TRANSCRIPT: STATE DEPARTMENT NOON BRIEFING, JANUARY 23
USIA
USIS Washington File
23 January 1998
TRANSCRIPT: STATE DEPARTMENT NOON BRIEFING, JANUARY 23
(Religious freedom, Arafat visit, Iraq, Cuba) (2470)
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright briefed.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM -- Albright announced that she will appoint a new
senior level coordinator to "insure that our efforts to advance
religious freedom are integrated successfully into our broader foreign
policy." The position will be within the State Department's Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor under Assistant Secretary of State
John Shattuck.
The move is in response to a recommendation of the Secretary's
Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad. The Advisory Committee
met on January 23 to release its interim report on international
standards for protection of religious freedom as well as opportunities
for resolution of religious conflicts.
Albright said the coordinator will be responsible for developing a
strategy for appropriate implementation of the Advisory Committee's
recommendations.
ARAFAT VISIT -- President Clinton "laid out a reasonable way" to get
the Middle East peace process back on track during his January 23
discussion with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, Albright
said. It is now up to Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, who met with the President earlier this week, "to absorb
and think about" the American proposals, she said.
"One should not be surprised that this is difficult," the Secretary
said, "because we are down to very basic issues in terms of the
questions that have divided Israel and the Palestinian people."
The U.S. goal, she said, is to work out "a way that these two peoples
can live side by side" through a process of "parallel" and verifiable
steps.
She noted that the "what the President wanted really to show to
Chairman Arafat was his understanding of the legitimate rights of the
Palestinian people and their ability to be able to live in this
region."
IRAQ -- Albright said Iraq's refusal to allow U.N. inspectors
unfettered access to suspected weapons sites is "unacceptable."
The United States will consult with its allies on what steps to take
next, she said. When asked if the United States was prepared to use
military force, Albright said: "We would prefer to have a diplomatic
solution; the President made that clear. But we are not ruling any
options out."
She declined to set a timeframe for how long the United States might
wait for a diplomatic resolution to the impasse, but she added that
"this is not going to be something that can last much longer."
CUBA -- When asked to comment on Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba,
Albright observed that "clearly there is a deep resonance among the
(Cuban) people to the Pope's message of religious freedom...."
The question now, she said, is whether Cubans will be allowed to
gather and discuss religion openly after the Pope leaves.
"It is important to think of religious freedom as a human right," the
Secretary said.
Following is the State Department transcript:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
For Immediate Release January 23, 1998
REMARKS BY SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE K. ALBRIGHT ON ADVISORY
COMMITTEE ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ABROAD INTERIM REPORT TO THE SECRETARY
OF STATE AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
Department of State
Washington, D.C.
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Good afternoon. I wanted to come down here today
to bring to your attention the very constructive and timely interim
report I've just received from my advisory committee on religious
freedom.
I very much welcome this report. Although I've just begun to study it,
its overall direction and tone is very much in keeping with the
Administration's own intentions and aspirations. So I'm pleased to
tell you now what I told the committee just a little bit earlier,
which is that I'm taking immediate action on the report's first and
most important recommendation.
I will designate a new, senior-level coordinator within the Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor to ensure that our efforts to
advance religious freedom are integrated successfully into our broader
foreign policy. The coordinator's responsibilities will include
developing a strategy for appropriate overall implementation of the
advisory committee's recommendation. This work will be done under the
direction of Assistant Secretary John Shattuck, and in consultation
with the White House, religious leaders, members of the advisory
committee and of Congress.
In this way, we can assure the American people and the committee that
its best ideas will be brought to life, not studied to death. I also
assured the committee that I consider the promotion of religious
freedom to be an integral component of US foreign policy to be pursued
not in isolation, but as part of our efforts to increase the respect
for human rights around the world.
That's why I've urged our diplomats to raise our concerns about
religious freedom energetically; report on these issues thoroughly;
and maintain contact with NGOs and local religious leaders on a
regular basis. We will continue these and other efforts and give
serious consideration to the committee's ideas on how we can do them
better.
As we speak, the resilience and depth of the human desire to worship
freely is on display in Cuba. Decades of repression could not vanquish
the thirst for religious liberty on that island, just as it has not
diminished the desire among the Cuban people for political liberty.
The Cuban Government did the right thing in permitting His Holiness,
the Pope, to accept the invitation of his church to visit.
Let us pray that the message of freedom and respect for the individual
which he is conveying will influence the direction of government
policies long after this historic visit is concluded so that Cuba,
indeed, becomes more open to the world, and the world can, indeed,
become more open to Cuba.
In closing, I want to thank publicly every member of the religious
freedom advisory committee. This is a committee uniquely qualified to
discuss and review America's approach to promoting religious freedom
abroad. Its members include religious leaders who represent millions
of Americans of all major faiths and denominations, and scholars who
have dedicated their professional lives to the study of issues related
to religious liberty.
In the course of their work, they interviewed such eminent figures as
the Dalai Lama, Cardinal Daly of Northern Ireland and Pastor Robert Fu
of China. The committee clearly took its work very seriously, and we
take it seriously as well.
America is a leader in promoting religious freedom because it serves
our interests and because it is right. With the committee's counsel,
we hope to pursue that goal with even more vigor and effectiveness in
the days ahead.
Thank you very much.
QUESTION: I don't think you'll be surprised if we ask you about the
Middle East, though, as interesting as that topic is -- and it's
tempting to ask you about some of the places you've been to and
whether you've detected any absence of religious freedom. But the
Chairman, Mr. Arafat, ending his visit, or nearing the end of his
visit, says that what Netanyahu is offering him is "just peanuts,"
that he's heard no new American proposals. It was rather negative. He
accused them of 34 violations of agreements. Are the talks that -- is
the situation that bleak?
ALBRIGHT: I think that I have to leave to the individuals their
assessment of it. From our perspective, we think that what has
happened here is that the President laid out a reasonable way to try
to bridge the gaps that have existed there and a way to get the peace
process back on track. We have made some suggestions. I will be
meeting with Chairman Arafat again at the airport as he leaves, and we
will review where we are.
The President asked both leaders to absorb and think about what he had
proposed. We expect them to do that. I think that they need to assess
what they have heard and think about looking at the path that the
President outlined.
I think that, as I said yesterday, one should not be surprised that
this is difficult, because we are down to very basic issues in terms
of the questions that have divided Israel and the Palestinian people,
and they are now working on how to resolve these problems. So I think
we just have to see how the President's views and message are
absorbed.
Q: Still a work in progress, it is?
ALBRIGHT: Yes, it is.
Q: Madame Secretary, U.N. inspector Butler's report to the Security
Council seems pretty grim. No new access to sites in Iraq and no new
information. What will the United States do now?
ALBRIGHT: Well, let me say we do think that it is a report that
outlines, I think, in a very full and frank way, what the problems
are. The bottom line is that the Iraqi regime continues to be out of
compliance -- that there have been very basic requirements of
unconditional and unfettered inspection possibilities for UNSCOM. The
situation, as Chairman Butler described it, is unacceptable. I think
that it is essential that the inspectors be allowed to have the kind
of access that's necessary for them to do their work.
Again, I repeat, as we have all said, the Security Council has
endorsed unanimously, repeatedly since October, this firm demand that,
in fact, they be allowed to have unfettered and unconditional access.
We are going to be consulting with our allies and other members of the
Security Council on next steps.
Q: You've been demanding for months, as you acknowledge yourself. Is
that where it stands now, new demands; only rhetoric?
ALBRIGHT: Well, as I said, we're going to be consulting with our
allies on next steps. It is not going to stay where it is. I think
that we were waiting for Ambassador Butler to report, and we have now
decided that the time has come to consult with our allies.
Q: Does that mean military action?
ALBRIGHT: As we have all said, we would prefer to have a diplomatic
solution. The President made that clear. But we are not ruling any
options out. Again, as the President said, something is going to give
in this situation sooner or later.
Q: Madame Secretary, the Chinese ambassador to the U.N. just was on
television a moment ago, before we came in here, saying that China
thinks that Iraq's sort of sensitive sites should be respected and
sites that they want to have off-limits should be understood. You talk
about working with the allies and trying to get a consensus with the
Security Council, but is China's position changing? I mean, it seemed
that yesterday from the podium and people around town were saying that
a consensus is growing, but today we hear the same old tone from
China. So is the gap -- how is the gap --
ALBRIGHT: Well, I think that the Chinese were among those who
repeatedly have, in fact, called for unfettered, unconditional access.
I think, as I said, we are going to be consulting with allies. We
expect that the Security Council will continue to be agreed on its own
Security Council resolutions. The Security Council resolutions and the
demands are the product of the work of the Security Council, endorsed
unanimously.
Q: Madame Secretary, given your past experience at the U.N., and given
the present situation, what kind of time frame would you assess for
consulting with our allies and something happening or not happening on
the diplomatic front?
ALBRIGHT: I don't want to really put a time frame on it, but I do want
to tell you that this is not going to be something that can last much
longer.
Q: The Cuban Government has allowed the Pope's masses to be broadcast
live, and it apparently has accepted the release of political
prisoners already. Do you think it's a hopeful sign that maybe the
Pope's visit is already having an effect?
ALBRIGHT: Well, I have to tell you I'm sure that the Pope's visit is
having an effect. I have watched some of the footage out of Cuba, and
clearly there is a deep resonance among the people to the Pope's
message of religious freedom and the ability to practice one's
religion.
I was very interested in watching last night how certain families have
kept their religious faith throughout the entire period, and how they
have passed it on to some members of the next generation in a very --
a sense that they need to have -- that their religion should not be
robbed from them.
I think that there clearly -- we were, as I've said, I thought it was
interesting that as a run-up to the Pope's visit that Castro finally
recognized what the rest of the world had for 2,000 years, which was
that Christmas was a holiday. I think that the question now is whether
this kind of ability for people to gather in order to worship or have
the ability to talk about their religion is something that will be
sustained after the Pope leaves.
I think if it is, that's a big step forward. I also think it is
important to think of religious freedom as a human right -- not the
only one -- political rights and rights to choose one's government are
also a part of human rights. Religion is obviously a very important
one.
Q: Madame Secretary, one of the things that Chairman Arafat heard
yesterday and absorbed with pleasure was the President's reference to
the Palestinian aspirations to be a free people. His aides said that
that brought the United States closer to endorsing the idea of a
Palestinian state. Do you agree with that assessment? And can you shed
some light on the thinking that went behind that language?
ALBRIGHT: I think the words are what you hear and what you see is what
it means. That is what the President meant -- that he believes that
the Palestinian people have that aspiration and it should be
respected. I'm not going to go beyond that.
I think that what the President wanted really to show to Chairman
Arafat was his understanding of the legitimate rights of the
Palestinian people and their ability to be able to live in this
region. What we are trying to work out is a way that these two peoples
can live side by side.
The process that the President really outlined was that this would be
a series of parallel steps in terms of the Palestinians fulfilling
some security issues that need to be dealt with in security and a
portion of the land being turned over; and then, again, security, a
portion of the land so that it would take place in parallel segments
so that there was a way to make sure that the process was verifiable
and working together.
RUBIN: Thank you.
ALBRIGHT: Thanks a lot.
(end transcript)