FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 16, 2004

Contact:

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

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is concerned about the increasing influence of authoritarian and chauvinistic strains within the Russian government that appear to be directly related to growing religious freedom problems. On June 16, a Moscow court upheld a ban on all activities of the 11,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in that city. In May, a committee in the Russian parliament took up an amendment to the "Law on Traditional Religions" that would grant wide-ranging privileges to the Russian Orthodox Church and three other religious groups deemed "traditional" to Russia-Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam-but not to other religious communities.

"Russian authorities are adopting an increasingly restrictive policy towards freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief, casting doubt on the Russian government's continued commitment to democratic reform and the protection of religious freedom and contributing to a growing climate of intolerance for religious minorities and those who work to protect their rights," said USCIRF Chair Preeta D. Bansal. "The U.S. government should make clear to Russian authorities its concern over the growing authoritarian trends in Russia and to step up its efforts to support and work with the many elements in Russian society who oppose such developments."

Jehovah's Witnesses have legal registration on the national level in Russia. The June 16 decision marks a sharp turn away from previous Russian court decisions that have mitigated some of the harsher aspects of Russia's 1997 law on religion, particularly with respect to registration. The decision also calls into question Russia's international obligations, including the European Convention on Human Rights and OSCE commitments on religious freedom and non-discrimination on religious grounds, and comes despite Russian Constitutional references to the primacy of international law. The prosecution successfully called upon the court to reject as irrelevant decisions by the European Court.

Other recent developments in Russia contribute to concerns about the influence of authoritarian strains within the Russian government and growing societal intolerance. In June, three people who organized or took part in an art exhibit at Moscow's Sakharov Foundation that was critical of the political and commercial role of the Russian Orthodox Church were criminally charged with "inciting religious hatred." Also in June, Nikolai Girenko, a noted Russian activist against racism and religious extremism, was murdered on his doorstep in St. Petersburg. A Russian extremist nationalist group claimed responsibility, saying it had "sentenced" Girenko to death for combating religious, ethnic and sexual-orientation-based intolerance.

"These developments raise the specter of a rollback to Soviet-style control in which dissent is quashed by the Russian Orthodox Church using the machinery of the state. The Russian authorities should live up to their obligations under international law with regard to freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief and make greater efforts to counter these authoritarian and intolerant strains," said 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.

Preeta D. Bansal, Chair • Felice D. Gaer, Vice Chair • Nina Shea, Vice Chair • Patti Chang • Archbishop Charles J. Chaput • Khaled Abou El Fadl • Richard Land • Bishop Ricardo Ramirez • Michael K. Young • Ambassador John V. Hanford III, Ex-Officio • Joseph R. Crapa, Executive Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 9, 2004

Contact:

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

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomes the introduction by Senators Susan M. Collins (R-ME) and Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) of a resolution in the U.S. Senate calling for Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to designate Saudi Arabia a "country of particular concern." The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 requires this designation for countries that severely violate religious freedom. The resolution also calls on the government of Saudi Arabia to cease its support globally for a religious ideology that explicitly promotes hatred and intolerance.

"This resolution by Senators Collins and Schumer reinforces the Commission's recommendation that Saudi Arabia should be designated a ‘country of particular concern' (CPC) for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, or belief," said USCIRF Chair Preeta D. Bansal. "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." The Commission began making CPC recommendations in 2000. Each year it has recommended Saudi Arabia be designated a CPC. Since 1999, when the State Department issued its first annual report on religious freedom, the Department has recognized that religious freedom ‘does not exist' in Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia has never been designated a CPC. The Commission reiterated this recommendation during a June 16, 2004 meeting with Secretary Powell.

As the Senate resolution makes clear, the government of Saudi Arabia continues vigorously to enforce its ban on all forms of public religious expression other than the government's interpretation and presentation of the Hanbali school of Sunni Islam, often referred to as Wahhabism. This policy violates the rights of the large communities of non-Muslims and other Muslims from a variety of doctrinal schools of Islam who reside in Saudi Arabia, including Shi'a Muslims, who make up 8-10 percent of the population.

"Senators Collins and Schumer join USCIRF and a growing number of policy makers and experts, including the 9/11 Commission, calling for a greater emphasis in the U.S.-Saudi relationship on addressing Saudi support for extremism," said Bansal. In April, several Members of Congress, including Senator Collins, asked the General Accounting Office to undertake a USCIRF-recommended study to examine U.S. government efforts to identify and monitor sources of Saudi funding for institutions that advocate intolerance and violence, and what the U.S. government is doing to counter that influence. In June, an independent task force on terrorist financing at the Council on Foreign Relations endorsed the Commission's recommendation for the study, and called on the U.S. government to publicly acknowledge that serious human rights violations in Saudi Arabia are significant issues in the bilateral relationship.

A number of reports indicate that funding originating in Saudi Arabia has been used to finance activities that allegedly support religious intolerance, and, in some cases, violence. The 9/11 Commission's final report notes that Saudi Arabia funded organizations that propagate the Wahhabi doctrine have been exploited by extremists to further their goal of violence. The 9/11 Commission, along with the USCIRF, recommended that these and other problems in the U.S.-Saudi relationship be confronted openly

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.

Preeta D. Bansal, Chair • Felice D. Gaer, Vice Chair • Nina Shea, Vice Chair • Patti Chang • Archbishop Charles J. Chaput • Khaled Abou El Fadl • Richard Land • Bishop Ricardo Ramirez • Michael K. Young • Ambassador John V. Hanford III, Ex-Officio • Joseph R. Crapa, Executive Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 5, 2004

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

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) calls on the Secretary of State to issue without further delay his designation of "countries of particular concern" (CPCs). The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA) specifically directs the Secretary of State, delegated by the President, to designate as CPCs countries in which the government has engaged in or tolerated "particularly severe violations of religious freedom." CPC designation can happen at any time throughout the year; however, designations have not been made since March 2003. The State Department's Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, required by statute to be issued in September of each year, was delayed by several months during 2003.

In addition to the designation of countries of particular concern, IRFA requires the U.S. government to take active steps with regard to CPC countries to oppose religious freedom violations and to promote freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief. However, since the passage of IRFA, for every country named a CPC in previous years, the U.S. administration has only invoked already existing sanctions rather than taking any additional action pursuant to IRFA. What is more, the State Department has not once submitted to the Congress the required evaluation of the effectiveness of prior actions against CPCs. "This disregard of IRFA requirements represents a serious failure in the conduct of U.S. foreign policy according to law," said Commissioner Chair Preeta D. Bansal.

"The CPC designations and subsequent actions are vital to advance U.S. protection against severe violations of religious freedom," Bansal said. A new annual cycle of the IRFA process is set to begin next month. "Ensuring global respect for freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief and related human rights through the statutorily designated CPC process will further the U.S. Administration's campaign against terrorism and its goal of promoting democratic reform," Bansal said.

In February of this year, as a result of the IRFA-mandated review process, the Commission recommended to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell that he name as CPCs the following countries that have not yet been designated: Eritrea, India*, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam. The State Department's 2003 CPC designations were Burma, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), Iran, Iraq, the People's Republic of China, and Sudan.

* Commissioners Bansal, Chaput, Gaer, and Young dissent from the Commission's recommendation that India be designated a country of particular concern (CPC).

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.
Preeta D. Bansal, Chair • Felice D. Gaer, Vice Chair • Nina Shea, Vice Chair • Patti Chang • Archbishop Charles J. Chaput • Khaled Abou El Fadl • Richard Land • Bishop Ricardo Ramirez • Michael K. Young • Ambassador John V. Hanford III, Ex-Officio • Joseph R. Crapa, Executive Director