FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14, 2005

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

WASHINGTON - Michael Cromartie, Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), testified at a hearing on the State Department's 2005 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom and its designation of "countries of particular concern" (CPCs). The hearing was held by the House International Relations Committee Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations and is titled, "In Defense of Human Dignity:The 2005 International Religious Freedom Report."

In a November 10 press release, the Commission welcomed the continued designation by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ofBurma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, SudanandVietnamas "countries of particular concern" (CPCs), as there have been no developments in the past year in any of those countries to warrant their removal from the CPC list. At the same time, the information in this year's Annual Report on Religious Freedom, released this week by the State Department, makes clear that three other countries merit CPC status in addition to those that have been previously named by the Secretary of State. The Commission finds that the governments ofPakistan, Turkmenistan, andUzbekistanpersist in engaging in or tolerating particularly severe violations of religious freedom, and regrets that they were, once again, not designated as CPCs this year. However, the Commission notes that countries may be designated as CPCs at any time during the year.

What: Hearing on the State Department's Annual Report on International Religious Freedom and Designations of Countries of Particular Concern

Where: Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2172

When: Tuesday, November 15, 2005, 10:30 a.m.

Others testifying are:

The Honorable John V. Hanford III, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, U.S. Department of State;

Most Reverend Ricardo Ramirez, C.S.B., Bishop of Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (also a USCIRF Commissioner);

Ms. Nina Shea, Director, Center for Religious Freedom, Freedom House (also a USCIRF Commissioner);

Mr. Tom Malinowski, Washington Advocacy Director, Human Rights Watch;

Mr. David Aikman, Author,Jesus In Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China And ChangingThe World Balance Of Power; and

Mr. Lawrence A. Uzzell, President, International Religious Freedom Watch.

Chair Cromartie's testimony will be available on the Commission's web site at www.uscirf.gov at 10:30 a.m. on November 15 and may also be obtained by contacting the Commission's Communications Department at [email protected] or (202) 523-3240, ext. 26 or 27.

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
November 14, 2005

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

WASHINGTON - U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Commissioner Elizabeth H. Prodromou testified on Wednesday, November 16 before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus (CHRC) at a briefing titled "Religious Freedom and Democracy in Egypt: The Role of Coptic Christians and Muslims." The hearing was held in the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2200, from 4:00-5:30 p.m.

The Commission has visited Egypt and met with senior Egyptian government officials, as well as prominent religious leaders, human rights activists, women's rights groups, and other civil society leaders. The Commission placed Egypt on its Watch List again this year.

The Commission has found that discrimination, intolerance, and other human rights violations affect a broad spectrum of Egyptian society, including: Muslims, Christians, Jews, Baha'is and members of other religious communities. The Egyptian government has adopted measures in recent years to acknowledge certain aspects of the religious pluralism in Egyptian society. The Commission believes that more can and should be done by the government to protect the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, to punish those responsible for religiously-motivated violence, and to combat widespread and virulent anti-Semitism and other intolerance in the media and in the education system.

In light of recent events in Egypt, three serious issues that the Commission concludes merit immediate attention are:

• Societal violence against and lack of protection for Coptic Christians.
• Anti-Semitism in the media and education system.
• Requirements on national ID cards that discriminate against Baha'is and others.

What: CHRC briefing, "Religious Freedom and Democracy in Egypt: The Role of Coptic Christians and Muslims"
When:Wednesday, November 16, 2005, 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Where:Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2200

Commissioner Prodromou's testimony will be available at www.uscirf.gov on November 16 at 4:00 p.m.

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
November 14, 2005

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

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) will be joined tomorrow by Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) and Congressman Christopher Smith (R-NJ) for the release of the USCIRF study "Thank you, Father Kim Il Sung": Eyewitness Accounts of Severe Violations of Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion in North Korea, FULL REPORT (PDF 1.7MB), TEXT ONLY - faster download (PDF 672KB), at an on-the-record press conference on Capitol Hill in the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2172, from 3:00-4:00 p.m. The press conference is open to members of the media and the public. The Commission's study, led by David Hawk, distinguished author of The Hidden Gulag: Exposing North Korea's Prison Camps, presents evidence based on extensive, in-depth interviews with North Korean refugees and escapees on the policies used by the North Korean government to stamp out religious faith and practice, including eyewitness accounts of public executions of religious believers and indoctrination sessions at "Kim Il Sung Revolutionary Research Centers."

"Thank you, Father Kim Il Sung" is the first phrase taught by North Korean parents to their children. From cradle to grave, North Korean citizens are surrounded by the all-encompassing presence of the "Great Leader" and his son, the "Dear Leader," Kim Jong Il, and theirJucheideology and personality cult. The Kim dynasty is much more than just an authoritarian political regime. It holds itself to be the ultimate source of power, virtue, spiritual wisdom and truth for its citizens. Interviewees in the study talk about the portrayal of religion as evil in North Korea's education system and media, and the reported 450,000 "Kim Il Sung Revolutionary Research Centers" at which North Koreans are required to attend at least weekly sessions for instruction, inspiration, and self-criticism. Heterodoxy and dissent are repressed quickly and efficiently, with punishment meted out to three generations of the dissident's family. "Thank you, Father Kim Il Sung" tells the story of the systematic denigration of North Korea's once vibrant religious life, the conscious attempts to establish a quasi-religious cult of personality centered on Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il, and the survival of limited religious activity in North Korea.

"The Commission's study - the first of its kind by a U.S. government agency - reveals that Kim Jong Il fears that cross-border contacts will puncture the hermetic seal that he has tried, with considerable success, to place around North Korea - the seal that preserves the Kim dynasty and its ‘divinity.' Anything that casts doubt on the beneficence or omnipotence of the ‘Dear Leader' has to be repressed," said USCIRF Chair Michael Cromartie. "There is interesting evidence that some North Koreans are testing prohibitions against religious activity. That is why there is renewed government interest in ensuring that North Koreans coming back from China are not ‘infected' either by South Korean democracy or any form of religious belief. Several of those interviewed for this study claim that faith in the "Dear Leader" is not as strong as it was before the famine of the 1990s, having been shaken by the crushing economic and other deprivations in North Korea. Fortune-telling, a remnant of Korean Shamanism, is also resurfacing."

Continued Cromartie, "As the international community deals with North Korea's nuclear aspirations, human rights objectives should not be put aside. Negotiations to end nuclear proliferation should include issues such as family reunification, abductions, rule-of-law development, market reforms, religious freedom, needs-based food distribution, and economic development. Toward that end, the Commission's study includes recommendations for U.S. policy."

Commission recommendations for U.S. policy include that the U.S. government should:

• Work with regional and European allies to fashion a comprehensive plan for security concerns on the Korean peninsula-modeled after the Helsinki Final Act of 1975 and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe-as suggested in Sec. 106 of the North Korean Human Rights Act; consider, with this model, expanding the Six-Party talks on nuclear security to include separate discussions on issues related to human rights and human security, using ongoing security negotiations to press North Korea for improvements in areas of mutual concern, including monitoring of humanitarian aid, resettlement of refugees, family reunifications, the end of abductions, and other pressing human rights issues, including religious freedom;
• Ensure that the Special Envoy on Human Rights in North Korea, as appointed by President Bush and according to the Envoy's mandate in the North Korea Human Rights Act of 2004, retains full authority to move forward on assistance to North Korean refugees, new human rights and democracy programming, and expanded public diplomacy programs;
• Urge the Chinese government to uphold its international obligations to protect asylum seekers, by (1) working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to establish a mechanism to confer at least temporary asylum on those seeking such protection; (2) providing the UNHCR with unrestricted access to interview North Korean nationals in China; and (3) ensuring that any migrants who are being returned pursuant to any bilateral agreement are not potential asylum seekers refouled in violation of China's obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol; and
• Continue to use appropriate international fora to condemn egregious human rights abuses in North Korea and seek protections and redress for victims, including by co-sponsoring and working for passage of a resolution on North Korean human rights practices at appropriate UN bodies.

"Thank you, Father Kim Il Sung": Eyewitness Accounts of Severe Violations of Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion in North Koreawill be available on the Commission's web site at www.uscirf.gov at 3:00 p.m. on November 15 and may also be obtained by contacting the Commission's Communications Department at [email protected]  or (202) 523-3240.

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.