FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 3, 2002

Contact:
Lawrence J. Goodrich, Communications Director, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent government agency advising the Administration and Congress, today called upon the U.S. government to press China to uphold its international treaty obligations and protect North Korean refugees who have fled there. The Commission's call follows the detention last week of six North Korean refugees on the Chinese-Lao border. China is reportedly transporting them north for deportation back to North Korea, where they face persecution or execution.

China's action, said Commission Chair Michael K. Young, appears to violate both the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol to that convention. China is a party to both documents. Under these treaties, China has agreed not to expel or return refugees to a country where their life or freedom would be threatened on account of their religion or other status. The 1967 Protocol calls on China to cooperate with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). China's policy also appears to violate the 1984 Convention Against Torture, which provides that no state "shall expel, return, or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing he would be in danger of being subjected to torture."

Between 30,000 and 300,000 North Koreans are now in China. Most have fled to escape the dire conditions in North Korea, including the denial of religious freedom and all other basic human rights in that country. Since 2000, however, many North Koreans who fled to China have been forcibly repatriated by the Chinese government. Several reports indicate that those who return to North Korea are harshly treated and sometimes killed following capture by North Korean authorities. The Chinese government does not grant refugee status to fleeing North Koreans, even though most if not all meet the international criteria for that status. In addition, the Chinese government does not allow the UNHCR to operate in the border region between China and North Korea, thus preventing that organization from interviewing those crossing the border and assessing their status as refugees.

"It's high time China quit playing North Korea's game and joined the rest of the world," said Chairman Young. "China's obligations under international law clearly require it to protect fleeing North Koreans as refugees and allow the UNHCR to assist them. The U.S. government should raise this issue with the Chinese urgently and forcefully."

In addition, Chairman Young said, the Commission recommends that the U.S. press China to allow more South Korean and international non-governmental organizations to provide humanitarian aid and relief to North Korean refugees who are in China.

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." 

Michael K. Young,Chair

• Felice D. Gaer, Firuz Kazemzadeh, Richard D. Land, Bishop William Francis Murphy, Leila Nadya Sadat, Nina Shea, The Hon. Charles R. Stith, The Hon. Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Tad Stahnke, Acting Executive Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 31, 2002

Contact:
Lawrence J. Goodrich, Communications Director, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27

WHAT:Michael K. Young, Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a federal agency advising the Administration and Congress, will testify at a hearing of the House International Relations Committee on "Defining the Next Step on the Path to Peace in Sudan."

WHEN:Wednesday, June 5, 2002, at 10:15 a.m.

WHERE:Room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC.

BACKGROUND:The Commission has studied the civil war in Sudan since 1999, and has made recommendations to Congress and the Administration in reports issued in 2000, 2001, and 2002. (The reports and recommendations are available on the Commission's Web site at www.uscirf.gov.) Several Commission recommendations have become U.S. policy. With the recent release of a report by the president's Special Envoy to Sudan, former Sen. John Danforth, debate over next steps for U.S. policy in Sudan has heated up. The Commission backs capital-market reforms, drawn from Commission recommendations, that are included in the Sudan Peace Act as passed by the House. The Senate has yet to go to conference on the measure.

Also testifying at the hearing will be Walter Kansteiner, Assistant Secretary of State for Africa; Roger Winter, U.S. Agency for International Development; Francis Deng, UN Special Rapporteur for internally displaced persons; John Prendergast, Africa Director, International Crisis Group; and Prof. Eric Reeves, Smith College.

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
May 16, 2002

Contact:
Lawrence J. Goodrich, Communications Director, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27

While acknowledging major improvements in the situation of religious freedom in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet regime, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is concerned about numerous unfavorable developments since the passage of the 1997 law on religion that restricts religious activity and grants unfair advantages to so-called "traditional" religions. "Particularly ominous is the role of the Russian federal government in recent official discrimination against religious minorities," said Michael K. Young, Chair of the Commission, a federal agency advising the Administration and Congress.

"During his upcoming summit in Moscow, President Bush must meet with non-Orthodox Christian leaders as well as with the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church and non-Christian religious groups," said Chairman Young. "Meeting only with Russian Orthodox leaders at this sensitive time for religious freedom in Russia will very much send the wrong signal. The President must also make it clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin that religious freedom has to be fully protected in order to build closer ties between Russia and the United States," Young continued.

Last month, Russian officials revoked the visa of Roman Catholic Bishop Jerzy Mazur, one of only four Catholic bishops in the country. Bishop Mazur, who heads the diocese of Irkutsk, was also apparently put on a list of persons permanently barred from entering Russia. The visa of at least one other Catholic priest has also recently been revoked, and Russian officials are reportedly trying to expel another foreign-born priest who resides in Magadan. After decades of repression during the Soviet period, the Catholic Church in Russia is still highly dependent on foreign-born clergy. This pattern of harassment has emerged following a decision by the Church in February to establish formal dioceses in Russia, and has coincided with demonstrations against Catholics, reportedly organized by a coalition of Russian lawmakers and nationalist activists, and proposals in the Duma (lower house of parliament) to favor the Russian Orthodox Church and repress other Christian Churches.

Roman Catholics are not the only group experiencing problems in Russia. Some two thousand religious organizations face liquidation under a restrictive 1997 law requiring registration with the state. Dozens of groups have already been liquidated, including several that apparently were functioning actively. Local officials have refused to register several other groups, exposing them to potential liquidation and other forms of harassment. These problems affect Jehovah's Witnesses, Evangelical Christians, Pentecostals, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and others. There has also been a recent upswing in anti-Semitic incidents.

The Commission is also concerned that the Russian government continues to attempt to justify its human rights abuses in Chechnya as necessary to combat terrorism, while at the same time it has not taken effective steps to control its security forces or investigate and hold accountable those responsible for past abuses

The Commission welcomes President Bush's upcoming visit to Russia as an opportunity for him to raise these concerns publicly and at the highest levels of the Russian government. The Commission urges the President to meet with representatives from a variety of religious communities in Russia, including those groups that have come under pressure recently. The Commission also urges President Bush to raise these concerns directly with President Putin - concerns that call into question the Russian government's commitment to uphold its international obligations to protect religious freedom and other human rights for all in Russia.

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."