[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Reuters-U.S. Adds Religious Freedom

Subject: Reuters-U.S. Adds Religious Freedom to Old Sanctions 

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_001B_01BF4E66.B80F3BA0
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

U.S. Adds Religious Freedom to Old Sanctions=20
03:45 p.m Dec 23, 1999 Eastern=20
By Jonathan Wright=20

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will impose no new sanctions on =
the five countries it says are particularly restrictive of religious =
activity, the State Department said on Thursday.=20

The countries -- China, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar and Sudan -- are already =
subject to layers of sanctions and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright =
has told Congress which of the existing measures meet the requirements =
of the International Religious Freedom Act, passed by Congress in 1998.=20

The act requires that the U.S. administration annually designate =
governments which have ``engaged in or tolerated particularly severe =
violations of religious freedom''.=20

It offers a menu of 15 policy responses -- eight diplomatic and seven =
prohibitions on U.S. aid or economic sanctions, but also gives the =
administration the option not to act.=20

The State Department designated the five countries in October, to =
criticism from religious activists who thought it should have cast its =
net much wider.=20

Representative Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican who fought hard for =
the Religious Freedom Act, said the Administration should not have =
spared countries such as Vietnam, North Korea, Laos, Cuba and Saudi =
Arabia.=20

In the case of China, Albright told Congress the operative sanctions =
under the act would be the existing restrictions on exports of crime =
control and detection instruments and equipment, a State Department =
statement said.=20

The State Department will continue to pursue all means to change Chinese =
behavior toward religious freedom, it added.=20

In the cases of Iran and Iraq, the sanctions will be the existing =
restrictions on U.S. security assistance. For Myanmar, it will be the =
prohibition on exports of defense articles and defense services, the =
statement said.=20

In the case of Sudan, the United States will continue to oppose any =
loans to Sudan by international financial institutions, it added.=20

The decisions have no immediate effect but State Department spokesman =
James Rubin said in October that in cases where the original reason for =
imposing sanctions no longer applied, the same sanctions could stay in =
force to meet the requirements of the Religious Freedom Act.=20

In its annual report on religious freedom worldwide, the State =
Department cited China for persecuting Tibetan Buddhists, Muslim Uighurs =
and Protestant and Roman Catholics who do not belong to ``official'' =
churches.=20

It said the Chinese constitution provides for freedom of religious =
belief but in practice the government ``seeks to restrict religious =
practice to government-sanctioned organizations and registered places of =
worship and to control the growth and scope of religious groups.''=20

Iran was faulted for trying to ``eradicate'' the Bahai faith, while Iraq =
was criticized for conducting a campaign of murder, execution and =
arrests against the Shiite Muslim population.=20

The Sudanese government has been repeatedly accused of trying to impose =
Islam on the animists and Christians of the south. Buddhists say the =
military government of Myanmar has executed some Buddhist monks and =
destroyed monasteries, charges the authorities have denie


------=_NextPart_000_001B_01BF4E66.B80F3BA0
Content-Type: text/html;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type>
<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2614.3500" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><FONT size=3D+1><STRONG>U.S. Adds =
Religious Freedom=20
to Old Sanctions</STRONG></FONT> <BR>03:45 p.m Dec 23, 1999 Eastern=20
<P><STRONG>By Jonathan Wright</STRONG>=20
<P>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will impose no new sanctions =
on the=20
five countries it says are particularly restrictive of religious =
activity, the=20
State Department said on Thursday.=20
<P>The countries -- China, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar and Sudan -- are already =
subject=20
to layers of sanctions and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has =
told=20
Congress which of the existing measures meet the requirements of the=20
International Religious Freedom Act, passed by Congress in 1998.=20
<P>The act requires that the U.S. administration annually designate =
governments=20
which have ``engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of =
religious=20
freedom''.=20
<P>It offers a menu of 15 policy responses -- eight diplomatic and seven =

prohibitions on U.S. aid or economic sanctions, but also gives the=20
administration the option not to act.=20
<P>The State Department designated the five countries in October, to =
criticism=20
from religious activists who thought it should have cast its net much =
wider.=20
<P>Representative Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican who fought hard =
for the=20
Religious Freedom Act, said the Administration should not have spared =
countries=20
such as Vietnam, North Korea, Laos, Cuba and Saudi Arabia.=20
<P>In the case of China, Albright told Congress the operative sanctions =
under=20
the act would be the existing restrictions on exports of crime control =
and=20
detection instruments and equipment, a State Department statement said.=20
<P>The State Department will continue to pursue all means to change =
Chinese=20
behavior toward religious freedom, it added.=20
<P>In the cases of Iran and Iraq, the sanctions will be the existing=20
restrictions on U.S. security assistance. For Myanmar, it will be the=20
prohibition on exports of defense articles and defense services, the =
statement=20
said.=20
<P>In the case of Sudan, the United States will continue to oppose any =
loans to=20
Sudan by international financial institutions, it added.=20
<P>The decisions have no immediate effect but State Department spokesman =
James=20
Rubin said in October that in cases where the original reason for =
imposing=20
sanctions no longer applied, the same sanctions could stay in force to =
meet the=20
requirements of the Religious Freedom Act.=20
<P>In its annual report on religious freedom worldwide, the State =
Department=20
cited China for persecuting Tibetan Buddhists, Muslim Uighurs and =
Protestant and=20
Roman Catholics who do not belong to ``official'' churches.=20
<P>It said the Chinese constitution provides for freedom of religious =
belief but=20
in practice the government ``seeks to restrict religious practice to=20
government-sanctioned organizations and registered places of worship and =
to=20
control the growth and scope of religious groups.''=20
<P>Iran was faulted for trying to ``eradicate'' the Bahai faith, while =
Iraq was=20
criticized for conducting a campaign of murder, execution and arrests =
against=20
the Shiite Muslim population.=20
<P>The Sudanese government has been repeatedly accused of trying to =
impose Islam=20
on the animists and Christians of the south. Buddhists say the military=20
government of Myanmar has executed some Buddhist monks and destroyed=20
monasteries, charges the authorities have =
denie</P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>

------=_NextPart_000_001B_01BF4E66.B80F3BA0--