FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 15, 2004

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

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomes the announcement of Secretary of State Powell of the designation of Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, and Eritrea as "countries of particular concern" (CPCs) for severe religious freedom violations. The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA), which created the USCIRF, requires that the President or his designee, the Secretary of State, explicitly name those countries that are the most egregious violators of religious freedom and designate them as "countries of particular concern." The IRFA additionally requires that the Administration take action to oppose religious freedom violations in these countries. The USCIRF also welcomes the Secretary of State's redesignation of Burma, China, Iran, North Korea, and Sudan as CPCs, and the release of the  State Department's Report on International Religious Freedom .

"The Commission applauds especially that Saudi Arabia has been added to the U.S. government's list of the world's most egregious violators of religious freedom. The Commission has been recommending that Saudi Arabia be designated a CPC since the Commission was formed in 1999. This has been based not only on the Saudi government's violations of religious freedom within its own borders, but also based on reports of its propagation and export of an ideology of religious hate and intolerance throughout the world," said Commission Chair Preeta D. Bansal. "All individuals, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, are denied freedom of conscience and belief in Saudi Arabia. This, together with the Saudi government's funding and global propagation of a particular brand of Islam, impedes the development of voices of toleration and debate within the Islamic tradition," Bansal said.

Since the Commission's inception, it has sought to increase public attention on Saudi Arabia. In the past year, the Commission:

• recommended Saudi Arabia be designated a CPC for the fifth time ;

• issued a policy brief on Saudi Arabia that includes USCIRF recommendations for the President, Secretary of State, and Congress ;

• proposed and then welcomed the announcement of a General Accounting Office (GAO) study on Saudi Arabia's funding of an ideology promoting violence and intolerance globally ;

• applauded the resolution introduced by Senators Susan M. Collins (R-ME) and Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) urging Secretary Powell to designate Saudi Arabia a "country of particular concern" and calling on the government of Saudi Arabia to cease its support globally for a religious ideology that explicitly promotes hatred and intolerance ;

• held a hearing on Capitol Hill ; and

• published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal .

The Commission also applauds the designation of Vietnam, a country recommended for CPC status by the Commission since 2001. In the past two years, religious freedom conditions have deteriorated in several key areas, including for ethnic Montagnard and Hmong Christians, the leaders of the United Buddhist Church of Vietnam, and "house church" Protestants, all of whom face arrests, detentions, discrimination and, in some areas, forced renunciations of faith. "For its active repression of religious freedom in the past and for the government of Vietnam's failure to respond to the international community's repeated requests to address ongoing violations of the internationally-recognized right to freedom of religion or belief, Vietnam clearly warrants CPC designation," said Bansal.

The State Department's acceptance of the Commission's recommendation of CPC designation for Eritrea is welcomed. The government of Eritrea in the past two years has embarked on a campaign against various religious groups, including through the closure of all houses of worship not belonging to officially recognized religious denominations, the arrest of participants at prayer meetings and other gatherings, and the imprisonment of armed forces members found in possession of certain religious literature.

"The CPC designation is the beginning of focused diplomatic activity on religious freedom and not the end," said Bansal. In addition to CPC designation, the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA) stipulates that the U.S. government take active steps with CPC countries to address violations and promote freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief. However, since the passage of IRFA, for every country named a CPC in previous years, the only official action taken by any U.S. administration has been to invoke already existing sanctions rather than to take any additional action pursuant to IRFA. Moreover, the State Department has not once to date submitted to the Congress the required evaluation of the effectiveness of prior actions against CPCs.

"This past disregard of IRFA requirements represents a serious failure in U.S. foreign policy. This year, for the first time since the passage of IRFA, countries have been designated as CPCs that do not have already existing sanctions assigned to them. Now that CPC designations have been made, we look forward to working with the State Department in formulating the statutorily required responses to these violations," Bansal said.

The Commission remains troubled that Turkmenistan in particular has not been given the CPC designation it so clearly merits. "The State Department's own reports have consistently concluded that religious freedom conditions continue to deteriorate in Turkmenistan, a highly repressive country whose leader is currently imposing a state religion based on his own personality cult," Bansal said. The Commission also regrets that Secretary Powell did not designate as CPCs India* and Pakistan, which the Commission recommended for designation in February 2004.

* Commissioners Bansal, Chaput, Gaer, and Young dissented from the Commission's recommendation that India be designated a country of particular concern (CPC). Their separate opinion with respect to India was attached to the Commission's February 2004 letter to Secretary Powell concerning the Commission's CPC recommendations.

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
September 13, 2004

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

WASHINGTON - Afghanistan Supreme Court Chief Justice Fazl Hadi Shinwari's call for the disqualification of a presidential candidate in the country's first upcoming Presidential elections since the fall of the Taliban for purported "anti-Islamic remarks" on women's rights and family law reveals that human rights and democracy are still under threat from extremism in Afghanistan. Chief Justice Shinwari not only called for the disqualification of the person's candidacy for President, but also reportedly insisted that prosecutors investigate his "blasphemous remarks." The candidate in question contends that Shinwari does not have the authority to disqualify any presidential candidate; at this time, he remains a candidate.

In January of this year, Afghanistan adopted a Constitution that does not include any guarantee of freedom of religion or belief for members of the country's majority Muslim community against unjust accusations of religious "crimes" such as apostasy and blasphemy. Nor, as the Commission has noted in past statements, does the Constitution provide adequate protections for individual rights including freedom of speech. Rather, the Afghan constitution leaves open the possibility - highlighted by this incident - that blasphemy and other religion-based laws can be misused politically to quash dissent. Article 3 of the Constitution states that "no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of Islam." The final authority to determine the conformity of legislation to Islam is granted to the Supreme Court, currently headed by Shinwari. The attempt to have a candidate disqualified on blasphemy charges is one example of the way in which Shinwari, empowered by Article 3, threatens the rule of law and the protection of human rights in Afghanistan.

"Unfortunately, the new Afghan Constitution does not ensure that the individual right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, and the right to freedom of expression, are fully protected. Chief Justice Shinwari's remarks demonstrate that these rights, the system of electoral democracy, and the vitality of political dissent continue to be at risk in Afghanistan. Given the vital importance that these upcoming Presidential elections be fully free and fair, the painful reminder of insufficient constitutional and judicial protections for human rights underscores the necessity for the rule of law within a democracy," said Commission Chair Preeta D. Bansal. "The United States should support the reconstruction in Afghanistan of a judicial sector operating under the rule of law and upholding international standards of human rights."

Even before his most recent statement, Chief Justice Shinwari had shown little regard for those who disagree with his hard-line interpretation of Islam. Shinwari told a Commission delegation visiting Afghanistan last year that he rejects three crucial freedoms-those of expression, religion, and equality of sexes-all of which are protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Last year, a sitting Minister in the interim Afghan government was forced to resign after Chief Justice Shinwari charged her with blasphemy for questioning the role of Islamic law in the new Afghanistan. Journalists have been jailed on charges of offending Islam. And now, Shinwari is attempting to have a candidate disqualified because he disapproves of that candidate's individual views.

"All citizens of Afghanistan must be protected from accusations of blasphemy or similar charges and not face prosecution for discussing peacefully the appropriate role of Islam in Afghanistan's political and legal systems or for criticizing specific political figures or political parties, or dissenting from prevailing views and beliefs," Bansal said. "The U.S. government should advise the government of Afghanistan that ‘blasphemy'-as interpreted by one person, Chief Justice Shinwari-should not be the basis on which any candidate is disqualified from running for office, lest the specter of judicial theocracy begins to hover in Afghanistan as it does in Iran, where parliamentary and other candidates are routinely disqualified by the Guardian Council, a non-elected body with the power to reject candidates because of their ideological or religious beliefs," Bansal said.

Although the new constitution expresses many democratic principles, it does not provide explicit protection for the individual right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief. With no guarantee for all individuals of the right to religious freedom and a judicial system instructed to enforce Islamic principles and Islamic law, the door is open for a harsh, unfair, or even abusive interpretation of religious orthodoxy to be officially imposed, violating numerous rights and potentially stifling political dissent for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. As the Commission learned on its visit to Afghanistan, many Afghani Muslims embrace the compatibility of Islam and human rights. However, extremists silenced these Muslims and others, particularly during the constitution drafting process.

The Commission continues to call on the U.S. government to:

• support respect for the right of every individual to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief in post-Taliban Afghanistan, and be prepared to make great efforts to ensure protection of fundamental human rights, including freedom of conscience and the rights of women, as outlined in international human rights instruments to which Afghanistan is a party;

• use its influence to protect freedom of expression against charges that may be used to stifle debate, such as blasphemy, "offending Islam," apostasy or similar offenses, including expression on sensitive subjects such as the role of religion in society and the rights of women and members of minorities;

• act to bolster the position of those reformers who respect human rights, since elements in Afghan society who would promote respect for internationally recognized human rights are currently on the defensive-even threatened, and these elements need U.S. support to counter the influence those with an Islamist or extremist agenda; and

• strongly support the reconstruction in Afghanistan of a judicial sector operating under the rule of law and upholding civil law and international standards of human rights, and work to ensure that: all judges and prosecutors are trained in civil law and international human rights standards; women are recruited into the judiciary at all levels; and all Afghans have equal access to the courts.

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
September 13, 2004

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

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has been invited to participate with the U.S. delegation, headed by U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson, to the Brussels meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on September 13 and 14. USCIRF Vice Chair Felice D. Gaer will participate and represent the Commission. The aim of the conference is to promote tolerance and fight racism, xenophobia and discrimination in the 55 countries of the OSCE region.

Commissioner Gaer said, "The Brussels conference represents an excellent opportunity for the U.S. government to participate in a public review of OSCE states' compliance with pledges to uphold freedom of religion and combat discrimination based on religion, belief or other grounds." The USCIRF and the State Department have issued reports detailing violations of OSCE commitments in this important area.

The Commission has urged the U.S. government, in its engagement with the OSCE and OSCE participating states, to advocate specific steps to counter religious intolerance and discrimination, including:

• creation of new positions in the OSCE, to be appointed by the Chairman-in-Office: a Special Representative on Discrimination and Xenophobia and a Special Representative on anti-Semitism;

• regular public review by OSCE states of compliance with their OSCE commitments on freedom of religion and religious discrimination and an active role by non-governmental organizations in that process;

• public condemnation by OSCE governments of attacks against members of any religious or other minority, and prosecution of the perpetrators of such attacks;

• ensuring that efforts to combat terrorism not be used as an unrestrained justification to restrict the rights of members of religious minorities. OSCE states should discontinue excessive regulation of religion, including the use of onerous registration requirements that prevent the members of religious groups from practicing their faith or belief.

In the OSCE region, the Commission has expressed strong and continued concern regarding particularly severe violations of freedom of religion in Turkmenistan, repeatedly recommending that the U.S. government designate it a "country of particular concern" (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. The Commission has also placed Belarus, Georgia, and Uzbekistan on its Watch List of countries where religious freedom merits on-going scrutiny. This is the seventh OSCE delegation with which the USCIRF has participated.