Feb 3, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 3, 2005
Contact:
Anne Johnson, Director of Communications, (202) 523-3240
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has confirmed that Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly has returned to his family home today in the central province of Thue Thien-Hue. Fr. Ly was released with several other prominent democracy, free speech, and religious freedom advocates, including Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, Nguyen Dinh Huy, and Thich Thien Minh. Fr. Ly was released from prison as part of a general amnesty coinciding with the Tet New Year holiday. Both Fr. Ly and Dr. Que are well-known advocates of religious freedom and democracy and have openly criticized the Vietnamese government for its poor human rights record.
Fr. Ly angered Vietnamese authorities when he submitted written testimony to a USCIRF hearing in 2001. In the testimony he criticized the Vietnamese government's interference with religious belief and practice and urged the United States not to ratify the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) until the communist government improved its human rights record. He was charged with undermining national unity and sentenced in 2001 to 15 years in jail plus five years of house arrest. Dr. Huy was arrested in 1993 for planning an international conference on human rights. United Buddhist Church of Vietnam monk Thich Thien Minh has been imprisoned since 1979 for protesting the government takeover of his pagoda.
"In light of the asserted basis for his arrest, Fr. Ly's freedom is particularly important to the Commission. For the past three years we have worked hard to focus international and domestic pressure for his release," said USCIRF Chair Preeta D. Bansal. "We also welcome the release of Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, Nguyen Dinh Huy, and Thich Thien Minh, but recognize that many prisoners remain in Vietnam for doing nothing more than peacefully advocating for the freedom of thought, conscience, and belief."
Last year, the U.S. State Department, as urged by the Commission, named Vietnam a "country of particular concern" (CPC) for egregious, ongoing, and systematic abuses of the freedom of religion and belief. The CPC designation carries with it the possibility of sanctions if the government of Vietnam fails to address concerns about religious freedom abuses.
Continued Bansal, "Vietnam ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) but many of the fundamental rights of the ICCPR have either not been incorporated into the domestic law or are qualified by vague prohibition against undermining national unity or security. We hope the release of Fr. Ly, Dr. Que, and the others will signal a change in Vietnam's human rights record, but we temper that hope with the sober reality that prisoner releases do not mean structural change. Until there is such change, the government of Vietnam has not sufficiently addressed the concerns that lead to the CPC designation in the first place."
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.
Preeta D. Bansal,Chair
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Jan 31, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2005
Contact:
Anne Johnson, Director of Communications, (202) 523-3240 (202) 523-3240, ext. 27
WASHINGTON - Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and the Kennan Institute for an on-the-record briefing about current Russian government policies towards religion and anti-Semitism in Russia. USCIRF Vice Chair Felice D. Gaer will lead the discussion featuring three experts on religion in Russia: Paul Goble, Nickolai Butkevich, and Lawrence A. Uzzell.
"This briefing is especially timely as the Administration begins a review of its Russia policy in advance of the upcoming meeting between President Bush and President Putin on February 24," said Commissioner Gaer. "This meeting between President Bush and Putin comes at a crucial time with the increasing authoritarian trends in Russia."
WHO:Paul Goble will analyze the status of Islam in Russia. Goble, a Senior Research Associate of the EuroCollege at the University of Tartu in Estonia, has served in the Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S. Department of State, and in U.S. international broadcasting as a specialist on ethnic and religious minorities in the countries of the former Soviet Union.
Nickolai Butkevich will discuss anti-Semitism and other forms of extremism in Russia. Butkevich is Research and Advocacy Director at the Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union and he has published widely on extremism in Russia.
Lawrence Uzzell will describe the situation of Russia's Christian communities. Uzzell is President of International Religious Freedom Watch, an independent research center that analyzes threats to freedom of conscience in totalitarian and authoritarian countries.
WHEN:Monday, February 7, 2:30-4:00 p.m.
WHERE:The Capitol
Room SC-4
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.
Preeta D. Bansal,Chair
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Jan 28, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 28, 2005
Contact:
Anne Johnson, Director of Communications, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27
WASHINGTON - Please join us for an on-the-record briefing with one of the leading human rights advocates in Russia, Ms. Ludmila Mikhailovna Alekseeva. Ms. Alekseeva will discuss the growing concerns regarding human rights and religious freedom issues in Russia.
Ms. Alekseeva was one of the leading Russian dissidents during the Cold War and is the current chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group, the oldest and one of the most influential human rights organizations in Russia. Ms. Alekseeva is a 2004 recipient of the prestigious Democracy Award, presented annually by the Board of Directors of the National Endowment for Democracy to recognize the courageous and creative work of individuals and organizations that has advanced the cause of human rights and democracy around the world.
WHO:Ludmila Mikhailovna Alekseeva
WHEN:Thursday, February 3, 10:30 - 11:30 a.m.
WHERE:U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
800 N. Capitol Street, NW, Suite 790
Washington, DC
Ludmila Alekseeva, a founder of the Moscow Helsinki Group in 1976, is one of the most prominent human rights advocates in Russia today. She graduated from the history faculty of Moscow State University in 1950 and later became involved in efforts to assist Soviet political prisoners. In 1976, she joined Russian physicist Yuri Orlov and other prominent Soviet dissidents in forming the Moscow Helsinki Group. After Orlov was arrested in 1977, Ludmila played a key role in the group in publicizing human rights abuses in the USSR, along with Natan Shcharansky and others. The Soviet government offered Ms. Alekseeva the choice of exile or prison; Ludmila lived for over a decade in the United States where she published a comprehensive study on Soviet dissent. She returned to live in Russia in 1993 and continued her work with the Moscow Helsinki Group. In 1996, she became chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group and was elected president of the International Helsinki Federation in 1998. Last year, in recognition of her human rights leadership, Ludmila Alekseeva received awards from the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy and the Olof Palme Foundation in Sweden.
Please RVSP to Amy Amundson at [email protected] or (202) 523 3240, ext 24
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.
Preeta D. Bansal,Chair
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