• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
PrefaceInternational Religious Freedom ReportBureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and LaborIn August 1993, the Secretary of State moved to further strengthen the humanrights efforts of our embassies. All sections in each embassy were asked tocontribute information and to corroborate reports of human rights violations, andnew efforts were made to link mission programming to the advancement of humanrights and democracy. In 1994 the Bureau of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairswas reorganized and renamed as the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor,reflecting both a broader sweep and a more focused approach to the interlockingissues of human rights, worker rights, and democracy. In 1998 the Secretary ofState established the Office of International Religious Freedom; in May 1999,Robert A. Seiple was sworn in as the first Ambassador at Large for InternationalReligious Freedom. The position has been vacant since Ambassador Seiple left inSeptember 2000.The 2001 Report covers the period from July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2001, and reflectsa year of dedicated effort by hundreds of State Department, Foreign Service, andother U.S. Government employees. Our embassies, which prepared the initial draftsof the reports, gathered information throughout this period from a variety ofsources, including government and religious officials, nongovernmentalorganizations, journalists, human rights monitors, religious groups, andacademics. This information-gathering can be hazardous, and U.S. Foreign ServiceOfficers regularly go to great lengths, under trying and sometimes dangerousconditions, to investigate reports of human rights abuse, monitor elections, andcome to the aid of individuals at risk because of their religious beliefs.After the embassies completed their drafts, the texts were sent to Washington forcareful review by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor and its Officesof International Religious Freedom, Country Reports and Asylum Affairs, andBilateral Affairs, in cooperation with other State Department offices. As theyworked to corroborate, analyze, and edit the reports, the Department officers drewon their own sources of information. These included reports provided by U.S. andother human rights groups, foreign government officials, representatives from theUnited Nations and other international and regional organizations andinstitutions, and experts from academia and the media. Officers also consultedwith experts on issues of religious discrimination and persecution, religiousleaders from all faiths, and experts on legal matters. The guiding principle wasto ensure that all relevant information was assessed as objectively, thoroughly,and fairly as possible.The Report will be used as a resource for shaping policy, conducting diplomacy,and making assistance, training, and other resource allocations. As mandated byIRFA, it also will be used as a basis for decisions on determining countries thathave engaged in or tolerated "particularly severe violations" of religiousfreedom. Countries involved in these and other violations according to IRFA arenot identified as such in this report, but have been and will be engagedindependently by the U.S. Government. The Report also will serve as a basis forthe U.S. Government's cooperation with private groups to promote the observance of
 
the internationally recognized right to religious freedom.IntroductionInternational Religious Freedom ReportBureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor "It is not an accident that freedom of religion is one of the central freedoms inour Bill of Rights. It is the first freedom of the human soul--the right to speakthe words that God places in our mouths. We must stand for that freedom in ourcountry. We must speak for that freedom in the world."President George W. BushMay 3, 2001, speech to theAmerican Jewish CommitteeThe 1998 International Religious Freedom Act requires that the Secretary ofState, assisted by the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom,publish an Annual Report on International Religious Freedom each September. TheAnnual Reports must include a description of the status of religious freedom ineach foreign country, including any violations of religious freedom and any trendstoward improvement, as well as an Executive Summary.The purpose of these reports is to advance the U.S. policy of promoting religiousfreedom internationally--to speak for that freedom in the world. U.S. policydraws deeply on two traditions: the history and commitment of the American people,and the standards established by the international community. These twotraditions not only are consistent but are mutually supportive.The U.S. Commitment to Religious LibertyThe United States has a longstanding commitment to religious liberty. America'sfounders made religious freedom the first freedom of the Constitution--giving itpride of place among those liberties enumerated in the Bill of Rights--becausethey believed that guaranteeing the right to search for transcendent truths andultimate human purpose was a critical component of a durable democracy.The Founders believed in the universality of human dignity--that all human beingsare endowed by the Creator with certain rights that are theirs by virtue of theirexistence. These rights were inalienable because they were understood to existprior to societies and governments, and were granted by neither.A commitment to the inviolable and universal dignity of the human person is at thecore of U.S. human rights policy abroad, including the policy of advocatingreligious freedom. Governments that protect religious freedom for all theircitizens are more likely to protect the other fundamental human rights.Encouraging stable, healthy democracies is a vital national interest of the UnitedStates. The spread of democracy makes for good neighbors, economic prosperity,increased trade, and a decrease in conflict.
 
The International Norm of Religious FreedomFreedom of religion and conscience is one of the foundational rights in the post-War system of international human rights instruments. Beginning with Article 18of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, religious freedom also isprovided for in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, theHelsinki Accords, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights andFundamental Freedoms, and the U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms ofIntolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.The belief that fundamental human rights are not created by, but exist prior to,governments is reflected in international instruments as well. According to the1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights--the foundational text forinternational human rights advocacy,--"all human beings are born free and equal indignity and rights," and are "endowed with reason and conscience."In recent years, the international commitment to religious freedom has increased.For example, in 1986 the U.N. Commission on Human Rights established the office ofthe Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, now the Special Rapporteur onFreedom of Religion or Belief. Since his appointment in 1993, Special RapporteurAbdelfattah Amor has issued reports on a variety of countries, including Sudan,the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Pakistan, Iran, Vietnam, India, Australia,Greece, Germany, and the United States. His work provides substantial andcontinuing evidence of the commitment of the international community to promotingreligious freedom.The Department of State presents this third Annual Report on InternationalReligious Freedom (2001) both because it is a vital part of U.S. human rightspolicy and furthers the interests of the United States, and because of our abidingcommitment to the international standard of religious freedom.Executive SummaryInternational Religious Freedom Report 2002Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor The vast majority of the world's governments have committed themselves to respectreligious freedom. In 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights, recognizing that freedom of belief had beenproclaimed the highest aspiration of the common people. In Article 18, memberstates affirmed the right of everyone to freedom of thought, conscience andreligion, including the freedom to change one's religion and manifest one'sreligion alone or with others, in public or private. Article 29 stated that theonly limitations on religious freedom permissible were those that would securerecognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and would meet thejust requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in ademocratic society.In addition to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, most countries haveaccepted one or more of the other international instruments that explicitlyprotect freedom of religion and belief. For example, 144 countries are parties tothe International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which acknowledges theright of every human being to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choiceand either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...