FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 19, 2004

Contact:
Anne Johnson, Director of Communications, (202) 523-3240 (202) 523-3240, ext. 27

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) wrote to U.S. Ambassador to Iraq John D. Negroponte urging him to encourage the leaders of the Iraqi Interim Government to take a clear and public stand in affirmation of the Transitional Administrative Law's (TAL) provisions on freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief, as well as related human rights, to Iraqi society and its future stability. The Commission is concerned about the ongoing violence in Iraq, particularly the deliberate policy of targeting religious institutions or leaders, including Shi'a leaders and mosques and churches in Baghdad and Mosul.

"Iraq is at a crossroads," said USCIRF Chair Preeta D. Bansal. "The United States must press the Iraqi Interim government to use every opportunity to reaffirm publicly the religious freedom protections set forth and guaranteed in the TAL to ensure that freedom for all Iraqis is protected."

The text of the letter follows:

Dear Ambassador Negroponte:

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent bipartisan federal agency advising the Administration and Congress, is deeply concerned about the ongoing violence in Iraq, particularly the deliberate policy of targeting religious institutions or leaders. As you are aware, Shi'a leaders and mosques have been targets of terrorist bombings, such as the August 2003 killing of Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim as he left the Imam Ali Mosque in Najav, the March 2004 attacks on Shi'a mosques in Baghdad and Karbala that killed approximately 140 people, and most recently, the simultaneous attack on four churches in Baghdad and Mosul that left at least ten people dead. The Commission was heartened to learn that many leading Muslim clerics and political leaders, including Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, quickly and vociferously condemned these coordinated attacks against Iraq's Christian minority.

You noted during your swearing in as U.S. Ambassador to Iraq that your mission includes the promotion of human rights and the rule of law. We urge you therefore to remain firm in your commitment to ensure that freedoms for all Iraqis are protected, including freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief, and to promote religious coexistence by consistently raising the importance of guaranteeing permanent constitutional protections for these and related freedoms with your Iraqi counterparts.

Thank you for your consideration of the Commission's views.

Respectfully,

Preeta D. Bansal

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.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 19, 2004

Contact:
Anne Johnson, Director of Communications, (202) 523-3240 (202) 523-3240 (202) 523-3240 (202) 523-3240, ext. 27

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) wrote to U.S. Ambassador to Iraq John D. Negroponte urging him to encourage the leaders of the Iraqi Interim Government to take a clear and public stand in affirmation of the Transitional Administrative Law's (TAL) provisions on freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief, as well as related human rights, to Iraqi society and its future stability. The Commission is concerned about the ongoing violence in Iraq, particularly the deliberate policy of targeting religious institutions or leaders, including Shi'a leaders and mosques and churches in Baghdad and Mosul.

"Iraq is at a crossroads," said USCIRF Chair Preeta D. Bansal. "The United States must press the Iraqi Interim government to use every opportunity to reaffirm publicly the religious freedom protections set forth and guaranteed in the TAL to ensure that freedom for all Iraqis is protected."

The text of the letter follows:

Dear Ambassador Negroponte:

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent bipartisan federal agency advising the Administration and Congress, is deeply concerned about the ongoing violence in Iraq, particularly the deliberate policy of targeting religious institutions or leaders. As you are aware, Shi'a leaders and mosques have been targets of terrorist bombings, such as the August 2003 killing of Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim as he left the Imam Ali Mosque in Najav, the March 2004 attacks on Shi'a mosques in Baghdad and Karbala that killed approximately 140 people, and most recently, the simultaneous attack on four churches in Baghdad and Mosul that left at least ten people dead. The Commission was heartened to learn that many leading Muslim clerics and political leaders, including Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, quickly and vociferously condemned these coordinated attacks against Iraq's Christian minority.

You noted during your swearing in as U.S. Ambassador to Iraq that your mission includes the promotion of human rights and the rule of law. We urge you therefore to remain firm in your commitment to ensure that freedoms for all Iraqis are protected, including freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief, and to promote religious coexistence by consistently raising the importance of guaranteeing permanent constitutional protections for these and related freedoms with your Iraqi counterparts.

Thank you for your consideration of the Commission's views.

Respectfully,

Preeta D. Bansal

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.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 19, 2004

Contact:
Anne Johnson, Director of Communications, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27

WASHINGTON - "The Commission believes that Saudi Arabia should be designated a ‘country of particular concern' (CPC) for its continued systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, or belief," said USCIRF Chair Michael K. Young. "While the State Department's 2003 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom again notes that freedom of religion "does not exist" in Saudi Arabia, the country still has not been designated a CPC."

In addition to recommending that Saudi Arabia be designated a CPC, the Commission has recommended that the U.S. government should press for immediate improvements in respect for religious freedom, including: establishing genuine safeguards for the freedom to worship privately; ending state prosecution of apostasy, blasphemy, and criticizing the government; and ceasing messages of hatred, intolerance, or incitement to violence against non-Wahhabi Muslims and members of non-Muslim religious groups in the educational curricula and textbooks, as well as in government-controlled mosques and media.

In a report released yesterday by an independent task force on terrorist financing of the Council on Foreign Relations, it endorsed another Commission recommendation that the U.S. government should more frequently identify serious human rights violations and publicly acknowledge that they are significant issues in the bilateral relationship. The task force report states "when domestic Saudi problems threaten Americans at home and abroad, a new framework for U.S.-Saudi relations must be struck, one that includes focused and consistent U.S. attention on domestic Saudi issues that previously would have been "off the table..." Consistent U.S. demands for human rights and political and economic freedom...may only have or have had a marginal impact on the course of events, but they are a fundamental expression of U.S. interests and values."

Over the past year, several incidents continue to point to the Saudi government's systematic violations of the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, or belief. In September 2003, the mutawaa (religious police) arrested 16 foreign workers for practicing Sufism; their status is unknown. In October 2003, two Egyptian Christians were arrested and jailed on religious grounds and released three weeks later. Also in October, several Protestant foreign workers were arrested by the civil police and released the same day without charge. In December 2003, a foreign worker was arrested and charged with apostasy, a charge that was later reduced to blasphemy resulting in a sentence of two years in jail and 600 lashes. In March 2004, an Indian Christian foreign worker was arrested and tortured for "preaching Christianity," among other charges. He remains in prison.

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.