March 31, 2003

List of religious freedom violators debated
___WASHINGTON (RNS)--When the United States government recently singled out six countries as the world's worst violators of religious freedom, it left some prime suspects off the list, critics charge.
___The State Department named Burma, China, Iran, Iraq, North Korea and Sudan to be "countries of particular concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act--the same countries selected in 2001 when the list last was compiled.
___The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent federal agency that advises the government on religious freedom abusers, criticized the State Department for passing over six additional nations where it says "egregious abuses persist or have increased" in the past few years.
___The commission had recommended that India, Laos, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan and Vietnam be included on the violaters' list. These are countries that "even the State Department's own religious-freedom reports" document as severe violators, the commission said.
___"Even the State Department's own report states that religious freedom 'does not exist' in Saudi Arabia," said Commission chair Felice Gaer. "We urge the department to continue to assess the religious freedom violations in these countries and make ... designations throughout the year."
___Human Rights Watch, a Washington-based watchdog group, accused the State Department of turning a blind eye to abuses in partner countries. In Uzbekistan, it said, thousands of independent Muslims have been persecuted in the past five years, and Turkmenistan--"one of the most repressive countries in the world"--did not even make the "watch list" of probable human rights violators.
___"The Bush administration says it wants to promote human rights in the Muslim world," said Tom Malinowski, Washington advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. "But it can hardly say it's trying if it's afraid to state the simple truth about some of its partners."
___Secretary of State Colin Powell had rejected calls to give a "country of particular concern" designation to Saudi Arabia, a major Gulf War ally, but U.S. officials denied the decision was related to preparations for war.
___"We're not going to list them, but we are going to press them on this," a senior official told Agence France-Press. "We think there is an opportunity to push really hard this year."
___Responding to questions on possible U.S. pressure for religious freedom, Saudi Arabian Defense Minister Prince Sultan told reporters that Saudi Arabia is "not against religions at all ... but there are no churches--not in the past, the present or future."
___"Even the State Department's own report states that religious freedom 'does not exist' in Saudi Arabia."
___Felice Gaer

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