FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 18, 2000

Contact:
Lawrence J. Goodrich, Communications Director, (202) 523-3240

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom wrote to the Minister of External Relations of Sudan, Dr. Mustafa Osman Ismail, on October 17 urging that he follow up on his promise to work to improve human rights and religious-freedom conditions in Sudan. The letter follows a meeting in New York between Commissioner Nina Shea and Minister Ismail in which Ms. Shea outlined the Commission's concerns regarding religious persecution in Sudan. The text of the letter follows:

Your Excellency:

As chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, I wish to thank you for meeting with Commissioner Nina Shea to discuss the Commission's concerns regarding religious freedom in Sudan during your recent visit to the United Nations. Commissioner Shea reported that there were many encouraging aspects to the meeting, and we look forward to further developments as a result.

The Commission was created by Congress to monitor the facts and circumstances of religious freedom around the world and to make recommendations to the U.S. government as to how U.S. policy can most effectively advance religious freedom. The Commission is an independent advisory body appointed by the President and both Houses of Congress but separate from them.

Commissioner Shea told of your interest in keeping Sudan out of the international spotlight. As she described, the Commission will continue to pay particularly close attention to events in Sudan as long as your government continues to engage in or tolerate violent, egregious abuses of religious freedom, including its brutal prosecution of a civil war in which religion is a major factor.

The Commission has expressed four basic concerns in regard to the situation in Sudan:

• the bans on international humanitarian relief deliveries that have caused widespread starvation in many areas of Sudan;

• the bombing of relief facilities, hospitals, schools, churches and other non-military targets, which have killed and injured innocent civilians and threaten international relief efforts;

• the abduction of thousands of civilians (particularly women and children) into conditions of slavery and forced labor;

• the systematic abridgement of religious freedom in Sudan, including forcible Islamization through (a) the imposition of Islamic law on non-Muslims in the north, (b) the forcible Islamic "re-education" of non-Muslim children, and (c) reported manipulation of international aid in "peace" camps and in other government-controlled areas.

In addition, the Commission is raising a fifth concern regarding Uganda:

Commissioner Shea reported to us your specific promises to work towards lifting the government bans on international relief flights, to call for an immediate halt to the government's bombing raids, and to cooperate with Uganda and the international community in ending the terror of the Lord's Resistance Army. Such reforms would indeed improve human rights and the humanitarian situation.

Commissioner Shea reported that you asked for Commission assistance in helping to bring about such human rights improvements and in reconstructing your country. As explained above, the Commission has advisory powers only and thus cannot intervene in American diplomacy or policy. In our May 1, 2000 Annual Report, the Commission proposed a comprehensive 12-month plan to significantly strengthen the United States' policy regarding the crisis in Sudan. As stated in Commission recommendation 1.2, the Commission would recommend improving diplomatic relations as well as providing humanitarian and other assistance to the extent that the Sudanese government improves its record on human rights and religious freedom.

Commissioner Shea also relayed your invitation to the Commission to come to northern Sudan. Until now, because of the security situation in your country, we have not been authorized by the United States to travel in Sudan outside of Khartoum. We hope to be able to do so soon, and the Commission welcomes your invitation.

We close by noting again your promises with regard to the international relief flight ban, the bombings of civilian targets, and the Lord's Resistance Army, and hope that the Sudanese government will institute such reforms without delay. We look forward to discussing progress towards resolving these urgent human rights matters both in the United States and Khartoum at your earliest convenience.

• the support and sanctuary for the Lord's Resistance Army, which carries out systematic raids, rapes and kidnapping of neighboring Ugandan children.

Sincerely,

Elliott Abrams
Chairman

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

• Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, Vice Chair, Rabbi David Saperstein, Laila Al-Marayati, M.D.Hon. John R. Bolton, Dean Michael K. Young, Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick, Nina Shea, Justice Charles Z. Smith, Ambassador Robert Seiple, Ex-Officio, Steven T. McFarland, Executive Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 11, 2000

Contact:
Lawrence J. Goodrich, Communications Director, (202) 523-3240

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom today applauded the defeat of Sudan's bid for a United Nations Security Council seat and the election of Mauritius as the African "representative." The Commission also commended the Clinton Administration, particularly Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Ambassador to the U.N. Richard Holbrooke, for their active and successful diplomacy in rallying the forces opposed to Sudan's bid.

Sudan is currently under Security Council sanctions for its sponsorship of international terrorism. In addition, the U.S. has unilateral sanctions on Sudan both for its terrorist connections and its status as a "country of particular concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. The Sudanese government has for more than 17 years waged war against the mostly Christian and animist south and persecuted dissident Muslims nationwide.

"Sudan's defeat is a victory for religious freedom and human rights," said Commission Chairman Elliott Abrams. "This is a message to the government in Khartoum that civilized nations condemn its horrendous record of human rights violations - including aerial bombing of civilians and aid centers, use of starvation as a weapon of war, toleration of slave raids - and its foot-dragging in peace talks."

"It would have been an intolerable mockery of the Security Council to have a sanctioned nation sitting on the body that sanctioned it," said Mr. Abrams, himself a former U.S. assistant secretary of state for international organizations. "If those nations who voted together to elect Mauritius would now band together to press for peace and human rights in Sudan, perhaps we would see some real progress in ending genocidal levels of religious persecution there."

The Commission's Annual Report on May 1 characterized Sudan as "the world's most violent abuser to the right to freedom of religion and belief. The Commission recommended to the Clinton administration and Congress a comprehensive 12-month plan in which Sudan would be rewarded for improvement in human rights. If no improvement was forthcoming during that time, however, the Commission called on the U.S. to supply non-lethal aid to appropriate opposition groups. The Commission also issued a July 6 statement urging the Clinton Administration to move to block Sudan's Security Council bid.

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

• Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, Vice Chair Rabbi David Saperstein, Laila Al-Marayati, M.D.Hon. John R. Bolton, Dean Michael K. Young, Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick, Nina Shea, Justice Charles Z. Smith, Ambassador Robert Seiple, Ex-OfficioSteven T. McFarland, Executive Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 10, 2000

Contact:
Lawrence J. Goodrich, Communications Director, (202) 523-3240

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom wrote to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on October 10 urging that she raise religious-freedom issues with Cho Myong Nok, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea National Defense Commission First Vice Chairman, during his visit to Washington October 9-12. The Commission calls the North Korean government's record on religious freedom "abysmal," stating that the "government has imprisoned religious believers and apparently suppresses all organized religious activity except that which serves the interests of the state." The text of the letter follows:

October 10, 2000

Dear Madam Secretary:

On behalf of the Commission on International Religious Freedom, I am writing to urge that you raise the issue of religious freedom with Cho Myong Nok, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea National Defense Commission First Vice Chairman, during his visit to Washington October 9-12 as the Special Envoy of Chairman Kim Jong Il.

The North Korean government's record on religious freedom is, by all accounts, abysmal. The State Department's Annual International Religious Freedom Report - 2000 states that "[g]enuine religious freedom does not exist" in North Korea. The government has imprisoned religious believers and apparently suppresses all organized religious activity except that which serves the interests of the state.

U.S. policy with respect to North Korea has undergone significant change in the last year, including the announcement of the lifting of certain sanctions against the country. The State Department's announcement of the Special Envoy's visit characterizes it as "an important step forward in improving bilateral relations." The Commission urges you to raise the issue of religious freedom high on the agenda of your meeting to impress upon the Special Envoy that this issue is an essential part of U.S. relations with the Government of North Korea.

Sincerely,

Elliott Abrams

Chairman

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." src="https://www.uscirf.org/images/layout/subbottomtext1.gif" />