FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 27, 2003

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

WASHINGTON - Today marks the 5th anniversary of the passage of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA) by Congress. The IRFA established the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent and bipartisan federal agency; the Office of International Religious Freedom in the Department of State; and a Special Advisor for Religious Freedom on the National Security Council. Through IRFA, Congress made clear that because of the critical importance of this most fundamental freedom, the promotion of religious freedom should be a central element of U.S. foreign policy.

Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, "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." Because it is so central to us as human beings, religious freedom is one of the first freedoms that repressive governments attempt to stifle and suppress. Religious faith provides us with our own individual identity, when repressive governments want to impose a state-defined identity from above. Religious faith provides us with an alternative source of external authority, when authoritarian governments insist on being the exclusive source of every kind of authority for their population. Governments that do not respect religious freedom demand the right to have control over virtually every other aspect of their people's lives. And governments that do respect religious freedom also respect their own limited role in the lives of their citizens.

"Commissioners come from varied backgrounds and beliefs, and hold diverse views on many issues. On international religious freedom, however, all Commissioners have acted in a bipartisan fashion on behalf of this freedom we all value so highly. Religious freedom is important not just because we value it as Americans. Religious freedom is important because it is perhaps the most critically defining element of every individual's human identity. We are not fully human without the freedom to freely seek out the answers to this very fundamental question," said USCIRF Chair Michael K. Young.

The Commission commends Senator Sam Brownback for introducing legislation designating October 27, 2003, as "International Religious Freedom Day." The legislation also requests that the President issue a proclamation calling for a renewed commitment to eliminating violations of the internationally recognized right to freedom of religion and protecting fundamental human rights, and calling upon the people of the United States and interested groups and organizations to observe International Religious Freedom Day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

The Commission also commends Representative Frank Wolf for introducing legislation recognizing the 5th anniversary of the signing of IRFA and urging a renewed commitment to eliminating violations of the internationally recognized right to freedom of religion and protecting fundamental human rights.

"This legislation will help to keep religious freedom at the forefront of foreign policy," said Young.

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
October 24, 2003

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

WASHINGTON - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has appointed Patti Chang, President and CEO of the Women's Foundation of California, to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent and bipartisan federal agency. Ms. Chang serves on the board of the Women's Funding Network of which she is the former chair, is the co-founder of The Women's Leadership Alliance, and is on the National Advisory Board for Gender Public Advocacy Coalition. She has served on the board of the National Committee for Responsible Philanthropy (NCRP), is an Advisory Board member of the Women's Institute For Leadership Development (WILD) for Human Rights and EMERGE, and serves on the Council on Foundation's Strategic Planning Committee. She is a former President of the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women, a past Commissioner with the San Francisco Commission on the Environment, and is a current member of the Justice and Courage Domestic Violence Oversight Panel of the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women. Ms. Chang has a B.A. from Stanford University and a J.D. from Stanford Law School.

"The Commission welcomes Patti Chang's appointment. She will bring much to our important and urgent work, and will enhance our capacity to fulfill our mandate to advise the Administration and Congress," said USCIRF Chair Michael K. Young.

The Commission consists of nine voting Commissioners and the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, who is a non-voting member. Three Commissioners are selected by the President, two by the leaders of the President's party in Congress, and four by the congressional leaders of the other party.

Patti Chang joins Preeta Bansal, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Khaled M. Abou El Fadl, Felice D. Gaer, Richard Land, Bishop Ricardo Ramirez, Nina Shea and Dean Michael K. Young on the Commission. Commissioners serve for one- or two-year terms and are eligible for reappointment.

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
October 15, 2003

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

WASHINGTON-- U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Vice Chair Felice D. Gaer addressed the special session on anti-Semitism at the Annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Warsaw, Poland on October 14, 2003. Ms. Gaer stated that acts of anti-Semitism must be seen not as hooliganism, but as a form of human rights abuse that states should vigorously combat by implementing their worldwide human rights commitments.¨ She called on the OSCE Ministerial Council, at its December 2003 meeting in Maastricht, Netherlands, to accept the German government's invitation to host a special meeting on anti-Semitism in Berlin in 2004. She also urged the OSCE to report regularly on the implementation of OSCE member states commitments to combat anti-Semitism. Ms. Gaer was participating with the U.S. delegation to the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting. The text of her remarks follows:

STATEMENT BY FELICE D. GAER

VICE CHAIR

U. S. COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

I am speaking on behalf of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which is an independent United States government agency that monitors conditions of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion around the globe. The Commission makes independent policy recommendations to the U.S. administration and the Congress on how to advance this fundamental right and all those related to it through U.S. foreign policy.

We have emphasized a simple but extremely important point: that acts of anti-Semitism must be seen for what they are: they're not hooliganism; they are human rights abuses. They are a form of human rights abuse that states should vigorously combat by implementing their worldwide human rights commitments.

Anti-Semitism is both a local and an international problem, requiring states to take concrete steps on both the domestic and international levels. Recognition of a resurgence of anti-Semitism throughout the OSCE is a good first step. The OSCE Conference on Anti-Semitism last June provided a constructive venue to examine the problem and propose programs and practices to address it. We must move beyond recognition of the problem to concrete action within the OSCE to ensure that all participating states are living up to their commitments in this area, in particular to combat anti-Semitism, as contained in the 1990 Copenhagen Document: These include adopting laws to protect against incitement to violence based on discrimination including anti-Semitism, and providing the individual with effective remedies to initiate complaints against acts of discrimination.

The German government invited states to a meeting on anti-Semitism in Berlin in 2004, and we urge the HDIM to recommend its acceptance and, in turn, urge the Ministerial meeting to endorse it.

The history of anti-Semitism in the OSCE region has unfortunately been a distinctive one and its recent resurgence in the OSCE countries has followed its own course, as well. States that have had the most success in combating anti-Semitism have done so by taking measures specifically aimed at eradicating anti-Semitism, including some within the context of measures to combat discrimination, intolerance, xenophobia, etc. In other words, a separate track and separate attention is needed.

Statistics, monitoring, reporting publicly and regularly about compliance and violations are essential to realize any serious human rights commitments.

We emphasize the need for:

„Assignment within OSCE, perhaps in the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the responsibility to monitor and report regularly on anti-Semitic incidents and the implementation of state's Copenhagen commitments.

„ Review of state compliance within the OSCE on a regular basis.

„ Acceptance of the German invitation to host an OSCE meeting on anti-Semitism in Berlin.

The meeting in Berlin should be different than the first, and participating states and the ODHIR should ensure that the meeting moves us forward in evaluating the strategies, documentation, commitments, and implementation of the OSCE states with regard to the struggle against anti-Semitism

In terms of international cooperation on combating anti-Semitism, as with many human rights issues, the OSCE is a key venue through which to advance this. And the OSCE has a special obligation to exhibit vigorous leadership on this issue to show the rest of the international community that this is an important issue and that political will can make a real difference in combating anti-Semitism. We hope that kind of leadership will be emerging in other international and regional institutions. But we have been disappointed by their failure to address this topic seriously in their reporting and other human rights work. We earnestly hope OSCE will not continue in their direction. That is why the recommendations that emerge from this meeting are so vital and so closely monitored.

In conclusion, we reiterate: anti-Semitism is not hooliganism, it's human rights abuse.