FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 21, 2007

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

WASHINGTON-The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom sent the following letter Friday to a group of parents of students at the Islamic Saudi Academy in northern Virginia.

December 21, 2007

Dear Parents of Islamic Saudi Academy,

Thank you for your letter. We at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom understand your concern that your children get the best education possible. Accordingly, in light of extensive published reports outlining the objectionable content of past textbooks published by the government of Saudi Arabia, we are puzzled by the refusal of your children's school to make copies of current textbooks publicly available.

We would like to make clear once again that our concern is not with Islamic private education. Rather, our concern is ensuring that the Saudi government has ended its past use of objectionable educational materials and is not abusing its diplomatic status to propagate such materials. The Islamic Saudi Academy is unique in its relationship with the Saudi government and embassy. It is, in fact, a branch of the embassy, being chaired by the Saudi ambassador and occupying property owned or leased by the embassy. Internal Revenue Service records show that the school's tax federal employer number belongs to the Saudi embassy. The US Government has a right to stop foreign governments from engaging in activities on US soil if those activities violate the Foreign Missions Act. Based on past documentation, significant concerns remain about whether the Saudi textbooks used at the ISA explicitly promote hate, intolerance and human rights violations, and in some cases violence, which may adversely affect the interests of the United States.

As you may know, a delegation from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom visited Saudi Arabia last summer. In each of our meetings with officials in Saudi Arabia, we requested copies of the textbooks on Islamic studies (hadith, fiqh, and tawhid), Arabic language, and Saudi history used in the Ministry of Education curriculum, but were rebuffed. When we returned to the United States, we requested copies of the textbooks used in the Arabic portion of the ISA curriculum from the school's chairman, Ambassador Adel Al Jubeir. We received no reply to that letter. We also wrote to Mr. Turki bin Khalid Al-Sudairy, chairman of the Saudi Human Rights Commission, who replied that we would receive copies of the textbooks only when current revisions are finalized.

Let's contrast this to the ISA's sister school in Great Britain, the King Fahad Academy. In response to concerns about the textbooks used there, the academy's director, Dr. Sumaya Alyusuf, reported last month that all books published by the Saudi Ministry of Education had been removed from the school by March 2007. The ISA's response to the Commission's well-founded concerns about the failure even to make available its textbooks, however, has been to wrongly accuse us of bias.

Allow us to respond specifically to a few points in your letter:

• You say that we simply assumed that the ISA shares the curriculum used in Saudi Arabia. As noted, in light of the substantial published bases for our concerns, we sought to receive specific information about the curriculum and copies of the textbooks used at the ISA earlier this year, but did not receive the courtesy of a response. We understand that the curriculum for some subjects such as social studies would differ but not the Arabic-language curriculum. Again, we want to emphasize that the Arabic-language curriculum is the focus of our concern, particularly because up until November, after the publication of our report, the ISA's own Web site advertised that the ISA's Arabic program follows the "curriculum, syllabus and materials established by the Saudi Ministry of Education."
• You also write, "To the best of our knowledge, neither faculty nor any of the parents have ever reported any textbooks or curriculum that espouses violence or intolerance to the kids." That glosses over press reports including an article that appeared in The Washington Post in February 2002, "Where Two Worlds Collide," which quoted inciting and intolerant language from textbooks used at the academy. It also ignores the findings of independent studies cited in our report on Saudi Arabia, which you can find on our Web site (http://www.uscirf.gov/countries/publications/policyfocus/SaudiArabia_PolicyFocus.pdf)

Our recommendation on the ISA was part of a much broader report on conditions of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief in Saudi Arabia, based on the Commission delegation visit there. The purpose of the trip was to see how far Saudi Arabia has come in meeting the commitments its government freely made in summer 2006 to improve the climate for religious freedom. One of the key commitments was revising the Ministry of Education textbooks to remove passages that support religious intolerance and, in some cases, violence toward non-Muslims and disfavored Muslims.

We look forward to having the opportunity to examine the textbooks used at the ISA, especially in light of its unique relationship with the government of Saudi Arabia and its status under the United States Foreign Missions Act, and hope that they are released for public analysis soon.

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
Dec. 20, 2007

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

WASHINGTON-The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom is calling for reform of Turkmenistan's repressive religion law and the removal of any state-imposed ideology from religious practice in the formerly Soviet Central Asian nation. At the launch of the Commission's latest Policy Focus study on Tuesday, Chair Michael Cromartie outlined several positive steps the government has undertaken since the death one year ago of President Saparmurat Niyazov but concluded, "Unfortunately, Turkmenistan's oppressive laws and practices remain in place."

Freedom House co-sponsored the release of the Commission's Policy Focus Turkmenistan, which was based on a Commission trip to Turkmenistan in August to assess the state of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief as well as related human rights. The Commission was the first U.S. government delegation to focus on human rights in Turkmenistan following Niyazov's death. The delegation met with the new president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Education, Culture, and Internal Affairs. It also held meetings with religious communities and civil society organizations.

The Commission raised key concerns with Turkmen government officials, including:

• The negative impact of the late President Saparmurat Niyazov's cult of personality on public life and human rights;
• Intrusive registration procedures for peaceful religious communities;
• Penalties imposed on unregistered religious communities deemed "illegal: under Turkmen law;
• Obstacles to the purchase or rental of land or buildings for worship services; and
• The ban on the import and printing of religious and other material.

The Commission acknowledges that the government has undertaken some positive actions, including releasing the former Chief Mufti, Nasrullah ibn Ibadullah, from prison-a move that the Commission had long advocated. The Commission encourages it to implement reforms to bring Turkmenistan's laws, policies, and practices into accord with international human rights norms. At the very least, these steps should include reform of the religion law, allowing members of all religious communities in Turkmenistan-registered or unregistered-to engage freely in activities protected under international law, and the removal of any state-imposed ideology from the religious practice of Turkmenistan's citizens. Until tangible reforms have been implemented, the Commission continues to recommend that the U.S. government should designate Turkmenistan as a "country of particular concern," or CPC.

Senior Policy Analyst Catherine Cosman noted that the book of Niyazov's spiritual writings, theRuhnama, which the state forcibly promoted, continues to be present in mosques, which are tightly controlled by the state. Police raids on and other forms of harassment of registered and unregistered religious groups have increased somewhat this year, she said.

The Commission's findings and recommendations on Turkmenistan can be found in the Winter 2007  Policy Focus .

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
Dec. 14, 2007

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

WASHINGTON-The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has sent the following letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff.

December 14, 2007

Secretary Michael Chertoff
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528

Dear Secretary Chertoff:

On behalf of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, I write out of concern that the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been misrepresenting one of the major recommendations of the February 2005 Commission Study on the Treatment of Asylum Seekers in Expedited Removal. The Commission requests that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stop citing the Commission's recommendations as a basis for the new policy directive which, as explained below, is in fact inconsistent with the relevant recommendation of the Commission's Study.

To elaborate, the Commission has learned that ICE has been citing the Commission's Expedited Removal Study in defense of ICE's November 6, 2007 directive to rescind and replace its December 30, 1997 parole criteria.

According to a December 3, 2007 letter from ICE Assistant Secretary Julie Myers to Eleanor Acer of Human Rights First, "In developing this directive, we reviewed the findings of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) regarding their May 2005 study of the Expedited Removal process. We believe this policy directive promotes more consistent parole criteria and procedures in accordance with USCIRF recommendations...."

As you know, part of the Commission's statutory mandate was to study whether asylum seekers in the Expedited Removal process are being detained improperly or under inappropriate conditions. The Commission's recommendation relating to the parole of detained asylum seekers was that" (DHS) should promulgate regulations to promote more consistent implementation of existing parole criteria, to ensure that asylum seekers with a credible fear of persecution-who establish identity and who pose neither a flight nor a security risk-are released from detention." (Commission Report, p. 143, Volume I, emphasis added)

In contrast to this Commission recommendation, the November 6, 2007 ICE Policy Directive requires that an asylum seeker who meets the original criteria must nowalsoestablish that there are medical reasons which warrant release, that (s)he is a juvenile or a government witness in a legal proceeding, or that release would be "in the public interest." Yet the new ICE directive provides no definition or guidance of "the public interest." It certainly does not imply that meeting the original criteria would be sufficient to warrant release.

Under the previous guidance, release of asylum seekers who have met the credible fear standard, established identity, and who pose neither a security nor a flight risk was a "viable option and should be considered." The new directive, however, makes it clear that meeting this test is no longer enough-yet provides no clarity on how a detained asylum seeker may establish that (s)he meets the additional public interest criterion.

We acknowledge that the new guidelines do establish procedures and quality control for parole decisions, but we fear that the discretion provided under the new guidelines undermines that goal. This is why we are asking that you stop citing our recommendation as a basis for the new policy directive, which, we must reiterate, is inconsistent with our recommendation on that point.

The Commission continues to look forward to receiving and reviewing a formal response to the Commission 2005 Study from DHS. As you know, at our May 1, 2007 meeting with you, Assistant Secretary Stewart Baker promised such a response.

Sincerely,

Michael Cromartie
Chair

CC: Julie L. Myers, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Stewart A. Baker, Assistant Secretary for Policy, Department of Homeland Security

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.