Feb 1, 2001
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 1, 2001
Contact:
Lawrence J. Goodrich, Communications Director, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom will hold two hearings on Tuesday, February 13 in Washington, D.C., to examine religious-freedom violations and U.S. policy in Vietnam and Indonesia. The hearings are scheduled from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Senate Dirksen Office Building, Room 124.
BACKGROUND
In Vietnam, the law provides for the extensive regulation of religious organizations by the state. Leaders and members of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, the Hoa Hao sect of Buddhism, the Cao Dai religion, as well as Protestants and Roman Catholics have been detained without charge, imprisoned, heavily fined, harassed, or subject to house arrest or government surveillance.
In Indonesia, current communal violence in the Moluccan Islands has reportedly claimed the lives of 5,000 to 8,000 Christians and Muslims since January 1999. There is evidence that the Indonesian government has not controlled its armed forces or the influx of armed Muslims from other islands, resulting in murder, forced mass resettlement, forced conversion to Islam (including involuntary circumcision), and torture.
The witnesses and schedule are as follows:
9:00 - 9:15 Welcome and Introductory Remarks by Chairman Elliott Abrams
9:15 - 10:30 Vietnam, Panel I: Situation Analysis
Witnesses
Zachary Abuza, Simmons College
Vo Van Ai, Buddhist Information Bureau
Huynh-Mai Nguyen, Hoa Hao Buddhist Church in the United States
Rev. Paul Ai, Former President, Evangelical Fellowship of Vietnam
Fr. Tadeus Nguyen Van Ly, Committee for Religious Freedom in Vietnam (invited)
10:30 - 10:45 Break
10:45 - 12:00 Vietnam, Panel II: U.S. Policy Options
Witnesses
Virginia Foote, U.S.-Vietnam Trade Council
Catharin Dalpino, Brookings Institution
Larry Wortzel, The Heritage Foundation
Carlyle Thayer, Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies
12:00 - 1:15 Break
1:15 - 2:30,Indonesia, Panel I: Situation Analysis
Witnesses
Paul Michael, Taylor Smithsonian Institution
Robert Hefner, Boston University
H.M. Jusuf Ely Yayasan, Jaziratul Muluk (foundation for educational, health, and humanitarian services), Ambon, Indonesia
John Titaley, Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga, Indonesia
2:30 - 2:45 Break
2:45 - 4:00 Indonesia, Panel II: U.S. Policy Options
Witnesses
R. William Liddle, Ohio State University
Daniel Lev, University of Washington
Sidney Jones, Human Rights Watch
Paul Gardner, Former U.S. Ambassador to Papua New Guinea
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."
Hon. Elliott Abrams,Chair