News May 1998 | International Religious Liberty Association

Australia’s Human Rights Commission Asked To Examine Protection of Religious Freedom

Report from IRLA-South Pacific

IRLA-South Pacific Division Director Ray Coombe has asked Australia’s Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission to examine "the adequacy of constitutional protection for religious freedom and the application of the Declaration for the Elimination of All Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion and Belief." Coombe also submitted to the Australian Constitutional Convention commentary on the possibility of the nation becoming a republic. Meanwhile, Coombe reports that in general "religious liberty continues to be enjoyed in all South Pacific countries and interfaith relations are good." Coombe is an observer of the Executive Committee of the Council of Churches in Australia and a member of the World Conference of Religion and Peace.

Cook Islands Prime Minister Opposes National Sunday Laws

Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Henry continues to defend principles of religious liberty in the face of "constant pressure by the major denomination to enact Sunday laws." Ray Coombe, IRLA-South Pacific Division director, says the Cook Islands Christian Church wants the government to protect Sunday sacredness, but "Sir Geoffrey resists even though he is CICC himself."

Prime Minister Henry was a principal speaker at the 1993 IRLA Pacific Rim Regional Congress in Suva, Fiji.

To provide citizen support of the PM’s position, Coombe wants to organize a Cook Islands chapter of the IRLA. Seems, however, that a number of Cook Islanders are for religious as long as it’s for themselves, not others. Unfortunately," Coombe notes, "even many Seventh-day Adventists are not totally convinced about the principles of complete religious freedom. They fear "that such a position opens the door to new sects and non-Christian religions." The Cook Islands Constitution officially recognizes four major faiths in the nation: CICC, Roman Catholic, Mormon, and Seventh-day Adventist. Thus, says Coombe, "Seventh-day Adventists enjoy a ‘privileged’ position. To admit other religions--and there are plenty in existence without official recognition--is seen somehow as a weakening of status."

IRLA Chapter Organized in Papua New Guinea

IRLA now has a chapter in Papua New Guinea. The PNG Religious Liberty Association was formed in Port Moresby in March, says Ray Coombe, IRLA’s South Pacific Division director.

Fiji’s New Constitution Termed ‘Good’ for Religious Liberty

Fiji’s new Constitution becomes effective in July. According to South Pacific Division IRLA director Ray Coombe, the governing document is "very good. It provides for separation of church and state and religious freedom for all." Meanwhile, formal organization of IRLA-Fiji will take place after upcoming national elections, Coombe reports. Other IRLA chapters to be established: New Caledonia and French Polynesia. 

Turkmenistan: Will Economic Interests Serve Human Rights?
By Richard Lee Fenn

Turkmenistan sits directly north of Iran and Afghanistan. The Caspian Sea is its "west coast." Between Turkmenistan and Russia lie Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

The president of this former Soviet republic is Saparmurad Niyazov. Visiting Washington last month, he got some face-to-face time with President Clinton--notwithstanding his nation’s poor showing in the human rights arena. Reason: Turkmenistan has vast reserves of natural gas and a long border with Iran.

Simply put, Turkmenistan is strategically important to the U.S. and the West. So important, in fact, that while President Niyazov was in Washington, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency agreed to help finance a feasibility study of a natural gas pipeline running beneath the Caspian Sea, providing Turkmenistan direct access to Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey--and bypassing altogether both Iran and Russia.

Whether this economic carrot will encourage Turkmenistan to address freedom issues remains to be seen. Government leaders in the West hope so. Advocates of religious liberty will hope so too. Consider:

A Christian church must be registered with the Turkmenistan government. For guidance, the bureaucrats look to President Niyazov’s Committee on Religion, ostensibly an advisory group only. It’s members: An Orthodox priest and two Muslims. Committee silence to a religious group’s request for official recognition is tantamount to refusal.

But liberty-loving Turkmen say the committee’s present procedure violates rights guaranteed by the nation’s Constitution and its law on freedom of conscience, as well as international conventions to which Turkmenistan is a signatory.

More than once, IRLA representatives in the Commonwealth of Independent States (the loose confederation of nations formerly comprising the USSR) have met with the Committee on Religion--without success. Perhaps UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Abdelfattah Amor should put Turkmenistan on his must-visit-soon list.

Graz, Beach: Spring-Summer Itineraries Include Africa, Asia, Europe

IRLA Secretary-General John Graz . . . to Reunion and Mauritius (in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar) and back to Washington in just six April days . . . This month: Paris (youth lectures), Geneva (Christian World Communions), Madrid (guest of Spain’s Ministry of Justice), Chattanooga, Tennessee, then China and Korea.

IRLA Vice President Bert Beach . . . attended a New York celebration for India President K. R. Narayanan (member of IRLA’s Committee of Honor since 1983) . . . addressed the United Nations NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief . . . discussed volunteer caregiving with Baltimore’s Cardinal-Archbishop Keeler. This month: Geneva (BBB is the longtime general secretary of Christian World Communions), Madrid (Ministry of Justice), China and Japan (general survey), and then a month teaching at Korean Sahmyook University.

UN Commission Report:

THE REPORT of Special Rapporteur Abdelfattah Amor to the UN Commission on Human Rights is available at http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu4/chrrep/98chr6.htm.

State Department Pledges to Press China on Human Rights

President Clinton goes to Beijing this summer. Secretary of State Madeline Albright has already completed her pre-summit preparatory trip. Scores of human rights agencies, religious associations, and other advocacy groups are concerned that China’s continuing disregard for civil liberties will be ignored in a round of president-to-president niceties.

No way, says Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor John Shattuck. He pledged that the U.S. "will focus on human rights concerns in the U.S.-China relationship." In a briefing just before Albright’s China trip, Shattuck listed substantive issues to be examined: Freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and the situation of prisoners of conscience. "We will seek the release of many more prisoners," Shattuck said. "Religious liberty will be a specific focus. We will raise specific cases."

Russia and Religious Liberty: A Concern on Capitol Hill
By Richard Lee Fenn

The International Religious Liberty Association and its Euro-Asia Division chapter in Moscow have many allies in the quest for relief from the problems ensuing from the law on religion passed last summer by the Federation Council and the Duma and then signed by President Yeltsin. Representatives of several organizations--plus media people--jammed a room deep in the bowels of the United States Capitol to hear Oregon’s Republican Senator Gordon Smith and a panel of legal experts discuss the situation. My observations:

Senator Smith (a Mormon--and concerned that some missionaries to Russia from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have been subjected to serious abuse): He draws a distinction between trade and contract issues and the use of American tax dollars to support a government which is hostile to freedom of religion. He would tie U.S. aid to Russia’s fulfillment of democracy-building principles.

The passage of the 1997 law is a "step back to Stalinist times," Senator Smith said. But during a spring trip to Russia, Smith said he received assurances that the law will be administered carefully. He found that in the provinces believers face harassment and outright denial of freedom which is not necessarily the situation in Moscow.

"The first right is the right to worship," said Senator Smith. He holds that the Russian Orthodox Church is more opposed to religious freedom than the government. "The church has never had to compete as have western religions. The patriarch is under considerable pressure not to dialog with other groups."

Still and all, he said he "left with a sense of hope. In Russia, there’s no going back."

Lauren Homer, president, Law & Liberty Trust, founded in 1990 to assist former Soviet republics in the restoration of the rule of law, particularly in the areas of human rights and religious liberty:

"The central issue: Whether the 15-year rule will be implemented." (In general, the law on religion will deny official recognition and legal rights to those religious organizations that cannot prove they’ve been established in Russia for at least 15 years.) "I was told," said Ms. Homer, "that it will not be implemented against currently registered, centralized organizations. Moreover, it is considered by many to be unconstitutional."

Ms. Homer said extra-legal problems are caused by regional and local officials who go beyond the law itself: "It’s OK to persecute religious groups."

But even with the restrictive law in place Russians "have a degree of religious freedom today as compared to the Soviet era as to be beyond comparison. Registered organizations have moved from 2,000 to 14,000," Attorney Homer noted.

Karen S. Lord, legal counsel for freedom of religion, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe the U.S. version of the Helsinki Commission): "I want to be hopeful, but I’m a little bit skeptical. The law has created chaos and confusion, particularly outside of Moscow. The law violates international conventions protecting the right of equality among religious organizations; freedom of thought, conscience, religion, or belief; freedom of expression; and freedom of association. The Russian Federation Constitution is clear," Ms. Lord asserted. "Any law that violates the Constitution is unconstitutional."

INFORMATION ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS LIBERTY ASSOCIATION

* Chartered in 1893, the IRLA has advocated for religious freedom for 105 years. It is incorporated as a tax-exempt educational organization. The IRLA does not identify with any political party anywhere, nor does it endorse candidates for political office. The IRLA was originally organized by leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, but its purpose is universal and non-sectarian. Various religious traditions are represented on the Board of Directors. The presidency rotates annually among a panel of vice presidents. The president in 1989 was the former general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation; in 1991, the general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance. The IRLA has no paid staff. Officers and directors serve voluntarily. Funding for IRLA operations comes from organizations supportive of the association’s purpose.

* Offices of the IRLA are at 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, Maryland 20904-6600 U.S.A. Phone 301.680.6680. Fax 301.680.6695. President (1998): Robert W. Nixon. Vice Presidents: Bert B. Beach, Matthew Bediako, Denton Lotz, Leo Ranzolin. Secretary General: John Graz. Acting Deputy Secretary General: Richard Lee Fenn.

* The IRLA maintains a United Nations liaison office at the Church Center for the UN, Room 9-H, 777 UN Plaza, New York, New York 10017-3585 U.S.A. Phone: 212.687.6488. The IRLA is represented at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.

* The IRLA supports the publication of Liberty: A Magazine of Religious Freedom in the United States and Conscience et Liberte in Europe. It plans to issue The International Journal of Religious Liberty annually starting in November 1998.

* The International Religious Liberty Association has organized and convened 11 world (*) and regional congresses on religious liberty: Amsterdam* 1977; Rome* 1984; New Delhi (Southern Asia Regional) 1986; London* 1989; Nairobi (East Africa Regional) 1991; Moscow (Russia and CIS Regional) 1993; Suva, Fiji (Pacific Rim Regional); Moscow (Russia and CIS Regional) 1996 and 1997; Budapest (Hungary) 1997; Rio de Janeiro* 1997.

* The IRLA Statement of Purpose: (1) To disseminate the principles of religious liberty throughout the world. (2) To defend and safeguard the civil right of all people to worship, to adopt a religion or belief of their choice, to manifest their religious convictions in observance, promulgation, and teaching, subject only to the respect for the equivalent rights of others. (3) To support the right of religious organizations to operate freely in every country by their establishing and owning charitable or educational institutions. (4) To organize local, national, and regional chapters, as well as seminars and congresses.

IRLA INFORMATION is issued periodically by the International Religious Liberty Association, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, Maryland 20904-6600 U.S.A. Phone 301.680.6680. Fax 301.680.6695. Robert W. Nixon, J.D., President.. John Graz, Ph.D., Secretary-General. This issue of IRLA INFORMATION was prepared by Richard Lee Fenn.

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