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US watchdog says religious freedom must be central to US-Saudi relations
2003-111-4
5/20/2003
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[Episcopal News Service]
The US government should make human rights and religious freedom a cornerstone of its relations with Saudi Arabia, an independent US federal commission has said in a report warning that human and religious rights are at risk in Afghanistan.
The yearly report was released on May 13 by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent body advising the government on issues related to global religious persecution.
It came out one day after a terrorist bombing in the Saudi capital of Riyadh that killed at least 34 people, including Americans. The bombing has renewed calls within the United States for a closer examination of US ties with Saudi Arabia, ties that have been strained since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US, and the revelation that many of those who hijacked the planes were Saudi nationals.
The religious freedom commission noted claims that the US had not sufficiently pressured Saudi Arabia, an ally of Washington, on a host of human rights issues. In a statement, Felice Gaer, who chairs the commission, said that advancing human rights and religious freedom 'has not yet been a public feature of the US-Saudi bilateral relationship.' She added, 'The protection of religious freedom and other human rights must be an integral part of US relations with Saudi Arabia and other countries.'
The commission also urged the US government to investigate 'credible reports' that the Saudi government was funding 'the global propagation of a religious ideology that promotes hate, intolerance, and in some cases violence' and that the US government should pressure Saudi Arabia to end any such funding efforts.
On Afghanistan, the commission said there were 'indications that Afghanistan is being reconstructed as a state in which an extreme interpretation of Sharia [Islamic law] would be enforced by a government which the United States supports.' The report cited continuing serious human rights abuses and the re-emergence of the so-called 'religious police' that enforced strict religious strictures during the Taliban era. It said such developments were taking place without serious opposition from the US.
Other countries examined in the report include Vietnam, Russia, Laos and Belarus.
The commission was established in 1998 by the Congress and approved by former President Bill Clinton. Its members include academics and leaders from various religious traditions, appointed by the president and leaders of the Congress.
(The report is available on-line at: www.uscirf.gov)
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