The Washington Times

Published in Washington, D.C.     5am -- September 10, 1999  

State Department report details oppression of religious freedom worldwide

By Larry Witham
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The State Department's first report on global religious liberty Thursday detailed suppression in China, religious killings in Sudan, persecution in Muslim states, and Russian and German laws that curb small religious denominations.
     The 1,000-page report signals "persecutors and the persecuted alike that they will not be forgotten," Robert A. Seiple, ambassador at large for international religious freedom, said at a news conference. "We have swept absolutely nothing under the rug."
     The report, posted Thursday on the State Department's World Wide Web site, notes that:

• The Iranian government still executes believers in Bahaism.

• Laos makes mandatory Marxist-Leninist training for Buddhist monks.

• Pakistani law prescribes death for blasphemy.

• Armenia denies church registration to Jehovah's Witnesses.

• Turkey put 75 persons on trial for protesting a law against head scarves.

• France, Belgium and Austria have "sect lists" to monitor groups.

     Under the 1998 law that requires the annual report, Congress and the administration are supposed to "designate" the worst countries and then propose possible diplomatic pressure or economic sanctions.

     "There are no good reasons for any government to violate religious freedom," said Mr. Seiple who, having taken his post in May, completes his first duty by delivering the annual survey to Congress and the secretary of state.

     The report does not list countries noteworthy for "particularly severe violations," and Mr. Seiple declined to give such a ranking.

     Nor does the report gauge whether religious liberty is better or worse worldwide, though its detailed history of each country and current events show contemporary patterns.

     "This is the first worldwide assessment of the state of religious freedom," said Harold Koh, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor.

     The report aims to put religious freedom "into the mainstream of U.S. foreign policy," but Mr. Seiple clarified that his office has no policy-making power.

"This is not an enforcement arm of the U.S. government," he said.

     The report is based on data gathered by U.S. embassies, from news reports, scholars and religious groups. It is verified by the State Department. It also explains the difficulty that can arise in distinguishing among religious, ethnic and political factors in abuse, citing conflicts between Muslims and Christians in Serbia as an example.

     Mr. Seiple said this week's violence in East Timor "looks like a religious war" but results from Indonesia's political and economic problems undermining religious tolerance among Muslims and Christians.

     The report, Mr. Seiple said, works on the assumption that even in countries where a constitution establishes one religion -- such as Islam in Saudi Arabia, Orthodoxy in Greece or Catholicism in Argentina -- other faiths must have equal rights.

     It states, for example, "Freedom of religion does not exist" in Saudi Arabia, a major U.S. ally in the Middle East.

     "The report will be used as a resource for shaping policy, conducting diplomacy and making assistance, training and other resource allocations," the document said.

     In Beijing Thursday, government officials decried the report as interference in China's internal affairs.

     "Nobody has been arrested or detained because of religious beliefs," Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said at a weekly news briefing. "If religious believers are arrested, it is not because of their religious beliefs but because they have taken part in criminal activities."

     The new American initiative comes three years after a campaign began to highlight the persecution of Christians abroad. The push resulted in the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, which established Mr. Seiple's office and a nine-member Commission on International Religious Freedom.

     His report is due each year on Sept. 1, and the commission also will issue a report on May 1. A 20-member advisory panel of diverse religious leaders also advises Mr. Seiple's office.

     The report said it makes judgments of religious freedom based on the Universal Declaration of Rights, which most nations have signed. "The law nevertheless does not attempt to impose 'the American way' on other nations," the report states.

     The office headed by Mr. Seiple, who has visited 14 countries since taking the post, spends much of its time "hearing directly the views of human rights and nongovernmental organizations, religious groups, and individuals," the report said.
     
Wes Pruden's column: Blood on the hands of the bureaucrats