India On CPC Hit List

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent `federal agency advising theAdministration and Congress, has recommended that the US Secretary of State designate 12 countries includingIndia as a "country of particular concern" (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA). 

Under the US law, CPCs are those countries which the Secretary finds to have engaged in or toleratedparticularly severe violations of religious freedom. Once a country is designated, the IRFA requires thepresident to oppose those violations by taking specified actions. Such measures can range from a diplomaticdemarche to economic sanctions or a waiver of action.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the International Religious FreedomAct of 1998 to give independent recommendations to the executive branch and the Congress.

In 1999 and again in 2000, the US Secretary of State had designated Burma, China, Iran, Iraq, and Sudan asCPCs, and had  added North Korea to this group in 2001. "In addition to the six countries previouslydesignated by you as CPCs, the Commission finds that the governments of India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia,Turkmenistan, Vietnam, and Laos have engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom, and recommends that they bedesignated as CPCs this year," the Commission's letter to the US Secretary of State mentions.

Significantly, Commissioners Felice D. Gaer and Michael K. Young dissented from the recommendation thatIndia be designated a CPC. Commissioners Leila N. Sadat and Shirin Tahir-Kheli dissented from the decision notto recommend that Uzbekistan be designated a CPC:

"Although we are appalled by the violence against Muslims that took place in Gujarat this year, werespectfully dissent from the decision to recommend that India be named a CPC. India is a respected democracywith a judiciary, which is independent, albeit slow-moving and frequently unresponsive, and can work to holdthe perpetrators responsible; many vigorous, independent non-governmental human rights organizations that haveinvestigated and published extensive reports about the government's handling of the situation; and a freepress that has widely reported on and strongly criticized the situation on the ground in Gujarat.

"Moreover, the worst levels of violence were contained in a short time period relative to othersimilar outbreaks in the past and were confined to the state of Gujarat, not spreading to other states,largely because of the actions of Indian officials. Thus we do not agree that in the case of India as a whole,it can be said that 'systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom' have been 'engaged in ortolerated' by the Indian government to an extent to warrant CPC status."

But it was not enough.

"The designation of countries of particular concern is one of the most important human rights acts takenby any U.S. administration," said Commission Chair Felice D. Gaer. "The IRFA requires the U.S. to opposethese egregious and systematic violations, whether the government itself commits them or tolerates them. Wehope to see actions commensurate with the severity of these abuses."

The Commission has also created a Watch List of countries – Egypt, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Uzbekistan –where it found grave violations of religious freedom have occurred.

Despite the Commission’s recommendations over several years that Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, and Laos bedesignated as CPCs, the State Department has failed to name them. This marks the first time the Commission hasurged the Secretary to designate India, Pakistan, and Vietnam as CPCs.

Excerpts of Commission findings about other countries include the following:

The Commission found that in China, particularly severe violations have actually increased in the pastyear. The Chinese government has intensified its violent campaign of repression against EvangelicalChristians, Roman Catholics, Uighur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, and groups – such as the Falun Gong – thathave been labeled as "evil cults." This campaign has included imprisonment, torture, and other forms ofill treatment.

As noted in past years by the State Department, religious freedom "does not exist" in Saudi Arabia. Thegovernment vigorously prohibits all forms of public religious expression other than the government’sinterpretation and presentation of Sunni Islam. Last year, numerous foreign Christian workers were detained,arrested, tortured, and subsequently deported. Shi’a clerics and religious scholars are detained andimprisoned for their religious views, which differ from those of the government. The Saudi government’ssevere violations of religious freedom include torture and cruel and degrading treatment or punishment;prolonged detention without charges; and flagrant denials of the right to liberty and security of the person,including coercive measures directed against women and the extended jurisdiction of the religious police, whoexercise their vague powers in ways that violate others’ religious freedom.

The government of Vietnam continues repressive policies toward all religions and their followers. ACommission delegation that visited Vietnam in March 2002 found that religious dissidents remain under housearrest or are imprisoned, including Father Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly, who was detained after submitting testimonyto the Commission last year. In addition, government officials continue to suppress organized religiousactivities and to harass leaders and followers of unregistered religious organizations, as well as clergymembers of officially recognized religious groups.

The Commission also is very concerned about violations of religious freedom engaged in or tolerated by thegovernments of Egypt, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Uzbekistan. Because the governments of these countries have nottaken effective steps to halt repression and/or violence against religious believers, nor, in most cases, topunish those responsible, the Commission has determined to place them on a new "Watch List."

The full text of the Commission’s findings on each country recommended for CPC designation can be foundon its web site at www.uscirf.gov (For Pakistan and India,please see the articles on the RHS bar)