May 8, 2000
Religious freedom commission
seeks crackdown on 3 nations
___By Kenny Byrd
___Associated Baptist Press
___WASHINGTON (ABP)--A new religious-freedom panel is urging Congress and the Clinton administration to enact more than 40 initiatives and sanctions aimed at bolstering religious freedom in the Sudan, China and Russia.
___At a May 1 press conference, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Chairman David Saperstein said religious freedom is "under serious threat" in parts of the world. The panel was established under the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act.
___Saperstein said the 10-member commission tried to outline recommendations that were "do-able." But at least two of the recommendations already have come under attack.
___State Department officials quickly criticized a commission proposal to deny China permanent normal trade status until "substantial improvements" are made in the area of religious freedom, saying the move would "not advance the cause of religious freedom in China."
___One commissioner included her dissent to another proposal in the text of the report. Laila Al-Marayati, past president of the Women's Muslim League, opposed a recommendation to provide "non-lethal aid" to opposition groups in Sudan unless the government improves its record in religious freedom.
___She said the aid would likely go to the Sudanese People's Liberation Army, which has a history of human-rights abuses.
___Saperstein responded that if the SPLA does not meet certain human-rights criteria, it would not receive aid under the commission's proposal.
___The panel confined recommendations to three countries because of a delay in funding and in the appointment of members to the commission. President Clinton named the final members in May 1999.
___Saperstein called China and the Sudan "countries in which there are systematic, egregious, ongoing manifestations of religious persecution. While Russia has made headway on religious freedom in the post-communist era, it was targeted because it is seen as a litmus test for the new independent states that have sprung up in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet empire, he added.
___The report, along with a 150-page companion piece, was the culmination of work since the panel first met in June 1999. The panel has held several hearings, traveled to southern Sudan and other places, reviewed State Department reports and met with human rights and church groups. It meets at least twice a month.
___Saperstein said commissioners tried to visit China, but Chinese authorities have yet to respond to their request for visas.
___And the commission criticized the State Department for withholding certain documents relating to the application of economic sanctions on Sudan. The commission said the State Department also has prevented access to cables from U.S. embassies around the globe, which could help the panel confirm reports of abuses.
___In an interview, Robert Seiple, the State Department's ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, said the cable problem is not an attempt to withhold information. "It's a problem of logistics," he said. "We'll find a way to do it because it's right."
___Seiple applauded the commission's work and said that many of the recommendations should be embraced by the administration.
___But statements by Seiple and Harold Koh, assistant secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, also noted that "the report contains a number of recommendations with which we disagree."
___Denying permanent normal-trade relations to China would not prevent Chinese entry into the World Trade Organization, they contended. "What it would do is deprive the U.S. of the full economic benefits of China's market-open commitments and severely restrict our ability to positively influence the course of events in China."
___In the Sudan, the commission said the 17-year civil war has taken about 2 million lives, "mostly Christian followers of traditional animist religions." While the conflict has many causes, "religious factors are key."
___The panel issued roughly 20 recommendations on Sudan. They include increasing humanitarian aid and beginning a 12-month plan of incentives aimed at pressuring Sudan to improve human rights. Should that measure fail, the commission recommends that the U.S. provide non-lethal aid to appropriate opposition groups. Other proposals call for establishing a military no-fly zone over Sudan through peaceful means and prohibiting foreign corporations that participate in Sudanese oil-field development from obtaining capital in U.S. markets.
___In China, the panel said, government violations of religious freedom increased markedly during the past year, including an increased repression of Roman Catholic and Protestant underground "house churches." It issued more than 10 recommendations on U.S. policy toward China.
___The panel called on Congress to grant China permanent normal trade relations only if China makes substantial improvement in respect for religious freedom. One proposal calls for a multilateral campaign to seek the release of Chinese religious leaders imprisoned or under house arrest. Another urges the U.S. to use diplomatic influence to prevent China from being selected as a host for the Olympic Games until progress is made in the area of religious freedom.
___In Russia, the panel said, religious freedom is better than during the Soviet period, but it "took a significant step backward" in 1997, when a law was enacted to restrict small, new religions through a burdensome registration process. The panel issued 10 recommendations on Russia, including a call for the United States to seek a reversal of Russian President Vladimir Putin's edict requiring liquidation of non-registered religious groups.
___Steven McFarland, executive director of the religious freedom commission, said the ball is now in Congress and President Clinton's court. Under the 1998 religious freedom law, the State Department is required to issue a Sept. 1 report listing "countries of particular concern." The president must decide what, if any, sanctions to apply within 90 days of that report.
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