lankan Parliament. Put forward by the Jathika Hela Urumaya party of Buddhist nationalists and scheduled for a vote next Tuesday, October 4, the proposed 19thAmendment to the Constitution would make Buddhism the official religion of Sri Lanka. Of particular concern are other articles in the amendment that would violate the internationally guaranteed rights primarily of members of the majority Buddhist community as well as minority religious groups. The same amendment was proposed last year and found to be unconstitutional by Sri Lanka's Supreme Court.
"Passage of this amendment would jeopardize the rights of all Sri Lankan citizens as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights," said Commission Chair Michael Cromartie.
Article 9.1 of the proposed amendment states that "The Official Religion of the Republic is Buddhism. Other forms of religions and worship may be practiced in peace and harmony with Buddha Sasana." The establishment of one religious community as a country's official religion is permitted under international standards for freedom of religion or belief, and thus is not, in and of itself, problematic. However, such a development can become of concern when, as a consequence, there is the discriminatory or unjust treatment of individual members of that officially sanctioned group, any other religious groups, or non-believers. The UN Human Rights Committee has stated that "the fact that a religion is recognized as a state religion...shall not result in any impairment of the enjoyment of any of the rights under the [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)], nor in any discrimination against adherents of other religions or non-believers."
The Commission has previously noted the increase in recent years of violence against institutions and individuals belonging to religious minority groups in Sri Lanka, reportedly carried out or inspired by members of Buddhist nationalist groups, and the inadequate government response to that violence. Against that backdrop, the vague wording of the second clause of article 9.1 presents cause for potential concern because it leaves subject to interpretation what precisely constitutes practicing "in peace and harmony" with the Buddhist community, which would under the amendment enjoy a constitutionally privileged status.
Two articles in the proposed amendment are particularly troubling. Article 9.4 requires that the inhabitants of Sri Lanka "professing Buddhism are bound to bring up their children in the same"; Article 9.5 states that it is prohibited to convert "a Buddhist into other forms of worship or to spread other forms of worship among the Buddhists." Both of these articles are in clear violation of international standards with regard to freedom of religion or belief.
Article 18 of the ICCPR states that signatory states must "respect the liberty of parents...to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions." Article 18 of the UDHR states that the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion "includes freedom to change...religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest...religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance."
If this amendment were to pass, these rights of individuals of the majority Buddhist community would be directly threatened, as their internationally guaranteed rights as outlined in the above documents would be abrogated.
"A traditional religion is not protected by violating the rights of its adherents. The voices of extremism in Sri Lanka should not be emboldened through the passage of this anti-democratic amendment," said Cromartie." "The Commission calls on the U.S. government to make every effort to urge the government of Sri Lanka not to alter its constitution in such a way that puts it in violation of its international obligations."
The Commission has in the past raised concerns about proposed legislation restricting religious conversions in Sri Lanka, legislation that would have fallen short of international standards with regard to freedom of religion or belief. The Commission has urged all the parties involved in these issues to work together to restore a climate of religious tolerance in Sri Lanka and expressed the hope that the Sri Lankan government would pass laws that are consistent with international standards.
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 Cromartie,Chair
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Sep 30, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2005
Contact:
Anne Johnson, Director of Communications, (202) 523-3240
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomes the U.S. State Department's announcement of decisions on three serious religious freedom violators, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, and Eritrea, in fulfillment of statutory obligations outlined in the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA). Last year, the Department of State for the first time named these three countries "countries of particular concern," or CPCs for the severe and ongoing violations of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief perpetrated by their governments.
In order that the promotion of religious freedom is a consistent part of U.S. foreign policy, IRFA requires the U.S. government to take steps in response to the CPC designation. In view of the religious freedom violations perpetrated by the government of Eritrea, the State Department has announced the "denial of commercial export to Eritrea of any defense articles and services controlled under the Arms Control Export Act," with some items excepted. On Vietnam, the Department referred to last May's conclusion of a binding agreement with the Vietnamese government to work towards improvements in religious freedom conditions in that country. With regard to Saudi Arabia, the Secretary of State authorized a 180-day waiver of action "in order to allow additional time for the continuation of discussions leading to progress on important religious freedom issues."
"Though the response to the new CPC designations comes well past the deadline of March 15, the Commission welcomes the announcement of the action on Eritrea, the imposition of the first unique sanction to be taken under IRFA," said Commission Chair Michael Cromartie. Despite efforts by the U.S. government to engage the government of Eritrea, the already poor religious freedom situation has deteriorated. "The imposition of export controls demonstrates the seriousness with which the United States views the violations," Cromartie said.
The CPC designation of Vietnam has allowed our two countries to talk seriously about religious freedom concerns, several of which are addressed in the binding agreement. "Nevertheless," Cromartie said, "it remains to be seen if the promises made in the agreement will be met with measurable and durable improvements in the situation in Vietnam. Reports of serious violations continue."
The Commission applauded the designation of Saudi Arabia as a CPC in September 2004. However, in the absence of real progress in Saudi Arabia over the past year, the Commission believes that the U.S. government should use the 180-day extension to directly engage the Saudi government to achieve demonstrable progress by the end of that period of time. In the absence of such progress to date, the Commission has made recommendations for U.S. government action in accordance with IRFA. These remain appropriate and include:
- order the heads of appropriate U.S. agencies, pursuant to section 405(a)(13) of IRFA, not to issue any specific licenses or grant any other specific authority for the export of any item on the U.S. Commerce Control List of dual-use items to any Saudi agency responsible for committing particularly severe violations of religious freedom;
- identify and render inadmissible for entry into the United States any Saudi government official who was responsible for or directly carried out religious freedom violations, as outlined in section 604 of IRFA; and
- issue a proclamation, under the President's authority pursuant to section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 USC 1182(f)), to bar those Saudi government officials from entering the United States who have been responsible for propagating globally an ideology that explicitly promotes hate, intolerance, and human rights violations.
The Commission notes that the Department did not invoke a national interest waiver on Saudi Arabia. This allows for more options in the future to respond to religious freedom violations. "We hope that genuine progress will be made in Saudi Arabia to justify the course of action taken by the Department, particularly in light of a senior State Department official's important public comments in Saudi Arabia this week expressing concern about intolerant literature in American mosques traced to the Saudi government and the official's call for the Saudi government to ‘find room to respect people of different faiths and different faith traditions'," Cromartie said. "We also would encourage the State Department to consult with Congress and other parts of the U.S. government during its discussions with the Saudis, and to make any agreement reached with the Saudi government public in the interest of the accountability that results from transparency."
The Commission urges the U.S. government to see the responses announced last week only as the first steps in a long-term process of focused diplomatic activity on behalf of freedom of religion or belief in Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam. Until the governments of these countries respond by ending severe violations, CPC status for all three should be maintained.
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 Cromartie,Chair
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Sep 27, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 26, 2005
Contact:
Anne Johnson, Director of Communications, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27
WASHINGTON - U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Vice Chair Felice D. Gaer will be an official member of the U.S. delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Human Dimension Implementation Meeting held in Warsaw, Poland from September 26-30, 2005. Commissioner Gaer is also Director of the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights of the American Jewish Committee. The U.S. delegation will be headed by Lorne R. Craner, former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Gaer will be one of six members of the official delegation. (For more information on the US delegation, see http://osce.usmission.gov/.)
The annual Warsaw meeting is Europe's largest human rights conference, and the OSCE's most important human rights event of the year. Its purpose is to examine implementation of the human rights commitments in OSCE's founding document, the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, and other commitments made since then.
Participants from government and civil society will devote special attention to future planning to combat intolerance and discrimination, including antisemitism, discrimination against Muslims, xenophobia and related intolerance, including Christianophobia. These topics have been a special focus of USCIRF concern in the OSCE.
The USCIRF, an independent federal body, has been an active participant in past OSCE conferences. Most recently, USCIRF Commissioners were members of the U.S. delegation to the OSCE Conference on Anti-Semitism and on Other Forms of Intolerance held in June in Cordoba, Spain. The OSCE consists of 55 nations, including the nations of Europe and Eurasia, the U.S. and Canada.
The USCIRF has made a series of recommendations to theU.S. government, among them asking that the U.S. delegation to the OSCE to urge the participating States to:
- take specific steps to ensure that they are complying with their commitments to combat discrimination, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism, as detailed in the 1990 Copenhagen Document on the Human Dimension, including adopting laws against incitement to violence and ensuring effective remedies for acts of discrimination;
- takeconcrete action to engage in a regular public review of compliance with OSCE commitments on freedom of religion or belief, on racial and religious discrimination, and on anti-Semitism, including by facilitating a more active role by non-governmental organizations as part of that process;
- condemn in a public fashion, while vigorously protecting freedom of expression, attacks targeting Muslims and pursue and prosecute the perpetrators of such attacks;
- monitor the actions of regional and local officials who violate the right to freedom of religion or belief and provide effective remedies for any such violations; and
- establish mechanisms to review the cases of persons detained under suspicion of, or charged with, religious, political, or security offenses and to release those who have been imprisoned solely because of their religious beliefs or practices, as well as any others who have been unjustly detained or sentenced.
In the OSCE region, the Commission has expressed strong and continued concern regarding particularly severe violations of freedom of religion in both Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, recommending that the U.S. government designate each of them as a "country of particular concern" (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. The Commission has also placed Belarus and Georgia on its Watch List of countries where religious freedom merits on-going scrutiny.
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 Cromartie,Chair
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