WASHINGTON — Human rights violations would likely vanish if all nations responded to them as vigorously as America has to U.S. abuse of Iraqi prisoners, incoming University of Utah President Michael K. Young said Wednesday.
Young is chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which released its annual report about global abuses against religious freedom just as world headlines scream about prisoner abuse. Such abuse has created worldwide questioning about whether America has the moral authority to call others to reform.
When asked about that, Young said, "If every country responded as vigorously as our Congress has to human rights abuses in their countries, our report (listing worldwide problems) would probably be enormously shorter."
Young, current dean of the George Washington University law school, was named a week ago to head the U.
"We are calling on other countries to respond to abuses in their countries in the way in which we hope our country responds," he said.
Young said the U.S. abuses are repugnant but "should not blind us to the fact, however, that there are tens of thousands of people throughout the world who are having their fingernails pulled out, who are having electric shocks attached, who are being beheaded or who are being tortured and killed in prison simply for their expression of their religious beliefs."
His comments came a day after images of an American civilian being beheaded in Bagdad were displayed by Islamic militants who said the execution was in retaliation for mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners in U.S. military custody.
Fellow commissioner Richard Land wondered if the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by the U.S. military would have been news had it been going on in a Chinese or North Korean prison, then said, "Hardly; far worse goes on all the time, and we know it. We're calling the world to the standard that we espouse and the standard that we normally practice, of which this is an aberration."
The commission reported that practicing religion is extremely dangerous in vast parts of the world, with thousands harassed, imprisoned, tortured and killed each year.
In fact, Land said, "Perhaps more people have been martyred for their faiths — different faiths — in the 20th century than any century of humankind. And the situation . . . is getting worse, not better."
The commission recommended that the Bush administration declare 11 nations as "countries of particular concern" that would be subject to trade and other sanctions for tolerating egregious violations of religious rights. They are China, Eritrea, India, Iran, Myanmar (Burma), North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam.
The commission has a "watch list" of seven other countries where abuses are not quite as bad but are troublesome: Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Georgia, Indonesia, Nigeria and Uzbekistan.
The commission listed several other countries where members of minority religions have faced harassment and other problems, including Laos, France and Russia.
Commissioners said they are "direly worried" that freedom of religion is not being adequately guaranteed by U.S. allies in postwar Afghanistan and Iraq. They also complained the United States should do more to accept refugees who flee any country because of religious persecution.
The report complained that in Afghanistan, its new postwar constitution allows non-Muslims freedom of religion but does not clearly extend that to Arabs. It worries that is a "fatal flaw" that could lead to imprisonment of Muslims who seek to change faiths or who may be accused of heresy or apostasy in political debates.
In Iraq, its new proposed constitution does allow freedom of religion and thought for all but requires that laws not be contrary to "universally agreed upon tenets of Islam." The report says that also could lead critics of the government to be imprisoned for heresy.
Some close American allies are among the most abusive countries, the report said.
"Freedom of religion simply does not exist in Saudi Arabia," Young said, noting it bans all forms of public religious expression except the government's interpretation of one school of Sunni Islam. Also, he said Saudis appear to be funding efforts to promote globally an ideology promoting hate and intolerance of non-Muslims.
India was chastised for failing to address the killing of an estimated 2,000 Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 and for leaders using hate speech against religious minorities. Also, Pakistan was chastised for inadequate handling of vigilante violence against Shiites, Ahmadis and Christians.
Young said the worst of the worst may be North Korea, calling it "ground zero for some of the world's worst human rights abuses. . . . Freedom of thought, conscience, religious belief is essentially nonexistent." He noted some refugees forced to return there were killed merely for having sought help from Christian relief groups.
Young said protecting religious freedom internationally is important in some unexpected ways. "Where religion is not tolerated, the very worst kind of violence happens. It is often the first right that governments attack," he said.
More information about the commission, its report and abuses reported in individual countries is available on the Internet at www.uscirf.gov.
E-mail: lee@desnews.com