Bush Administration raps Saudi Arabia for severe religious freedom violations

Washington DC, USA – The United States for the first time slammed down heavily on Saudi Arabia recently by naming it as a country that severely violated religious freedom, and added it to the list of countries which are of “particular concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act, potentially subjecting the close U.S. ally to sanctions.

“Freedom of religion does not exist” in Saudi Arabia, the State Department blatantly stated in its sixth annual report on International Religious Freedom that examines the “status of religious freedom around the world.” “Freedom of religion is not recognized or protected under the country’s laws and basic religious freedoms are denied to all but those who adhere to the state–sanctioned version of Sunni Islam,” the report said, adding that “non–Muslim worshippers risk arrest, imprisonment, lashing, deportation and sometimes torture.” The report on international religious freedom, released yesterday, accused Riyadh of backing anti–Jewish and anti–Christian campaigns and torturing non–Muslims.

It noted that those who don’t practice Salafi or Wahhabi Islam can face severe repercussions at the hands of the religious police, Muttawa. The country’s Shiite–Muslim minority faced discrimination and restrictions on the practice of their faith, the report added. It also noted that the government prohibits public non–Muslim religious activities.

“Non–Muslim worshippers risk arrest, imprisonment, lashing, deportation, and sometimes torture for engaging in religious activity that attracts official attention,” it said. “Proselytizing by non–Muslims, including the distribution of non–Muslim religious materials such as Bibles, is illegal.”

The administration took the action against the Saudis despite indications that they are relaxing their policies toward nonofficial religious groups.

George Gedda, an Associated Press Writer, said in an article, “Ambassador John Hanford, who is the State Department’s top official for the office of religious freedom, praised statements by Saudi ruler Crown Prince Abdullah in support of tolerance and moderation.

“Hanford also told reporters the Saudis have begun a dialogue with the Shiite minority, which historically has suffered from discrimination.

“In addition, Hanford said, school textbooks have been revised to take out inflammatory statements against non–establishment religious groups. While acknowledging these improvements, Hanford said the Saudis have not done enough to escape the CPC (Countries of Particular Concern) designation.”

“He said the administration has had discussions with the Saudis on religious freedom and plans more.”
Secretary of State Colin Powell announced this during a press briefing presenting the latest report on international religious freedom.

Releasing the report at the State Department, U.S. secretary of State Colin Powell noted that many of the countries listed as CPCs were close U.S. allies.

“Let me emphasize that we will continue engaging the countries of particular concern with whom we have bilateral relationships,” he said. “Our existing partnerships have flourished in numerous capacities, and they are just one of the best ways for us to encourage our friends to adopt tolerant practices.”
“Too many people in our world are still denied their basic human right of religious liberty,” Powell said. “Some suffer under totalitarian regimes, others under governments that deliberately target or fail to protect religious minorities from discrimination and violence.”

The United States also identified seven other nations as “countries of particular concern”: Burma, China, Iran, North Korea and Sudan, which were on the State Department’s list of concern last year, besides adding Eritrea and Vietnam to this year’s list. Iraq has been dropped from the present list.

Vietnam was accused of pressuring ethnic–minority Protestants to recant their faith and beating up religious believers.

The report retained China, Cuba, Laos, Burma and North Korea in the list of “totalitarian regimes” restricting religious freedom in their societies.
The governments of such countries “engaged in systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedoms”.

China is cited for its treatment of unregistered religious and spiritual groups, as well as Christians, Tibetans and Muslims. The report noted the continued arrest, detention and imprisonment of Falun Gong practitioners.

“Practitioners who refuse to recant their beliefs are sometimes subjected to harsh treatment in prisons and re–education–through–labor camps, and there have been credible reports of deaths due to torture and abuse,” the report said.

The US could impose sanctions on these countries under the law, but Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington would emphasize diplomatic efforts to influence them to change any policies that discriminate against people on the basis of their religion.

The report listed Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan among the countries with “state hostility towards minority or non–approved religions”.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan, all key U.S. allies in the war on terror, were rapped for hostility toward minority on non–approved religion. Also on that list were Eritrea, Iran, Sudan and Turkmenistan. The report said though these states did not implement full control over minority religions, they were hostile and repressive to certain ones, or identified religious groups as “security threats.”

“These governments implement policies designed to intimidate and harass certain religious groups, demand adherents to recant their faith, or cause religious group members to flee the country,” the report said.

Pakistan’s government was accused of imposing limits on freedom of religion. The report noted a lack of intervention in violence against minority religious groups, pointing to anti–Shiite violence in the predominantly Sunni country.

“Human rights groups report that there have been incidents in which persons from minority groups, especially Hindus and Christians, have been abducted and forcibly converted,” the report said.

The Uzbek government was accused of “continued ... numerous serious abuses of religious freedom.” The report said the government curtailed Christian activity as well as unauthorized Islamic groups. Although the country is predominantly Muslim, the government has cracked down on groups and observant Muslims after guerrilla attacks in the country.

“This campaign led authorities to be highly suspicious of those who were among the most observant, including frequent mosque attendees, bearded men, and veiled women, creating a climate of intimidation and fear for some devout believers,” it said.

In Bangladesh, Egypt, Georgia, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and Sri Lanka, there was “state neglect of societal discrimination against, or persecution of, minority religions”.

The report also chided allies Egypt and India for neglect of discrimination against or persecution of religious minorities. India was rapped for anti–Muslim violence and anti–conversion laws in some states targeting Christians, and Egypt for trying citizens for unorthodox religious beliefs.

However, the report also identifies countries that have achieved “significant improvement in the protection and promotion” of religious freedom, including Afghanistan, Georgia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and India.

On India, the report says the status of religious freedom has improved but there were problematic areas including alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

‘‘For the first time, all three most important politicians in India are members of religious minorities, a Muslim, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, being President; a Sikh, Dr Manmohan Singh, being Prime Minister; and a Christian, Sonia Gandhi, being the president of the governing Congress party,’’ the report said. ‘‘The BJP–led Government, which previously campaigned on a Hindutva platform, adopted a more inclusive rhetoric regarding minorities and took some steps to decrease violence.’’ Though the BJP states that the caste system should be eradicated, many of its members were ambivalent about this objective.

Countries with “discriminatory legislation or policies prejudicial to certain religions” were listed as Azerbaijan, Belarus, Brunei, Israel, Malaysia, Moldova, Russia and Turkey.

The report also accused Belgium, France and Germany of “denouncing certain religions by affiliating them with dangerous ‘cults’ or ‘sects”. The Church of Scientology is scrutinized in Belgium and Germany, and France was listed for its law adopted over the summer that banned conspicuous religious symbols at schools.

The U.S. government is engaged with several countries, including China, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan to advance religious freedom in those nations.

Admonishing Saudi Arabia was a radical switch for the Bush administration, which had resisted calls from human rights groups and key lawmakers that the State Department cite the desert kingdom, a key oil supplier and partner in the war against terrorism, in its annual report. U.S. officials have said they preferred to handle such concerns privately even as they confessed that for all practical purposes Saudi Arabia has one of the world’s most repressive regimes.

The designation of Saudi Arabia was made as the Bush administration has come under sharp attack from Democrats – and the hit movie “Fahrenheit 9/11” – for its close relationship with Saudi rulers.

Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry took the unusual step of singling out the Saudi royal family during his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention, saying, “I want an America that relies on its own ingenuity and innovation – not the Saudi royal family.”

Recently, a senior adviser to the campaign, Susan Rice, said Kerry supported the Federal government’s decision to add Saudi Arabia to the present list, but she accused the administration of taking a “kid glove” approach to Saudi Arabia. “President Bush’s record makes clear: The only time he will acknowledge unacceptable Saudi behavior is within weeks of an election,” she said.

But administration officials denied that the long–debated action was taken for political considerations.

“Never one word of that has been spoken to me by anybody,” said John V. Hanford III, ambassador at large for international religious freedom. “We are not trying to counter allegations that have no basis in fact.”

Hanford told a news conference that Saudi Arabia was being included despite improvements such as a bid by Crown Prince Abdullah to promote tolerance and moderation, a national dialogue with Shiites, a rewriting of textbooks to remove inflammatory statements against non–Salafi Muslims and against other religions, and the firing of firebrand imams.

“There are positive developments in Saudi Arabia that we take encouragement from, but there are a number of problems that persist that we feel place Saudi Arabia over the line,” he said.

Much of the discrimination in Saudi Arabia, Hanford said, was directed at other Muslims who do not practice Wahhabi, the state–sanctioned religion, in particular Shiites. “Most branches of Islam do not have freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

Practices in Iraq are excluded because at the time the reporting period ended, June 30, the country was being governed by the U.S.–led Coalition Provisional Authority. The State Department does not report on U.S. governance, but says it welcomes the scrutiny of other responsible reporters.

“Our own nation’s history has not been perfect, nor do we claim to be so today,” Hanford said. “We continue to strive at home and abroad to uphold religious freedom as the universal right that it is.”
The Saudi Embassy has declined to comment on the administration’s action.

U.S. officials yesterday declined to say what, if any, sanctions might be contemplated against Saudi Arabia if it does not improve religious freedom. “I’m not going to start speculating at this point on what might happen next,” State Department spokesman Richard A. Boucher told reporters. “We will be following along, considering the appropriate measures as required.”

Alexandra Arriaga, director of government relations for Amnesty International USA, said the designation should have been made “quite some time ago” but what is needed now is concentrated follow–up by the U.S. government. Bush “ought to raise this issue more forcefully,” Arriaga said, such as setting benchmarks for the Saudi government, including lifting restrictions on religious minorities in Saudi law.
Lawmakers who had pressed this issue in the past hailed the recent announcement.

“Finally, finally, finally,” said Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R–Va.). “I just commend the Bush administration for saying what everyone knew.”

Rep. Tom Lantos (D–Calif.), co–chairman with Wolf of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, said the action reflects “a sea change” in the view of Saudi Arabia by Congress, the executive branch and the public since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“For too many years, Saudi Arabia was above criticism. You could criticize everybody in this town, but you could not criticize the Saudis,” Lantos said. “Coming face to face with the reality, not only that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis but that, directly or indirectly, Saudi Arabia or its citizens were a principal financier of terrorism – that has now liberated even the State Department to call a spade a spade.”

The International Religious Freedom Act, the 1998 legislation that requires the State Department to issue its annual report, also created a permanent, nine–member U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

The commission’s chairwoman, Preeta D. Bansal, called on the State Department to “follow up its designations with action,” beginning with negotiations and ratcheting up, if necessary, to include a broad range of economic and diplomatic sanctions.

Although the commission is “not at this particular time recommending any particular form of sanctions,” she said, if “dialogue and consultations” fail to bring improvements in Saudi Arabia’s record on religion, then “the full range of options needs to be explored, possibly in an escalating way.”

The commission had recommended for two years that Vietnam be named a country of particular concern. Wolf said Vietnam had avoided censure because of its rapidly growing trade with the United States, and despite evidence of egregious violations of religious liberty.

In particular, he cited the case of the Rev. Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly, a Roman Catholic priest who was branded a traitor and imprisoned in 2001 after he sent testimony to the commission about what he called “extremely cruel” treatment of religious people by the communist government.

Eritrea, the other nation new to the list this year, was cited because all religious activity outside four recognized groups was forced to end and more than 200 Christians remain in prison for their faith.