FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 5, 2004

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

WASHINGTON - A delegation of Commissioners from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) visited Uzbekistan October 16-23, as part of the Commission's annual deliberative process. As required by Congress in the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA), each year the Commission reviews the status of freedom of religion or belief worldwide and makes recommendations to the Secretary of State as to which countries should be designated "countries of particular concern," or CPCs, for their "systematic, ongoing, and egregious abuses" of religious freedom. Uzbekistan has been on the Commission's Watch List since 2002.

In Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, delegation members held an intensive series of discussions with senior officials of the Foreign, Internal, and Justice Ministries, the Presidential Administration, the Committee on Religious Affairs, and the Parliamentary Ombudsmen' s office. The delegation also met with representatives of the major religious communities in Uzbekistan, Uzbek human rights activists and public defenders, victims of repression and their families, representatives of western non-governmental organizations that are active in Uzbekistan, and U.S. Embassy officials. The Commission also visited the cities of Samarkand, Ferghana City, Margilon, and Andijan, where the delegation met with regional officials, human rights activists, and local religious leaders.

A staff delegation visited Baku, Azerbaijan October 24-28. Delegation members met with Azeri government officials, leaders of the official Muslim establishment as well as independent Muslim groups, representatives of minority religious communities, representatives of Azeri human rights groups and western human rights organizations, and U.S. Embassy officials.

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 19, 2004

Contact:
Anne Johnson, Director of Communications,

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomes the signing by President George W. Bush and the passage by the House and Senate of the North Korea Human Rights Act, which requires that official attention be paid to the ongoing human rights and humanitarian crises in that country.

"The North Korea Human Rights Act reflects many of the Commission's past recommendations, including authorizations for increasing radio broadcasts, supporting North Korean refugees, and programs to promote human rights in North Korea," said USCIRF Chair Preeta D. Bansal. "The human rights violations of the Kim Jong Il regime are among the most serious worldwide. The North Korea Human Rights Act makes improving human rights protections a priority in U.S. relations with North Korea. And, it gives U.S. policy-makers tools to act on that priority."

The Commission has encouraged the governments participating in the Six-Party talks on nuclear security to consider how resolving North Korea's refugee and humanitarian crises could contribute to increased regional stability. Human rights issues, including religious freedom, should be part of comprehensive negotiations with North Korean leaders. Dealing with these issues is in the interests of the countries surrounding North Korea and the long-term security interests of the Korean peninsula.

The bill is timely because of the ongoing refugee crisis on the North Korea-China border. Between 100,000 to 300,000 North Korean refugees are living clandestinely in China. The Chinese have not allowed the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to interview North Koreans, despite China's obligations under the UN Refugee Convention of 1951 and its 1967 Protocol. The refugees constantly face the threat of deportation, with certain arrest, torture, and imprisonment awaiting them in North Korea. "The Commission has called on the Chinese government to uphold their international obligations and work with the UNHCR and other NGO groups in developing a process for assisting the refugees," said Bansal.

In the past several weeks, groups of North Korean refugees have sought asylum in the Canadian Embassy in Beijing and in Japanese and U.S. schools in Beijing and Shanghai. In the past, international attention caused by North Koreans seeking asylum at embassies led to mass deportations of refugees hiding on the border regions. The Commission is particularly concerned about the welfare of nine North Korean refugees who were removed from an American school in Shanghai earlier this week. The school administrators turned over the asylum seekers to Chinese authorities.

"Given the dangers that face North Koreans forcibly returned from China to the DPRK, China should not summarily deport asylum seekers, but allow the UNHCR to determine impartially their status and the validity of their asylum claims," said Bansal. "The recent treatment of asylum seekers demonstrates the dire protection needs of North Koreans in China. The Commission has recommended that the U.S. government should urge the Chinese government to abide by the Refugee Convention of 1951 and its 1967 Protocol by giving the UNHCR unrestricted access to potential asylum seekers who may require international protection."

For the past five years, the Commission has recommended that North Korea be designated as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for egregious and ongoing violations of religious freedom under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. The State Department has followed the Commission's recommendations and designated North Korea as a CPC since 2000.

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 13, 2004

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

WASHINGTON - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has appointed Dr. Elizabeth H. Prodromou of Massachusetts to a two-year term on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Dr. Prodromou succeeds Commissioner Patti Chang.

"Dr. Prodromou brings to the Commission a distinguished record of scholarship in international relations," said Chair Preeta D. Bansal. "We look forward to her insights as we work to advance freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief globally. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Patti Chang for her contributions to the Commission over the past year."

Professor Prodromou is the Associate Director of the Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs and Assistant Professor of International Relations at Boston University. Prior to joining the faculty at Boston University, she taught at Princeton University in the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs. A regional expert on Southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, Prodromou's scholarship and policy work concentrate on religion and international relations, nationalism and conflict resolution, and non-traditional security threats.

Prodromou has published articles and chapters in books in several languages in numerous academic and policy journals in the United States and Europe, including the Journal of Democracy, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Orbis, Social Compass, Survival, European Journal of Political Research, and Mediterranean Quarterly. She is currently working on two books, both forthcoming in 2005, on Orthodox Christianity, Civil Society and Democracy in Post-Communist Russia and Orthodox Christianity in American Public Life: The Challenges and Opportunities of Religious Pluralism in the 21st Century.

She has been a policy consultant to the State Department, the Defense Intelligence Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency. She has received numerous awards and grants, including research fellowships from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and Center for European Studies, New York University's Center for European Studies, and Princeton University's University Committee on Research in Humanities and Social Sciences. She is active and has held elected positions in many professional organizations, and is listed in Whose Who of American Women, 21st Edition of Outstanding Women of North America. She helped found and sat as Executive Director at the Cambridge Foundation for Peace, a non-profit, public charity dedicated to sustainable peace building in Southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Prodromou holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as well as an M.A.L.D. from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a B.A. in International Relations and History from Tufts University. Prodromou is married to Dr. Alexandros K. Kyrou, and they have one daughter, Sophia.

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.