USIA - Text: Coffey on Religious Persecution in the Middle East, 97-05-01

United States Information Agency: Selected Articles Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The United States Information Agency (USIA) Gopher at <gopher://gopher.usia.gov>

TEXT: COFFEY ON RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

(Promoting religious freedom growing priority for US) (3700)

The United States has "begun to take a much more activist approach in the field to questions of religious freedom," Steven Coffey, deputy assistant secretary of state in the democracy, human rights, and labor bureau, said. All U.S. embassies have been instructed "to be alert to the high priority we attach to religious freedom."

In February, the Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad was created. This committee, which is made up of 20 prominent religious leaders and activists, is expected to come forth with a series of recommendations for U.S. action by sometime this summer.

"Religious freedom is a basic American value," Coffey stressed. "I believe it is an issue on which the Administration and the Congress can see eye to eye, and one on which we can cooperate together effectively."

Following is the text of Coffey's testimony:

(Begin text)

I welcome the opportunity to appear before you today to testify on the question of religious freedom in the Middle East.

The Foreign Policy Context

The promotion of religious freedom in the Middle East and elsewhere is a growing priority in our foreign policy. Religious liberty is, after all, a core American value. Our nation was founded in large part by refugees from persecution. The framers of our Constitution enshrined religious freedom among the most sacred of the rights guaranteed to our citizens. And America today is a country where people freely worship and where hundreds of religions flourish. In fact, the United States today is a multi-religion society where more than twenty separate religions or denominations have over a million adherents each. Americans provide a living example of our conviction that people of diverse religions can coexist happily and that religious minorities can live together in harmony.

Our religious liberties don't thrive in a vacuum, however. They thrive in the context of a free society, a society that guarantees full personal liberties to all its citizens -- freedom of conscience, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly. These are among the basic elements of any democratic society. As we look around the world, we see that where political freedom, individual rights, and democracy are an the rise, so is religious freedom. We need to look no further than the revival of the religious activities in Russia and central Europe following the fall of Communism to see how increased political freedom leads to increased religious activity.

This, then, is the context in which we must formulate and implement our policy in the Middle East and around the world: where political freedoms thrive, so do religious freedoms; where political freedoms are constrained or repressed, the same is often true for religious freedom. Religious freedom can only truly flourish in free societies. One of our operating principles, therefore is that as we work to expand the family of democracies around the world, to build free societies, to encourage tolerance, and to defend all fundamental human rights, we are also working to promote religious freedom. Our global policy seeks to build a framework of peace, freedom and respect for law in which all human rights can thrive, including religious liberty.

The Context in the Middle East

The region we're focusing on today is huge. It stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean. It comprises some twenty countries. Its systems of government range from democracy to theocracy to monarchy to dictatorship. It is a region of prosperity and of poverty, of vast resources and of barren deserts. It is a region that features economic growth in some areas and stagnation in others. Some of its governments have been stable for decades, while others have been much less so. In sum, the Middle East is not easily defined. It is a region of contrasts. We should be wary of drawing generalizations.

It is not my intention today to attempt a country-by-country analysis of the Middle East. I would, however, like to offer a very brief overview of U.S. interests and the policy that guides our activities in the region. U.S. goals in the Middle East are far-ranging.

• First, securing a just, lasting, comprehensive, Arab-Israeli peace is a cornerstone of U.S. policy. This is no longer a dream; it is attainable. The agreements reached over the last three years between Israel and Jordan, and between Israel and the Palestinians; the expansion of political and economic contacts between Israel and its Arab neighbors; and the long- standing peace between Israel and Egypt form the foundation of a comprehensive settlement of the conflict. While much work remains ahead, building a basis for lasting peace will remain at the center of our Middle East policy.
• Beyond the Arab-Israeli peace process, the U.S. is committed to maintaining full and secure access to the energy resources of the Persian Gulf. It is in this context that we work to contain the threat to regional stability posed by Iran, Iraq, and Libya.
• We are working to contain regional conflicts and prevent hostilities.
• We are working to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
• We are actively combating the threats of terrorism, narcotics, and international crime.
• We are expanding trade and investment opportunities for the U.S. private sector.
• We are providing humanitarian assistance to aid millions of refugees and displaced persons throughout the region.
• And finally, but certainly not least, we are working throughout the region to encourage movement toward democratic political processes, strengthened rule of law, greater respect for human rights, improved opportunities for women, and expansion of civil society institutions. Democratization, human rights and political reform are important elements of our dialogue with governments of the region. They are a major focus of USIS activities and a central element in many of our AID programs. We have launched democracy-building assistance programs in seven Middle Eastern countries. In addition, the U.S. encourages and supports through IMET programs the development of professional, apolitical military forces trained to respect human rights. And, the Middle East Democracy Fund, inaugurated this year, will seek opportunities for developing democratic institutions in countries receiving little or no peace process-related economic assistance or AID-administered development assistance.

This, then, is the broad context in which we pursue our Middle East policy. Let me now focus more specifically on the question of religious freedom in the Middle East.

The Religious Context

Very serious issues of religious restrictions, discrimination, persecution, and conflict exist in the Middle East. The region is diverse, however, and, as I have pointed out, we should be careful not to make sweeping generalizations. In most of the Middle East there is little or no separation of religion and state as we practice it the United States. Although this is manifested differently in each nation, the close association of religion and the state -- and the lack of tolerance and pluralism -- poses a special challenge to protect adherents of religions other than the state religion. In most countries of the Middle East, Islam is the official, state religion. In some countries, such as Jordan and Morocco, the King derives his legitimacy, in part, because his heritage is traced back to the Prophet Mohammed and the beginnings of Islam. In many countries, religious law is imposed by the state; in others, civil law and religious law exist side by side. In some, such as Israel, religious political parties are active in government; in others, such as Algeria, religious parties are banned. In Lebanon, the most senior government positions are allocated according to religious affiliation.

With these variations in mind, it is worth highlighting the following issues:

• Most Middle Eastern states impose significant legal obstacles to religious freedom, contrary to the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Some governments, such as Saudi Arabia, prohibit entirely the practice of religions other than Islam. This prohibition on non-Muslim religions forces Christian and other expatriates who seek to worship to do so only at great personal risk and under extremely discrete circumstances. In others, from Israel to Kuwait, religious affiliation is a prerequisite of granting citizenship to new immigrants.
• One of the most serious issues concerning religious freedom in most Middle Eastern countries is a strict prohibition on proselytizing. Conversions of Muslims to other religions is often illegal. Apostasy can carry heavy penalties including, in some countries, death. Iran, for example, has issued a decree seeking the death of the writer Salman Rushdie, who is called an apostate for authoring The Satanic Verses. In addition, the government of Iran has decreed all Bahai's to be apostates, regardless of whether they were born Baha'i or are converts. Four Baha'is have been sentenced to death for apostasy and Christian evangelists have died in Iran under extremely suspicious circumstances. Most countries in the region prohibit or restrict proselytizing, and there is serious societal discrimination and intolerance against converts. This, of course, is contrary to the Universal Declaration's provision that protects the right of all people to change their religion or belief.
• In some states, specific religious groups are persecuted or their practices restricted. For example, in Iraq the government has severely restricted its majority Shi'a Muslim population, banning the broadcast of Shi'a programming on government television and radio, the publication of Shi'a books and even the commemoration of Shi'a holy days. The Assyrian Christian community has suffered various forms of persecution and abuses by Iraqi forces, including harassment and killings.
• Even where legal obstacles do not exist, societal discrimination on a religious basis does. Jews throughout the Middle East, especially since the creation of the State of Israel, have experienced societal discrimination or repression, resulting in the large scale emigration of traditional communities. Anti-Semitism remains a widespread problem in many Middle Eastern countries today. The Coptic Christian community in Egypt is subject to discriminatory practices, in addition to a number of legal restrictions. And, discrimination against women remains a pervasive problem throughout much of the Middle East; in some instances discriminatory actions against women resulting from societal traditions are incorrectly explained as resulting from traditional Islamic practice.
• Some Middle Eastern states legislate in ways that discriminate against religious groups. In some cases, legal restrictions on a particular community exist but are not enforced in practice. In Israel, Orthodox religious authorities have exclusive control over marriage, divorce, and burial of all Jews, regardless of the individual's orthodoxy. In Iran, Baha'is are legally restricted in their educational and employment opportunities, as well as in other ways.
• Violence which chooses religion as its standard bearer is all too common in the region. The sixteen-year Lebanese civil war included elements of sectarian violence in Algeria and Egypt, armed groups have carried out acts of terror on both Muslims and Christians in the name of religion. In Algeria alone, thousands have been murdered -- hundreds in just the past two weeks -- purportedly to advance a certain Islamic agenda. And, of course, the Arab-Israeli conflict, while not a religious conflict per se, is laden with religious overtones and has provided grist to extremist groups, some of which -- such as Hamas -- use religion to rally supporters. Given the absence of separation of religion and state, it bears highlighting that Middle Eastern governments are often active in regulating and restricting the practice of Islam, as well as of other religions. This is an important element of the religious context in the region that is sometimes overlooked. For example, it is common in many Middle Eastern states for governments to be involved in appointing Islamic clergy, funding mosques and religious workers' salaries, providing guidance for sermons, and monitoring Islamic religious services for unacceptable content. Such restrictions on Islam sometimes exist even in states that accept the free and open practice at other faiths. I raise the issue of restrictions on the practice of Islam in the Middle East to underscore that it is not just religious minorities in the region which face constraints on religious liberty. In some instances the restrictions placed on minorities are mirrored by similar restrictions or regulations of the Islamic majority. Some of these restrictions, moreover, overlap with constraints on other freedoms -- such as freedom of speech or freedom of assembly -- reinforcing the key point that religious freedom is only likely to thrive in free societies, and where political freedoms are restricted of repressed, the same is often true for religious freedoms.

What Are We Doing About It?

• First, we're speaking out for religious freedom. President Clinton has issued several proclamations on religious freedom and Secretary of State Albright, soon after taking office, stated that freedom of religion is a priority human rights concern for her and made it clear that it should be treated as an important issue in our human rights policy. Religious freedom is one of the core human rights basic to American values. And it's more than just an American value -- international human rights instruments and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrine religious freedom as one of the basic, internationally recognized rights of all men and women. One of the reasons I'm pleased to be here today is the opportunity it affords to reiterate our message an religious freedom and to do so in a way that it will be heard around the Middle East and elsewhere.
• Second, we're making it clear when there's a problem in a country. Our annual human rights reports to Congress each contain a section on freedom of religion; these spell out in detail the situation in every country in the world, highlighting the problems we see. This is public document that gets wide distribution. And we bring the reports and our concerns directly to the attention of the governments concerned. This year we will also be presenting a report to Congress on persecution of Christians around the world, which will include portions on Middle Eastern countries. And beyond these reports, the State Department comments regularly and publicly on instances of religious intolerance and persecution that come to our attention in all countries, including in the Middle East.
• Third, we have begun to take a much more activist approach in the field to questions of religious freedom. In December, the Department of State instructed all U.S. embassies around the world, including in the Middle East, to be alert to the high priority we attach to religious freedom. We asked our posts to report more actively on these issues, to identify religions. denominations, or sects being discriminated against or persecuted, and to provide suggestions about how the U.S. might most effectively address questions of religious freedom and religious persecution in their countries. This initiative has already begun to show results, with more information coming our way, and some useful suggestions on how to approach certain governments on this issue.
• Fourth, in February we convened the first Session of the Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom abroad. This new committee brings together twenty of America's most prominent religious leaders, activists, and thinkers to help us forge new policy directions on religious freedom. The creation of the Advisory Committee reflects our recognition that mere can and should be done to promote religious freedom abroad. Already the Committee's members are hard at work, and have formed sub- groups on religious persecution and on conflict resolution. By this summer we hope to have the Committee's first recommendations for action.
• Fifth, we have taken an increasingly active approach in raising with Middle Eastern and other governments specific cases of individuals and groups who are suffering discrimination or persecution on religious grounds. Generally, we have done this quietly and through diplomatic channels. We have also encouraged governments to state publicly their opposition to acts of violence and discrimination aimed at individuals or groups because of their religion or belief. In a number of cases we have seen positive results.
• Sixth, we have been active in mulitlateral fora in raising questions of religious freedom. In the U.N. Human Rights Commission earlier this month, for example, we cosponsored a resolution on religious intolerance and delivered a strong statement on religious freedom. The United States was instrumental in the creation of a Human Rights Commission Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, and we have been strongly supportive of the Special Rapporteur's activities. We have also drawn attention to specific cases of gross abuse, including Iran's treatment of its Baha'i community and Iraqi persecution of several religious groups.
• Seventh, we have sponsored and funded programs to promote religious liberty and tolerance. Some of these programs are specifically targeted at the issue, while others are broader in scope but still impact positively on the problem. For example, USIS posts in Arab countries have sent clerics, journalists, politicians and academics to the United States to participate in an annual International Visitor program an "Religion in America," in which they meet with American Christian, Muslim, Jewish and ecumenical groups to discuss ways of promoting religious tolerance. Participants have returned impressed with the extent of religious freedom in the U.S. and the possibilities for cooperative relationships among people of different faiths. Through the National Endowment for Democracy we are funding several programs to support tolerance and secularism; for example, a project to enable an independent literary journal to organize debates on religion and democracy among theologians, historians, and lawyers, and another project to translate into Arabic and publish important works on democracy, tolerance and pluralism. Beyond programs focused specifically on religious issues, we are also actively pursuing democracy- building programs around the region, on the basis that building open democratic societies will lead to improved respect for all human rights, including religious freedom. We have such democracy-building programs in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon, Morocco, and the West Bank and Gaza; some additional programs also focus on related issues such as conflict resolution and the human rights of women.
• Eighth, we have reached out to religious groups and leaders throughout the Middle East. Our Embassies maintain close contacts with a broad spectrum of Middle Eastern religious leaders, especially those representing groups suffering discrimination, to reassure them of American interest and see how we can be helpful.
• Finally, our overall policy toward the middle East -- while not determined by questions of religious freedom -- in fact is aimed at creating the kind of conditions under which religious freedom has a chance to emerge, and to prosper.

• I've spoken, for example, about how the Arab-Israeli conflict has given rise to extremist groups such as Hamas, and has exacerbated religious tensions and intolerance in the region. I have pointed out that our chief policy emphasis is on the Middle East peace process. By establishing peace in the region and building bridges between communities previously at war, we are also establishing a framework for greater tolerance.
• Likewise, our effort to build open societies and encourage the growth of democratic institutions in the middle East will contribute over time to a climate for greater religious freedom.
• Our efforts to fight terrorism also help strike at the roots of intolerance and religious persecution.
• And, our work to isolate rogue regimes will help weaken many of the leaders most responsible for severe repression in the region. In these ways, our general approach to Middle East Policy is helping to build a framework in which religious tolerance will be more likely to emerge, and to grow. Mr. Chairman, there is a long way to go to resolve the many aspects of religious intolerance restriction, and persecution in the Middle East. I cannot tell you today that we have all the answers. Nor can I assert that the United States has the power to bring about changes in religious practices abroad even if we did have the answers. What I can tell you, however, is that we are committed to making the effort. We have structured a broad policy toward the Middle East that is helping to lay the framework for peace and democratic societies, which are essential components of an atmosphere conducive to religious freedom. We are speaking out for religious freedom. We are raising the issue with governments. And we are undertaking a range of policy initiatives to advance our goal of a world where every individual will be at liberty to follow their beliefs and to practice their religion freely. We appreciate your interest in this issue, and would welcome your comments and suggestions. As I said at the outset, freedom of religion is a basic American value; I believe it is an issue on which the Administration and the Congress can see eye to eye, and one on which we can cooperate together effectively.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

(End text)

From the United States Information Agency (USIA) Gopher at gopher://gopher.usia.gov

United States Information Agency: Selected Articles Directory - Previous Article - Next Article