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"Our take is that emphasis should be put back on the very useful and informative report instead of a list meant to punish," Seiple said. "The report sets down markers meant to help the promotion of religious freedom. The ongoing reaction to designation and sanction is far more than necessary given the deep research and effort of this truth-telling document."

In August, the USCIRF sent a list of CPC recommendations to Secretary of State Colin Powell. The letter recommended keeping last year's list (Burma, China, Iran, Iraq, Serbia, Sudan, and the Taliban regime) while adding Laos, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Turkmenistan. Only North Korea was added.

Serbia was dropped. The report cites improved conditions after former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's electoral defeat on September 24, 2000. Officials of the new government have expressed a commitment to improving respect for human rights.

While many religious freedom organizations have expressed satisfaction that North Korea was added, many are surprised at those left off.

"I thought for sure Turkmenistan would be designated," Seiple said. "The U.S. tried diplomacy but fell short at making any changes. There are no indicators that anything will be done differently in the future in that country. If you are not Sunni Muslim or Russian Orthodox, you don't stand a chance. They are hunted down."

Mark Albrecht, special advisor to the World Evangelical Fellowship Religious Liberty Commission, told CT that he was surprised by the exclusion of Saudi Arabia but also questioned the inclusion of Burma and Iraq.

Albrecht has visited Burma and said he heard little testimony of Christians being oppressed. "So far, I haven't been able to confirm that extensive persecution of the Christian church by the government is occurring," he said. "That is debatable information. It is hard to get sources and information from inside the country."

Iraq's inclusion is a political issue, Albrecht said. "I don't know that they have that serious of a religious freedom problem," he said. "But the U.S. government keeps pressure on them in a variety of fronts."

Todd Nettleton, assistant director of news services for Voice of the Martyrs, said a variety of issues might have kept countries off the list, such as cooperation in the war on terrorism.

"Some of the worst persecutors in the world are now our allies," Nettleton said. "It's hard to hold a country's feet to the fire when, on the other end, we are being their ally. We are not asking them questions about treatment of Christians. It's hard to have teeth in policies when they are not applied consistently."

Inconsistencies suggest that national-security concerns are outweighing religious freedom protection, he said. "If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, then it's probably a duck," Nettleton said. "What does North Korea have to offer us now? Nothing, and they are named to the list. But what does Saudi Arabia have to offer? Bases and oil, so they are not."

Human Rights Watch says Uzbekistan, which is now hosting U.S. troops, should have also been named. In an October 26 press release, the advocacy group said that several thousand nonviolent Muslims have been arrested in the last three years for practicing their faith.

"By not designating Uzbekistan a country of particular concern, the administration missed an easy opportunity to show that the war on terrorism cannot be a campaign against Islam," said Malinowski, Washington Advocacy Director for Human Rights Watch.

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November (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45