FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                      

May 20, 2008       

 

Contact:  Judith Ingram,

Communications Director,

(202) 523-3240, ext. 127

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WASHINGTON-USCIRF's annual FOCUS Newsletter , a compendium of recent Commission activities, highlights Commission-sponsored public hearings, Commissioner testimony before Congress, and fact-finding trips to Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam.

 

In the past year, hearings on sectarian violence and the refugee crisis in Iraq and on the oppression of monks in Burma included the participation of Members of Congress and a variety of other government, activist, academic, and religious community members. To read speaker testimonies and transcripts of event proceedings, please visit the USCIRF Events page on our Web site. The Commission has also testified before and briefed Congress on numerous occasions about the conditions of religious freedom worldwide, in countries including Tibet, China, Bangladesh, and Egypt. Copies of these presentations are available under "Congressional Testimony" on the USCIRF Events page .

 

Commission travel to Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam provided opportunities for Commissioners to discuss religious freedom concerns with government officials, human rights activists, and religious leaders. Images from these overseas fact-finding trips can be viewed on the USCIRF Abroad pageon our Web site.  Extensive interviews conducted by the Commission delegations led to the publication of the following documents, which provide in-depth examinations of human rights conditions as well as detailed U.S. foreign policy recommendations: Policy Focus: Saudi Arabia , Policy Focus: Turkmenistan, and Policy Focus: Vietnam (available June 2008).