FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 02, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to raise concerns about limitations on religious freedom and related human rights in Kazakhstan with Kazakh Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev, during his visit to Washington this week.

"Secretary Clinton should engage Foreign Minister Saudabayev on the urgent need to reform his country"s human rights record, including freedom of religion or belief,” said USCIRF chair Leonard Leo. "The Kazakh government"s failure to permit the exercise of fundamental human rights, including religious freedom, is counter to the interests of the United States in promoting stability in Central Asia.”

Issues of concern to USCIRF include two articles in the current and draft Kazakh Administrative Code that violate international standards on freedom of religion or belief. These articles set penalties, including possible short-term detention, for individuals who take part in, lead, or finance an unregistered religious community or a social organization, as well as individuals who conduct "unlicensed missionary activity.” Another matter of concern are parliamentary plans to consider in late 2011 a new religion and non-governmental organization law, despite the Kazakh Constitutional Council"s rejection of amendments to the country"s religion law in February 2009. In addition, during parliamentary deliberations on that draft law, the Kazakh government ignored and refused to publish the legal analysis it had requested of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe"s (OSCE) Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief. Moreover, there are reports of official preparations for a new state body to oversee religious affairs nationwide.

"Kazakhstan did not institute the human rights reforms it promised before it took up the chairmanship of the OSCE,” added Mr. Leo. "Indeed, one of the leading human rights defenders, Evgeny Zhovtis, is currently imprisoned despite glaring legal irregularities in his prosecution. USCIRF urges Secretary Clinton to press for the implementation of specific reform measures, including voiding the recent conviction of Evgeny Zhovtis and opening a new, transparent investigation into his case, including due process guarantees. Without real progress on all these issues, the U.S. should not agree to an OSCE summit in Astana, which the Kazakhs are reportedly pressing for.”

USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives. USCIRF"s principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact Tom Carter, Communications Director at [email protected], or (202) 523-3257

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12, 2010

Washington, D.C. - The trial of seven Baha'i religious leaders in Iran for spying against Iran is a "sham” and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms by the international community, said the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today.

The five men and two women-Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Behrouz Tavakkoli, Vahid Tizfahm and Mahvash Sabet-who have been imprisoned since the spring of 2008, went on trial today, the official Iranian news service ISNA reported. In an apparent gaff, news agencies reported that the ISNA press release was posted hours before the Baha"is were taken to court. The charges could bring the death penalty.

"We are extremely concerned about the fate of the seven Baha"is, who could face the death penalty for several of the charges leveled against them today in court,” said Leonard Leo, USCIRF chair. "It appears that the Iranian government has already predetermined the outcome, and is once again using its courts as an instrument of religious persecution in blatant violation of international human rights law.”

The U.S. State Department, in a late night statement, condemned the Iranian government for deciding to hold the trial.

USCIRF was quick to join the international outcry.

"We commend the U.S. government on its strong statement of today and we urge the international community to put the Iranian government on notice that they will be held to account should the sham trial continue this week,” said Mr. Leo.

Over the past few years, and especially after the contested June 2009 presidential election, the government has imposed harsh prison sentences on several prominent reformers from the Shi"a majority community, many of whom have been tried under criminal laws on trumped-up charges of "insulting Islam” and criticizing the Islamic Republic.

This systematic repression extends to religious minorities, particularly Baha"is, as well as Sufi Muslims, Jews, and Christians. During the past year, the Iranian government has intensified its targeting of these groups while increasing its anti-Semitic, Holocaust-denying rhetoric. Many Sufi Muslims remain in prison without charge and last month, at least five Christian converts were detained for worshipping in underground churches.

In addition to the seven Baha"i leaders who have been held for nearly two years, there are 40 other Baha"is in Iranian prisons solely for their religious beliefs. At least 13 more Baha"is were arrested earlier this week, 10 of whom remain in detention. Last week, harsh prison sentences reportedly were handed down to nine Baha"is in the northern Iranian city of Mashhad. More than 200 Baha"is have been killed or executed since the Islamic Republic came to power some 30 years ago.

USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives. USCIRF"s principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact Tom Carter, Communications Director at [email protected] or (202) 523-3257.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 11, 2010

Washington D.C. - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomes recent steps by the government of Bangladesh to establish an official commission to investigate the violence that followed parliamentary elections in October 2001. The announcement came after a High Court order to establish such a commission. Following the October 2001 elections, there were numerous reports of killings, rape, illegal land-seizures, arson, extortion, and intimidation of members of religious minority communities, particularly Hindus.

USCIRF commends both the government and the High Court for taking this long-overdue action, suggested by commissioners in USCIRF"s first public hearing on Bangladesh, held in New York in April 2004, and called for repeatedly by USCIRF since then.

"USCIRF urges that this investigation be conducted in a fair, thorough, and timely manner; that its findings be made public; and that perpetrators of crimes uncovered by the investigation be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” said USCIRF chair, Leonard Leo. "Perpetrators of violence targeting individuals because of their perceived religious beliefs or affiliation should not be afforded impunity.”

In large part because of the anti-minority violence that followed the October 2001 parliamentary elections and the authorities" subsequent failure to investigate and hold perpetrators to account, USCIRF had, from 2005 until May 2009, placed Bangladesh on its Watch List of countries which require close monitoring due to the nature and extent of violations of religious freedom engaged in or tolerated by their governments. USCIRF removed Bangladesh from its Watch List following elections in December 2008 in which members of religious minority communities were able to exercise their voting rights freely and peacefully.

"Although Bangladesh is no longer on USCIRF"s Watch List, USCIRF continues to urge progress on a range of religious freedom issues in order to bring Bangladesh into compliance with international human rights standards,” added Mr. Leo.

Needed measures include government action to institute judicial and police reforms to ensure the fair treatment of all minorities; to rescind the ban, instituted by a previous government, on publications of the Ahmadi religious community; to uphold existing agreements to respect the rights of religious and ethnic minority communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region; and to restore to rightful owners property seized from Hindus under discriminatory legislation such as the Vested Property Act. Draft legislation regarding the last mentioned issue is reportedly now under consideration. USCIRF urges that the government of Bangladesh consult legal scholars with recognized expertise on this issue and representatives of the affected communities in order to devise effective remedies for past abuses and to prevent further property seizures based on the owners" religious affiliation.

USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives. USCIRF"s principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress.