FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17, 2000

Contact:
Eileen A. Sullivan, Deputy Director of Communications, (202) 523-3240

The Chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Elliott Abrams, today expressed the Commission's regret at the upcoming resignation of Robert Seiple, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. Mr. Seiple is departing the State Department in September to found a new religious-freedom think tank at Eastern College in suburban Philadelphia.

"Ambassador Seiple was the first Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom," Mr. Abrams said. "He started from scratch and built the position into a serious and influential one by force of personality, personal integrity, and a passionate commitment to religious freedom."

The IRFA, which was enacted in October 1998 by a unanimous vote of Congress, created an Office of International Religious Freedom at the State Department headed by an ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. Seiple is the first to fill that position. The ambassador-at-large also serves as an ex officio, non-voting member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an entity created by the IRFA to monitor violations of religious freedom abroad and give independent policy recommendations to the President, Secretary of State, and Congress.

"Despite Ambassador Seiple's departure, the work of his fine staff and of the Commission in advancing the cause of religious freedom overseas will go on," Abrams said. "The fact that the work can proceed uninterrupted is due in no small part to Bob Seiple's efforts over the past several years. We will miss him as a colleague, and we congratulate him for his success in making religious freedom a more important factor in U.S. foreign policy."

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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
July 14, 2000

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

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom today issued a statement deploring what appears to be increasing persecution of Uighur Muslims in China's Xinjiang region and called for the U.S. government to raise the issue directly with China and in international organizations. Following is the text of the statement:

In the Commission's May 1 Annual Report to the Administration and Congress, and in testimony before Congress since that date, we have called attention to the serious deterioration of religious freedom in China during the past year.

Since last summer, the authorities have launched a nationwide crackdown on the Falun Gong spiritual movement, sentencing leaders to long prison terms and detaining more than 35,000 practitioners, a few of whom have been sent to mental institutions, have been beaten to death, or have died suddenly while in police custody. Catholic and Protestant underground "house churches" are suffering increased repression, including the arrests of priests and pastors, one of whom was found dead in the street soon afterwards. The repression of Tibetan Buddhists has expanded, with a top religious leader, the Karmapa Lama, recently fleeing to India in January.

The increase in religious persecution has touched another group, less known in the West - the 8 million Muslim Uighurs, a Turkic people living in western China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. In the face of Han Chinese mass migration into traditionally Uighur areas, Islamic institutions have become an important medium through which Uighurs attempt to preserve their history and culture.

Verifiable information from the region is hard to come by, largely because foreign diplomats, journalists, and human rights monitors are generally barred from traveling there. But in recent years tensions in Xinjiang and reports of sporadic violence against the government have increased. While the government blames "small numbers" of "separatists" for the violence, Islamic institutions and prominent individuals in the Muslim community have become the target of repressive, often brutal measures by Chinese authorities unwilling or unable to differentiate between religious exercise or ethnic identity and "separatist" aspirations. Thousands have been detained, including many religious leaders. Convictions and executions of so-called "splittists" are common, often reportedly on little evidence and with no regard for due process of law. Indeed, residents of Xinjiang region are the only Chinese citizens who are subject to capital punishment for political crimes.

Last August, the Chinese authorities stepped up their crackdown with the arrest of a prominent Uighur businesswoman, Rebiya Kadeer. Ms. Kadeer was arrested last Aug. 11 as she was on her way to a private dinner in Urumqi with two staff members from the U.S. Congressional Research Service. She was later convicted in a show trial for "harming national security" and sentenced to 8 years in prison. The evidence consisted of a number of Chinese newspaper articles she had passed on to her husband in the U.S., who commented on them over Radio Free Asia. Kadeer is reported to be in poor health and in need of medical help as a result of brutal treatment meted out to her in prison.

In recent days a major Xinjiang newspaper announced the July 6 execution of three accused Uighur separatists by firing squad immediately after their public sentencing on charges of "splitting the country." This follows upon similar executions of five Uighurs immediately after sentencing in a June trial, with two others sentenced to life in prison and the others receiving jail terms ranging from 17 to 20 years.

Several weeks ago, the House voted to grant China Permanent Normal Trade Relations status (PNTR). During the debate, PNTR supporters argued that the fruits of engagement with China would be increased respect for the rule of law and international norms of behavior with regard to human rights. As Beijing's violations of religious freedom continue unabated, if not at a stepped up pace, PNTR supporters have a moral obligation to speak out and let the Chinese government know that these abuses are unacceptable. "No one expected improvement overnight, but certainly things shouldn't have deteriorated overnight," said Commission Chairman Elliott Abrams.

The Commission reiterates its recommendation of May 1 that the U.S. government raise the profile of conditions in Xinjiang by addressing religious-freedom and human rights concerns in bilateral talks, by increasing the number of education exchange opportunities available to Uighurs, and by increasing radio broadcasts in the Uighur language into Xinjiang. The Commission further recommends that the U.S. move immediately to take up the issue in all appropriate international organizations. The State Department should demand both the humanitarian release of Rebiya Kadeer from prison, an immediate end to summary executions of Uighur "separatists," and free access to Xinjiang for foreign journalists and human rights monitors. Finally, the Commission urges the U.S. Senate to consider the plight of the Uighurs and the state of religious freedom in China as it considers whether to grant Beijing PNTR status.

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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
July 6, 2000

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

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom today issued a statement urging Congress and the Administration not to lift sanctions on Sudan before that country takes verifiable steps to end religious persecution and engage in serious negotiations to end the country's 17-year civil war. The text of the statement follows:

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom notes a recent flurry of diplomatic activity regarding Sudan. The Khartoum government is trying to end United Nations sanctions imposed after Sudan gave refuge to would-be assassins who attacked Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1995. It is engaged in diplomatic efforts to gain a regional seat on the U.N. Security Council. U.S. Special Envoy Harry Johnston recently visited Khartoum and an American delegation traveled there this week to discuss terrorism issues. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives appears to be on the verge of enacting legislation that would lift an embargo on food and medicine sales to Cuba - but also to Iran, Libya, North Korea, and Sudan.

Much has been written in recent days about Sudan as a sponsor of terrorist groups and whether Khartoum has turned over a new leaf. That is a judgment for others to make. What the Islamist extremist regime in Khartoum has not done, however, is to end severe violations of religious freedom or engage in serious negotiations to end the 17-year civil war it has waged against the people of the south, who are mostly Christian or followers of traditional African religions. Sudan's genocidal conduct and crimes against humanity in this war include deliberate bombing attacks on civilian facilities (including churches, schools, and famine-relief centers), slavery, massacres, forced conversion to Islam, and the use of deliberate starvation as a weapon of war. Nearly 2 million people, mostly southerners, have perished in this conflict, a large percentage from famine. Muslims in the north who do not subscribe to the government's extremist interpretation of Islam and Islamic law face similar harsh treatment. As the Commission found in its May 1 Annual Report to Congress and the Administration, "the government of Sudan is the world's most violent of abuser of the right to freedom of religion and belief."

Last September, the State Department named Sudan a "country of particular concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), labeling it a "particularly severe" violator of religious freedom. It has been sanctioned under that act as well as under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) for "denial of religious freedom." A finding that Sudan is or is not sponsoring terrorism in no way changes its liability to IRFA and IEEPA sanctions for engaging in egregious religious persecution. Indeed, barring sudden improvement, Sudan will almost certainly be named again this coming September as a country of particular concern and the sanctions renewed.

Given these facts, the Commission strongly urges Congress not to mandate any lifting of sanctions against Sudan applied under the IRFA - which call for the U.S. to oppose loans or other financial benefits from international financial institutions to Sudan - until and unless Khartoum gives verifiable evidence of ending religious persecution and of engaging in serious negotiations towards ending the civil war. In addition, until the same conditions are met, the Commission urges the President and Secretary of State 1) not to upgrade bilateral diplomatic relations; and 2) use the U.S. veto in the Security Council if necessary to ensure that Sudan not obtain a Security Council seat. Finally, the Commission urges that Congress and the Administration study and implement the Commission's comprehensive recommendations regarding Sudan contained in its May 1 report. Among those was a recommendation that the U.S. increase the amount of humanitarian aid to needy Sudanese that is shipped via programs that the Khartoum government cannot veto.

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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