Working to promote freedom of conscience for every person, no matter who they are or where they live.

August 2005

Dear IRLA Board Members and Experts:

There are so many things to share with you that I must take time to write to you before the summer is over. Thank you for your cooperation and your support. Because of you, our association does a great work defending and promoting religious freedom around the world.

  1. December 7-12: Symposium and Festival in Yekaterinburg, Russia-It was cold-27 degrees below zero. Vassily Nichik organized a symposium with the cooperation of the Liberal Arts University and the Human Rights Institute in Yekaterinburg, deep inside Russia. It was a good meeting. Religious leaders, government representatives, university professors, and students attended. We met the Ombudsman and the Minister of Religious Affairs. On Saturday we had a Festival of Religious Freedom. People drove five hours to attend the full-day meeting. Vassily Nichik, the IRLA Secretary General for the Ural region, did an excellent work. A publication sponsored by the IRLA was printed following the symposium.
  2. December 13-19: IRLA Euro-Asia Board Meeting in Moscow-Victor Vitko and I traveled 27 hours by train to reach Moscow from Yekaterinburg. From Moscow I went to Zaoksky Theological Seminary to teach a course on religious freedom to the students in law and theology. Then I participated in the IRLA Euro-Asia Board of Directors. It was a great meeting. Religious leaders-Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox, Catholic, and Baptist-attended. The new president handled the meeting very well. Anatoly Krasikov was there too. A report was given on the first round table of experts, which will become the IRLA Euro-Asia Meeting of Experts. Several regional congresses and symposiums were organized.
  3. December: Recognition-While traveling in Russia, I received interesting news from Bucharest. Viorel Dima told me that the President of the Romanian Republic had honored me with the National Order of Merit rank of Commander for my IRLA leadership. Thank you, Mr President; thank you, Romania.
  4. Azerbaijan: Imam Ilgar Ibragimoglu reelected IRLA Secretary General-Iman Ibragimoglu has been a courageous defender of religious freedom and human rights in Azerbaijan. The board members of the IRLA Azerbaijan chapter decided to reelect him. IRLA has not been recognized officially and Ilgar is still facing problems, as are several religious minorities.
  5. January 19-20: IRLA International Congress in Trinidad-The IRLA Secretary General, Clive Dottin, and all his team deserve our congratulations. We met the Prime Minister, Patrick Manning, the day before our meeting and he gave the opening address. All religions were represented among the speakers. There were 250 participants, and Rosa Maria Martinez de Codes was the European representative. On Friday we met officials including opposition leaders. On Saturday more than 3,000 attended the excellent program of the Festival of Religious Freedom. Dr Eugene Hsu and Dr Jonathan Gallagher were with us.
  6. February 9-13: Great meeting in Yangon, Myanmar-Lincoln Steed, Liberty magazine editor; Hiskia Missah, IRLA Secretary General for the Southern Asia-Pacific Region; and I stopped in Myanmar for the first visit on our Asia tour 2005. This was the same team that traveled together in Asia in 2003. The local leaders in Yangon did very well in planning our program. We met the Minister of Religious Affairs and had a meeting with all Christian leaders, including the Archbishop, the Evangelical Alliance, and the Bible Society President. The Myanmar Council of Churches invited its members and we had a useful briefing. According to a Christian Leader, there is no persecution but there are a lot of restrictions for religious minorities.
  7. February 14-16: Visit to Phnom Penh, Cambodia-The genocide is still fresh in the memories of many, and we visited places which were full of past horrors. We saw the school where the tortures were practiced and the mass graves. We met the Minister of Religious Affairs team. Cambodia is now an open country and religious groups have no problems. We met missionaries who confirmed the climate of tolerance. The country is in the process of being rebuilt, and all assistance is welcome.
  8. February 17-21: Visit to Sri Lanka-We saw the beaches affected by the Tsunami and the ruins of many buildings. An anti-conversion bill was being debated by the parliament in Sri Lanka, and we wanted to know more about it. We met religious leaders, including Buddhists and the Minister for Christian Affairs. All thought that the bill would not pass. If it does pass, it will create a lot of problems for religious minorities because it is extremely restrictive. One Christian leader said that Buddhist extremists attacked 150 churches in 2004, and in most cases these attacks were led by monks.
  9. April 7: A successful Liberty Dinner with Senator Hillary Clinton as the keynote speaker-It turned out that the date chosen for the Liberty Dinner was inconvenient, since so many officials, including IRLA President Dr Denton Lotz, went to Rome for the Pope's funeral. We were thankful that Senator Hillary Clinton kept her promise to speak at our dinner. She was an excellent spokesperson for religious liberty. There were no empty tables. The Washington Post and Washington Times and reporters from CNN, NPR, and Fox News mentioned the event. Among those receiving the IRLA Liberty Award were Richard Lee Fenn, Bert B Beach, and Ambassador Robert Seiple. Representatives from 35 embassies-including about ten ambassadors-as well as the new President, the Executive Director, and several members of the US Commission on Religious Freedom were with us. James Standish was the main organizer of the event. We assisted him, and Lincoln Steed and the Liberty magazine team did a great work. This third Liberty Dinner was a celebration of the first 100 years of Liberty magazine.
  10. April: Meetings in Washington DC-April was a good time for meetings on religious freedom. James organized the North American Religious Liberty Association meeting April 7 to 9. Then we were invited to attend round tables with the new Ambassador of Sri Lanka, the former Ombudsman of the Russian Duma, and several human rights leaders from Russia. Our Association is well accepted in Washington and is invited to many briefings and round tables.
  11. May: Meetings in Hamburg and Hanover with training seminars and public lectures, and the International Conference in Santiago de Compostela, Spain-Maurice Verfaillie and I were guest speakers. We were joined by Abdelfattah Amor, Dondore Dieue, Sylvio Ferrari, Roland Minnerath, Alberto de la Hera, and Rosa Maria Martinez de Codes.
  12. June: Book in Honor of Bert B Beach. In June we had the pleasure of publishing a Festschrift in recognition of the life achievements of Bert B Beach. Building Bridges of Faith and Freedom contains articles from 17 authors, including Abdelfattah Amor, Denton Lotz, Rosa Maria Martinez de Codes, Walter Cardinal Kasper, Jacques Robert, Gunnar Stålsett, and others. Congratulations Bert!
  13. Other Travels-Jonathan Gallagher is involved in the United Nations Forum of NGOs as Secretary. Jonathan recently traveled to Ethiopia and he also attended an OSCE meeting in Kazakhstan. James Standish went to Vanuatu to train officials. Denton Lotz and Eugene Hsu are traveling around the world, and Bert Beach is enjoying the acquisition of medals, awards, and certificates. He recently came back from Poland where he was received by the President of the Republic
  14. Upcoming Events-We are working on several events: IRLA Pan-Africa Congress; IRLA Belgrade Congress; Meeting of Experts in Spain; TV program Faith and Freedom; visits of delegations from Asia.

Stay in touch, and may God bless you.

Sincerely yours,

John Graz, Secretary-General
International Religious Liberty Association