U.S. government gives attention to religious freedom
 The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has issued its 2010 annual report, its eleventh.  The USCIRF itself is troubled and also faces reauthorization next year by Congress. It has recently
named a new executive director, Jackie Wolcott, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Security Council during the Bush administration. USCIRF members are not in agreement with one another. They are frustrated that their recommendations to the State Department are not followed. Leonard Leo has been the USCIRF chair for the year ending in June 2010. Members of the group include Christian evangelical Don Argue and Richard Land, Muslim imam Talal Eid, Jewish human rights leader Felice Gaer, and religious freedom activist Nina Shea.
The State Department's Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom would serve as an non-voting ex-officio member, but the position has not been filled by the current administration.
The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 made the promotion of religious freedom for all persons a core objective of U.S. foreign policy. The USCIRF is an independent government entity charged with monitoring the status of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international instruments, and to give independent policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and the Congress. In turn, the State Department issues a yearly report on these concerns to Congress.
The 2009 Report on International Religious Freedom prepared by the State Department primarily focuses on the actions of governments around the world. Its list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPCs) is Burma (Myanmar), China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Uzbekistan. See the executive summary. In addition to its nation-related summaries, it highlights the role of interreligious dialogue and some recent developments. The USCIRF chair said after the 2009 report's release, "President Obama has raised religious freedom in his speeches abroad without those sentiments being translated into concrete policy actions." USCIRF would like other countries added to the CPC designees, explicitly as of 2010, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam.
USCIRF also has a "watch" list that, in 2008, included Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, and Nigeria. Additionally, it is monitoring or reviewing Russia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, and Turkey.
An article in Foreign Policy discusses the value of religious freedom diplomacy in the interests of peace, stability, and American security. "The Future of U.S. International Religious Freedom Policy," a Georgetown University study, says that international religious freedom policy has had minimal impact on persecution and is viewed by others as an attack on majority religious communities, cultural imperialism, and a front for American missionaries. The Washington Post carried a story in mid-February that reported charges by some past USCIRF members, staff, and former staff that there is "ideology and tribalism" behind the scenes. A former staff person, a Muslim, has filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint after her contract was canceled.
In addition to the report on religious freedom, the State Departments releases yearly country reports on human rights. The 2009 report is now available on the web. |
