A GLOBAL REVIEW OF HUMAN RIGHTS: EXAMINING THE STATE DEPARTMENT’S 2004 ANNUAL REPORT HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION MARCH 17, 2005 Serial No. 109–35 Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/international—relations U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 20–060PDF WASHINGTON : 2005 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Mar 21 2002 16:42 Jul 14, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\WORK\AGI\031705\20060.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa TOM LANTOS, California CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, HOWARD L. BERMAN, California Vice Chairman GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York DAN BURTON, Indiana ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American ELTON GALLEGLY, California Samoa ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey DANA ROHRABACHER, California ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey EDWARD R. ROYCE, California SHERROD BROWN, Ohio PETER T. KING, New York BRAD SHERMAN, California STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ROBERT WEXLER, Florida THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York RON PAUL, Texas WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts DARRELL ISSA, California GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York JEFF FLAKE, Arizona BARBARA LEE, California JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York MARK GREEN, Wisconsin EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon JERRY WELLER, Illinois SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada MIKE PENCE, Indiana GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California THADDEUS G. MCCOTTER, Michigan ADAM B. SCHIFF, California KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida DIANE E. WATSON, California JOE WILSON, South Carolina ADAM SMITH, Washington JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas BETTY MCCOLLUM, Minnesota J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky CONNIE MACK, Florida DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska MICHAEL MCCAUL, Texas TED POE, Texas THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey JEFF FLAKE, Arizona BARBARA LEE, California MARK GREEN, Wisconsin BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas BRAD SHERMAN, California JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, DIANE E. WATSON, California Vice Chairman MARY M. NOONAN, Subcommittee Staff Director NOELLE LUSANE, Democratic Professional Staff Member LINDSEY M. PLUMLEY, Staff Associate (II) VerDate Mar 21 2002 16:42 Jul 14, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\AGI\031705\20060.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL C O N T E N T S Page WITNESSES The Honorable Michael G. Kozak, Acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State .................. 48 Mr. Brian Steidle (former U.S. Marine Captain), Global Grassroots .................. 77 Mr. Tom Malinowski, Washington Advocacy Director, Human Rights Watch ... 81 Mr. Adotei Akwei, Campaign Director, Amnesty International .......................... 89 Mr. Daniel S. Mariaschin, Executive Vice President, B’nai B’rith Inter- national ................................................................................................................. 99 Mr. Vincuk Viacohrka, Chairman, Belarus Popular Front Party ........................ 109 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations: Prepared statement ................ 5 The Honorable Michael G. Kozak: Prepared statement ....................................... 55 Mr. Brian Steidle: Prepared statement ................................................................. 79 Mr. Tom Malinowski: Prepared statement ............................................................ 84 Mr. Adotei Akwei: Prepared statement ................................................................. 92 Mr. Daniel S. Mariaschin: Prepared statement .................................................... 102 Mr. Vincuk Viacohrka: Prepared statement .......................................................... 111 APPENDIX Response from the Honorable Michael G. Kozak to question submitted for the record by the Honorable Adam Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State of Washington ............................................................................. 129 Human Rights First Comments on 2004 State Department Country Reports ... 129 (III) VerDate Mar 21 2002 16:42 Jul 14, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\AGI\031705\20060.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL VerDate Mar 21 2002 16:42 Jul 14, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\AGI\031705\20060.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL A GLOBAL REVIEW OF HUMAN RIGHTS: EXAMINING THE STATE DEPARTMENT’S 2004 ANNUAL REPORT THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2005 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS, COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 1:47 p.m. in room 2200, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. Smith, New Jersey (Chairman of the Subcommittee), presiding. Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. The Subcommittee will come to order. I am pleased to convene this hearing of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations. The Subcommittee today is not only reviewing the State Department’s 2004 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices; it is also exam- ining the state of human rights around the world. Let me begin by making some general observations about human rights. First, the very idea of human rights presupposes that cer- tain rights are fundamental, universal, and inalienable. They are too important to be taken away or circumscribed by governments. The right to life, religion, speech, assembly, and due process are the pillars of a free, sane, and compassionate society. Second, the United States has a commitment to human rights that is unique in the history of the world. President Bush, in his State of the Union speech in January, reminded us that, and I quote: ‘‘Our founders dedicated this country to the cause of human dignity, the rights of every person, and the possibilities of every life. This conviction leads us into the world to help the afflicted, defend the peace, and confound the designs of evil men.’’ Human rights are indivisible, mutually reinforcing, and all inclu- sive. Human rights cannot be abridged on account of race, color, creed, gender, age, or condition of dependency. ‘‘Inclusiveness’’ means everyone, especially the inconvenient: The unborn child, the dissident, the believer in another religious tradition. It is particularly disturbing that human rights concerns are often subordinated to other concerns, such as trade, cooperation on ter- rorism, immigration control, or selling military equipment, in the name of maintaining relations with countries of high importance to U.S. strategic goals. That misses the point. The most important (1) VerDate Mar 21 2002 16:42 Jul 14, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGI\031705\20060.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL 2 U.S. interest is the promotion of freedom and democracy and de- cency. We are strong enough, and we are prosperous enough, that we have no need to accept blood money or to send refugees back to persecution or to seek out alliances among regimes that murder and torture their own people. In my view, the Country Reports are among the most important work the Department of State does. They allow the United States an opportunity to bear witness, to reassert fundamental principles, and also to examine its own conscience about whether its foreign policy comports with these principles. Other annual reports, such as the Trafficking in Persons report, the Report on International Religious Freedom, and the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act, which I helped to pass last year, along with Tom Lantos and oth- ers, also shined a spotlight on specific human rights areas which warrant closer examination. There is a striking similarity between the ‘‘black lists’’ of all of these reports. Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Vietnam are all countries that engage in severe violations of religious freedom. Bangladesh, Burma, Cuba, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana, North Korea, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Venezuela are all tier three countries whose Governments have made no significant efforts to satisfy the minimum standards to prevent the trafficking and the enslavement of people. It is no surprise that Secretary Rice’s six outposts of tyranny—Cuba, North Korea, Belarus, Iran, Burma, and Zimbabwe—also dominate these lists. This Congress, this Subcommittee will track the records of the worst offenders, the ‘‘dirty dozen of human rights abusers,’’ so to speak. Their names are among those I have just cited. We will hold hearings on their human rights records. We will enact legislation, engage the State Department, censure them at the United Nations, and implement other measures