FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 09, 1999

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

The Chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Rabbi David Saperstein, today reiterated President Clinton's call to China to halt its suppression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement.

"China has nothing to fear from these peaceful practitioners of Falun Gong," Chairman Saperstein said. "Instead of strengthening China, the crackdown weakens it -- complicating its foreign relations, undermining its standing among ordinary Chinese citizens, and erecting new barriers to reunification with Taiwan."

Under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, the State Department has designated China as a "country of particular concern" for its violations of religious freedom, and consequently President Clinton extended for two years a ban on export of crime-control and -detection equipment.

Falun Gong is a mixture of traditional Chinese exercise with elements of Buddhism and Taoism, one of China's traditional religions. Its founder, Li Hongzhi, currently lives in the United States. Falun Gong disciples have protested the government ban on their movement by peacefully meditating in Tiananmen Square. Some have held up placards calling for recognition of the movement. Tens of thousands of Falun Gong members have been arrested and detained; hundreds, and maybe thousands, have been thrown in jail or labor camps; and four leaders of the movement were recently given prison terms.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry Tuesday demanded the two-year U.S. sanction extension be lifted and criticized President Clinton's remarks Monday that the crackdown on Falun Gong is a "troubling example" of Beijing acting against those "who test the limits of freedom."

Saperstein thanked the President for his support of religious freedom, noting that the suppression of Falun Gong parallels that of Tibetan Buddhists, Muslim Uighurs, and Chinese Christians, both Roman Catholic and Protestant. "If China wants the world's respect, it must respect its own religious believers," he said.

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." 

Rabbi David Saperstein,Chair

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 09, 1999

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

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. -- Article 18, Universal Declaration of Human Rights On the 50th anniversary (Dec. 10) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, religious freedom is on the cutting edge of human rights struggles, said Rabbi David Saperstein, chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

"More than ever before, the struggle for religious freedom for all people is finding its rightful place in the foreign policy of the United States, and that refreshing wind is starting to be felt abroad as well" Chairman Saperstein said. He pointed to passage of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA), which created the Commission and the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom, headed by an ambassador for international religious freedom.

Under the law, the State Department issues a country-by-country annual report on the state of religious freedom. Following publication of the first report in September the Department designated China, Iran, Iraq, Burma (Myanmar), and Sudan as "countries of particular concern," making them subject to diplomatic and economic sanctions. State also listed Serbia and the Taliban movement in Afghanistan as "particularly severe violators of religious freedom." Saperstein said the Chinese Foreign Ministry's demand Tuesday that the religious-freedom sanctions be lifted shows the effort has gotten Beijing's attention.

The chairman also noted new movements by human-rights organizations to encourage divestment from countries that suppress religious freedom and from companies that directly or indirectly assist them. Currently activists are urging divestment from Talisman Energy, Inc., a Canadian firm, and a ban on an initial public offering of stock in the U.S. market by China National Petroleum Corporation. Both are major investors in Sudanese oil fields. Revenues from those fields would allow the Islamist Sudanese government to step up its war against the Christian and animist south to extend Islamic law to that area. During the 16-year war, the government has provoked massive famine; government forces have kidnapped southern women and children, selling them into slavery; the regime has harassed and killed Christian clergy and destroyed churches; and Khartoum has dealt harshly with Muslim opponents. About 2 million people have perished.

The Commission plans hearings in the first part of next year on the repression of religious freedom in Sudan and China and to explore moves the U.S. government and public can take to promote religious liberty as set out in the Universal Declaration. The Commission will issue its own report May 1, as called for in the IRFA.

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" />

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 24, 1999

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

The Chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Rabbi David Saperstein, today hailed as progress a Russian Constitutional Court decision that religious groups already registered in 1997 do not have to re-register under a restrictive law passed that year.

That law, which has been criticized by religious groups, human-rights organizations, and Western governments, created a two-tiered system of religious registration. "Traditional" faiths in the first tier, including the Russian Orthodox Church, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, are recognized under the law and enjoy full rights. But so-called "nontraditional" groups could have their rights seriously limited unless they are registered with the government. The law provides that a faith group must prove it has been in Russia for 15 years to be registered and must register by Dec. 31, 1999.

If the law were enforced to the letter, critics say, it could result in registration being denied, not only to new faiths, but to groups that were banned under Soviet rule and forced to operate underground, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses.

The court held that local religious organizations registered before the law was passed retain their status and need not re-register. At the same time, it upheld the law's constitutionality.

"This decision bodes well for the rule of law in Russia as well as religious freedom," Chairman Saperstein said. At the same time, he pointed out, the law still discriminates against smaller religious groups, relegating them to an inferior status compared to the "traditional" religions. "The true test of religious freedom is what happens to minority faiths," Saperstein said. The Commission, which has designated Russia as a country of special focus along with Sudan and China, will continue to monitor developments there closely, he added.

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." 

Rabbi David Saperstein,Chair

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