The United States Commission on
International Religious Freedom says the war on terrorism is having mixed
effects on religious freedom around the world.
The group released its third annual report Monday, detailing the state of
religious liberty and other associated human rights.
The report documents religious liberties abuses by two dozen countries, and
recommends specific policy actions toward China, Indonesia, North Korea, Sudan,
Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.
Michael Young, chairman of the USCIRF says
promoting U.S. interests around the world must sometimes take a back seat to
standing up for religious freedom.
"The United States government must insure that steps to improve relations
with cooperating countries that have major problems protecting religious
freedom and other human rights -- such as China, Russia, Pakistan, Sudan, and
Uzbekistan -- do not undermine its human rights message to the governments of
these countries," he said.
That challenge has been made even more difficult as a result of the war on
terrorism. In order to prosecute the battle effectively, the U.S. now finds
itself cooperating with countries considered to be serious violators of
religious freedoms.
"Terrorism finds a happy breeding ground, in part, because people feel
disenfranchised and oppressed," Young argued. "Advancing the cause of
religious freedom in particular, and human rights generally is not only not
inconsistent with the war on terrorism; it is, in fact, the heart of the
war."
Commission member Dr. Richard Land is the president and CEO of the Ethics and
Religious Liberties Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. He argues
that religious freedom is "the best long-term insurance against the world
being threatened" by terrorism.
"The terrorism that we've been confronted with ... can only flourish in
closed societies where all disagreement is silenced at the point of a bayonet
or the barrel of a gun," Land said. "When you allow freedom of
conscience, freedom of dissent, freedom of ideas, you don't have terrorism
flourishing in those kinds of societies."
The commission found that the relationships forged in the war on terrorism may
actually benefit persecuted citizens of the nations involved.
"The expanded interaction with many of these countries gives us expanded
opportunities to press these concerns and opportunities to advance these
interests," Young said.
The campaign to destroy terrorist networks has, however, had one negative side
effect under some oppressive regimes.
"A country has a right to protect itself from terrorist activities. We
have said that again and again," Young recalled. "It cannot [however]
use the cover of a war against terrorism or a quest to root out terrorists ...
simply as an excuse for indiscriminate rounding up of people, arresting people,
or torturing people based solely on their religious beliefs and their religious
activities."
The commission says such activities have been taking place, especially in
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
The report recommends a number of policy actions toward the various offending
countries, including bypassing oppressive governments to deliver food and other
humanitarian aid directly to persecuted citizens, and conditioning
participation in U.S. stock markets on religious liberties improvements.
Other recommendations included suspending official visits between countries,
and conditioning all assistance - other than humanitarian aid - on evidence
that governments are taking "concrete steps" to improve human and
religious rights
"We don't see that as inconsistent with either the war against terrorism
or with advancing the interests of religious freedom abroad," Young said.
The countries listed as violators of religious freedoms in the report include:
Afghanistan, Belgium, Burma, China, Egypt, France, Georgia, India, Indonesia,
Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Laos, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi
Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
Additionally, the report recommended that the State Department add Laos, North
Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Turkmenistan to its list of "countries of
particular concern, subject to sanctions under the International Religious
Freedom Act of 1998. USCIRF recommended that Burma, China, Iran, Iraq, Sudan,
and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan remain on the list for 2002, as well. (The
determination regarding the Taliban was made in August 2001.)
Young says the commission's work has had a "significant impact" on
the promotion of religious liberties through U.S. foreign policy since its
creation in 1998. He believes the recommendations in this year's report, if
implemented, will have a similar effect.
"We believe they will advance, considerably, the protection of religious
freedom in countries around the globe," he concluded.
The commission's report is
available online in PDF format.