FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 27, 2006

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

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) will be joined by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA), Congressman Donald M. Payne (D-NJ), and other Congressional Members for the release of USCIRF's  Policy Focus on Sudan  at an  on-the-record press conference  on Wednesday, March 29, 2006, from 11:00-12:00 a.m. in the Capitol, Room HC-203. The press conference is open to members of the media and the public.

The Commission visited Sudan in January 2006 to assess the state of religious freedom and the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended a two-decades long civil war between the North and South. Policy Focus on Sudan includes recommendations for U.S. policy as a result of the findings from that visit.

Although the Comprehensive North-South Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed a year ago, the Commission found that there have been significant delays and shortcomings in the CPA's implementation, raising questions regarding the sincerity of the commitment of the National Congress Party in the Government of National Unity. Moreover, the religious freedom and other human rights protections agreed to in the CPA and enshrined in Sudan's Interim National Constitution have yet to result in significant changes in practice in government-controlled areas of the North. The institutions intended to protect human rights still are not functioning, while an authoritarian security system remains in place, and the attitude of impunity for human rights abuses shows little sign of change. In addition, no country comes close to Sudan in terms of the number of civilians displaced by conflict. There are more than 600,000 refugees and four million internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the North-South civil war, and more than 200,000 refugees and two million IDPs from Darfur, for a total of seven million displaced Sudanese from a population of 40 million. Engagement on both Darfur and the implementation of the CPA is critical to help the Sudanese secure the peace they overwhelmingly desire.

The United States has an opportunity to influence this process for the better. Sudan is a strategic nation where U.S. influence has already made a difference and should continue to do so. Toward that end, the Commission will call attention to its recommendations for U.S. policy in Policy Focus on Sudan, which include: U.S. diplomacy and the implementation of the CPA; U.S. sanctions on Sudan; and U.S. assistance to promote reconciliation, human rights, and the return of refugees and IDPs.

Since its inception in 1998, including after the signing of the Peace Agreement, USCIRF has determined that Sudan should be designated as a "country of particular concern," or CPC. The State Department has repeatedly adopted this recommendation. In the past, the Commission has identified Sudan as the world's most violent abuser of the right to freedom of religion and belief and has drawn attention to the Sudanese government's genocidal atrocities against civilian populations, including in Darfur. As a result of the government's policies of Islamization and Arabization, 2 million people, mostly Christians and followers of traditional African religions in southern and central Sudan, died in the now-concluded North-South civil war.

The Commission also has made a series of recommendations regarding U.S. policy toward Sudan, including that the U.S. government appoint a nationally prominent individual to bring about a peaceful and just settlement of the war in Sudan. In September 2001, President Bush appointed former Senator John Danforth as Special Envoy for Peace in Sudan, energizing the Sudan peace process. The Commission's consistent advocacy of strong U.S. pressure on the Khartoum regime also was reflected in the Comprehensive Peace in Sudan Act of 2004, signed by President Bush on December 23, 2004.

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.

Click Here to read "Religious Freedom in North Korea: Update and Options"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 22, 2006

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

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) wrote to President George W. Bush expressing its concern about the trial and threatened execution of Afghan citizen Mr. Abdur Rahman for apostasy. The Commission has previously noted that the absence of a guarantee of the right to religious freedom in Afghanistan's constitution, together with a judicial system structured to enforce Islamic principles and Islamic law, leaves the door open for a harsh, unfair, or even abusive interpretation of religious orthodoxy to be officially imposed on all Afghans, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, potentially leading to unjust criminal accusations of apostasy and blasphemy.

Like Iraq, Afghanistan presents a unique set of circumstances-and a special responsibility-to U.S. foreign policy because the United States has been directly involved in nation-building and political reconstruction. The arrest of Mr. Rahman indicates that religious extremists still have significant influence in Kabul, threatening not just the religious freedom of this one man, but the fundamental rights of each and every Afghan citizen. We believe that it is the obligation of our government to act vigorously on his behalf.

The U.S. government should press the Karzai government to allow for free manifestation of religious belief and debate on critical human rights issues, and should urge that Mr. Rahman is immediately freed and the charges dismissed. In addition, President Bush should encourage Mr. Karzai to take substantive steps to address the rule of law deficit which permeates Afghanistan's judiciary. By ensuring that well-trained judges are appointed to the country's courts, the judiciary can serve as a stabilizing force for protecting human rights and the country's nascent democracy.

The text of the letter to President Bush follows:

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing to express our concern about the trial and threatened execution of Mr. Abdur Rahman, an Afghan citizen who was arrested last month in Kabul after his family accused him of changing his religion. He was charged last Thursday by a public prosecutor in Afghanistan with the offense of rejecting Islam. Under Afghanistan's sharia law, Mr. Rahman may face the death penalty if found guilty of apostasy. Already, the prosecutor in Mr. Rahman's case, Mr. Abdul Wasi, has called the defendant "a microbe [who] should be cut off and removed from the rest of Muslim society and should be killed." The judge overseeing the trial has publicly affirmed that if Mr. Rahman does not return to Islam, "the punishment will be enforced on him, and the punishment is death."

On several previous occasions, the Commission has raised concern that the Afghan constitution's failure to include adequate guarantees of freedom of religion and expression for members of the country's majority Muslim community could lead to unjust criminal accusations of apostasy and blasphemy. With no guarantee of the right to religious freedom for all individuals, together with a judicial system instructed to enforce Islamic principles and Islamic law, the door is open for a harsh, unfair, or even abusive interpretation of religious orthodoxy to be officially imposed, violating numerous human rights and stifling political dissent for Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

The omission of religious freedom guarantees in the Afghan constitution is compounded by a repugnancy clause that states that "no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of Islam." The constitution also provides under Article 130 that "When there is no provision in the Constitution or the law with respect to a case under consideration, the court shall follow the provisions of the Hanafi jurisprudence."

This case confirms that fundamental democratic rights and freedoms-and particularly those rights related to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief-are still under threat in Afghanistan. Moreover, it follows several similar events in Afghanistan, including: the filing of formal blasphemy charges in 2002 against then-Minister of Women's Affairs Dr. Sima Samar; the effort by Supreme Court Chief Justice Fazl Hadi Shinwari to disqualify a presidential election candidate for purportedly "anti-Islamic" remarks in 2004; and most recently, in October 2005, the arrest and trial of journalist Ali Mohaqiq Nasab on charges of blasphemy and "insulting Islam."

The Commission has for many years urged the U.S. government to press the government of Afghanistan to ensure that all citizens of Afghanistan are protected from spurious accusations of blasphemy or similar charges, are allowed to peacefully discuss the appropriate role of Islam in Afghan law and society, and are allowed to freely dissent from prevailing views and beliefs. The case of Mr. Abdur Rahman clearly puts to the test the Karzai government's commitment to abide by its international human rights obligations, as provided in Afghanistan's constitution.

The U.S. government should press the Karzai government to reject such undemocratic practices, allow for free manifestation of religious belief and debate on critical human rights issues, and urge that Mr. Rahman is immediately freed and the charges dismissed. Moreover, this case creates a critical opportunity to encourage Mr. Karzai to take substantive steps to address the rule of law deficit which permeates Afghanistan's judiciary. By ensuring that well-trained judges are appointed to the country's courts, the judiciary can serve as a stabilizing force for protecting human rights and the country's nascent democracy.

Mr. President, like Iraq, Afghanistan presents a unique set of circumstances-and a special responsibility-to our foreign policy because the United States has been directly involved in nation-building and political reconstruction. The U.S. government has been working with the Afghan government to develop democratic political systems that will break from the experiences of the previous regime. Yet, the arrest of Mr. Rahman indicates that religious extremists still have significant influence in Kabul, threatening not just the religious freedom of this one man, but the fundamental rights of each and every Afghan citizen. We believe that it is the obligation of our government to act vigorously on his behalf.

Respectfully,

Michael Cromartie
Chair

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.