human right. he is essential for a stable, peaceful, and rising -- it is essential for a stable, peaceful, and thriving society. we stand with all who are denied the ability to choose, express, or with their faith really and we remain dedicated to protecting this universal human right and the vital role it plays in ensuring peace and stability for all nations. freedom of religion is not just an american right. it is the right of all people. it goes hand in hand with freedom of expression, speech, and assembly, and where it is restricted, all of these rights are at risk. for this reason, religious freedom is often a bellwether for other human rights. it is the canary in the coal mine. unfortunately, in too many places, these rights are not respected. this report details increasing entitlements against a range of communities. several themes will strike you.

you'll read about the eight countries the secretary has designated last august as countries of particular concern, including places such as north korea, where religious freedom does not exist, and iran, where it deteriorated from a horrible situation. you will see that in countries around the world, anti-semitism is on the rise. evidenced by attacks on adults and children and the desecration of cemeteries. let me share with you some other troubling trends. in a number of countries, individuals were detained or imprisoned because of their religious beliefs. in iran, there is a death sentence just for his faith. the government continues to detain over 100 bohai.

in other countries, increasing ly, using blasphemy to curb it is freedom. in saudi arabia, blasphemy against the people, the interpretation of sunni islam, continues to be punishable by death. this february, a februaryman -- this february, a young man was arrested for questioning his take on twitter and he remains in jail without charge. in pakistan, authorities continue to invoke these of these applause. hundreds of muslims and non- muslims were convicted of blasphemy. the christian remains in prison, awaiting an appeal of her 2010 death sentence for blasphemy. some of those who criticize the blasphemy laws have already paid

in their lives. a minister of industry affairs, a governor have already paid for their lives. and half of the countries, governments abuse of religion or do not intervene in cases of societal abuse. in egypt, the former regime and discriminated against religious minorities and failed to curb violence. these patterns have continued during the transition. last october, security forces attacked demonstrators in front of the egyptian radio and tv station in cairo. 25 people were killed and hundreds were injured. most of whom were cops -- christians. today, no government official has been held accountable in this attack. in burma, long tensions erupted

in violence against communities. in other countries, governments this use laws to restrict freedom of religion, expression, and creativity. and tibetans protesting chinese policies desperate -- chemistry desperation. russia in this pakistan and up to national security to restrict the rights of peaceful groups. other governments use registration laws to restrict the rights of religious communities. in number of countries including hungary and central asia have laws that make legal registration for religious communities difficult. this means an unregistered groups are ineligible for state

financial support or tax benefits and unable to own property. in some central asian countries, and registered groups are frequently unable to gather to worship. this favoritism can empower societal abuse. in several countries, governments limited the right to wear or not we're religious attire. this decision should be a personal choice. and increasingly, european countries enacted legislation to ban entire covered -- covering the face. some countries force women to cover themselves entirely. saudi arabia, iran, somalia, and forced modesty codes for women. these challenges are daunting and it is easy to focus on the bed -- bad.

change is possible. as ambassador at large for religious freedom, i have met with government officials and people from all around the world. the ideas they cheer about new ways to come together in build hope for a better future are exciting and inspirational. for example, the state department has launched the 2012 hours against hate campaign to promote respect regardless of religion, culture, gender, disability, or sexual orientation. using social media, this campaign mobilized young people to volunteer time to work against intolerance and hate and we are partnering with -- we are excited to be part of the summer olympics. citizens everywhere, part of this campaign. efforts like these change the story of a into one of

acceptance in peace. it takes all of us. governments, faith communities, civil societies, working together to ensure that all people have the right to believe or not believe. each of us has a role to play in promoting religious freedom where it is most vulnerable. when i read the report, and think about the people. i think about the men and women who might have met in vietnam, neisseria, morocco, turkey, those i sat with in the vatican. people, men, women, youth, who are trying to practice their faith and raise their children and their families freely. most of all, i think about the people whose freedom has been taken away. and whose lives are still at risk.

1000 days plus incarcerated. many names we cannot call. i think about the tibetans who have self immolated more than three dozen entities in the many others in danger, and the families of those lost loved ones because of their faith, we dedicate this report. rededicate ourselves to continuing the fight on enter -- we dedicate ourselves to continuing the fight on religious freedom. let me take this opportunity to wish our warmest regards to muslims around the world as they observe this month of ramadan. it is my pleasure to receive your questions. thank you. >> i am focusing on 2011. when we had the launch of the

arab spring, do you have hope that in 2012, the criticisms will be alleviated? are things changing as the arab spring movement progresses? >> bric question. the great question. the arab spring continues to happen in places like egypt. they are still in transition even though they have just elected the president. their president has declared he will be more inclusive in his cabinet. he has declared there will be a -- as they formed a constitution, it is an opportunity to include religious opportunities. we're looking for them to hold accountable those who are perpetrating violence. we are looking to protect religious people ian appeal to all religious human rights. that is my answer to your question. they are in transition.

we are looking to them to honor what they said they will do. >> i was looking at the executive summary and i was wondering if you could extend the comment on cuba and you say there has been any improvement in respecting religious freedom. on the other hand, you are saying there is still significant restrictions. how do you reconciliate post two status? can you elaborate on what is going on now? the real is the pope's visit was this year. were they gearing up to the visit and that is one of the improvements? can you elaborate? >> this report is about 2011. there are places where the government has pragmatic openings. the government is encouraging religious groups to be able to travel there and be able to have an opportunity post the pope's visit to engage the communities of a fair.

-- communities of faith there. we hope we can work on those issues. >> these reports cover situations in 2011. north korea had a leadership change at the end of last year. and you see any sign of change in institutions? what is the expectation for north korea? >> north korea is on our country is of particular concern last year the situation is horrible. where we can, we have multilateral relationships and we try to press the government to improve their situation. it is deplorable. there is not a strong religious freedom going forward. they're not focused on it at all. we are asking them to work on all of their universal human rights. >> the report is from 2011.

i want to ask a question about russia. the reduction in religious freedom in the last six to a months. >> -- 8 monthys. >> the continued to miss use the extremist amoss. we are urging the government to not miss use those laws and adhere to the declaration and international covenant of civil and political rights. they still have the issue of the misuse of extremism lost and we will continue to monitor the situation. we are concerned about the people who are affected. we will monitor the situation. >> the question on iran, the report says that religious freedom deteriorated further from the egregious situation, but at least in the executive

summary, some of the issues you mentioned, the restoration of the 20-year sentence and the continued incarceration of the christian pastor, that does not suggest it is worse than it was before. what else is significantly worse? >> iran is a country of political concern. it is stagnant. it has not improved. we are concerned and congress is concerned. on july 8, that is the of thousand day of incarceration. the u.s. issued a statement of his release. there are sanctions that have been imposed on them. 14 organizations and four individuals have had to sink in the post on them. we continue to assess the situation and we repeatedly tried to monitor the situation.

>> it says it has deteriorated further from the egregious situation. you just said it was stagnant. >> deteriorated from 2011. the situation is bad. it is not improving. that is what i should say. it is the haqqani and other religious minorities that are being detained and we are looking at that situation very closely. it continues to be a country of particular concern. >> at a congressional hearing last week, a representative said the u.s. should be taking a stronger approach on human rights and religious freedom with china. he mentioned sanctions, which can be imposed. taken that the situation has deteriorated further, the persecution has intensified,

what other pressures is the state department considering? >> thank you. this past week, the chinese human rights dialogue was held here. i raised religious freedom issues. it is complicated where there are many conversations going on. about manythe issue an groups. we continue to press the government. there are unregistered churches. they do not have a chance to express their faith in believes. we continue to press the government in terms of freedom of expression and religion. i am also an advocate for human rights. we will not let up. >> could you tell us what kind of response he got when you

raised the question? >> there was discussion. you know, the discussions will continue. is it ready to release the report in terms of what the results are? i would not be doing that. thank you. >> what do you consider what is happening in syria? >> it is a tough situation. we are seeing as much in the media -- we are looking to help. the president has called of the aside.l of hi religious freedom, they need to do with it. we are looking for -- >> what about the cpc? are they the same? >> in 2011, i refer you to the report. >> it is deteriorating.

until there is a post-assad regime, we will not be able to tell you in terms of how they can move forward. 2011 and 2010 pretty much deteriorated. >> he meant the countries that are cpc's. did you add or subtract? >> they are the same. the same 8. >> obviously, the situation with the christians was a factor in secretary clinton's visit to egypt. i am wondering what assurances you have been given from president morsi because the interim government did not -- they took action against the

christians. have you been given assurances by president morsi that he will look at this situation? to what extent could you use aid as a lever to make sure the government -- >> the secretary was just there. she invited a number of groups including religious groups and minorities to meet with her. i also met with kristin to hear -- christians here. morsi has said he will include. we're looking for him to follow through. >> we have time for one more. if you have questions not answered -- [inaudible] >> i have a question about china because earlier this year, in the human report, it included

[unintelligible] in your religious freedom report, did you cover this issue? how will we take measures to push china? >> we are concerned not only with the tibetans and the uighurs but we are concerned with others. we are concerned people have the upper seniti to express their faith. -- opportunities to express their faith. >> will you take any concrete measures to help improve the situation? >> we urge the government to not only focus on -- we urge the government to focus on everything i stated previously. we are looking for all people to be able to have the opportunity to express that.

religious freedom is for people to believe or not and we want them to have the opportunity. >> i apologize we could not get to everybody. the secretary can take questions at the carnegie endowment. thank you. >> thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> this weekend on "american history tv" the turning . of the civil war gettysburg or the seven day battle for richmond? >> george mclellan's failure in robert e. lee's emergence as a field commander marked a decisive moment in the eastern theater that in turn profoundly shaped the larger direction of the conflict. >> gary gallagher on the week-

long june 1862 battles that drove the union army away from the confederate capital. tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern. sunday, more from "the contenders" -- we look at key political figures who ran for president and lost, but changed history. >> i remind you that extremism in defense of liberty -- >> barry goldwater, the 1964 republican candidate who lost to lyndon b. johnson and 730 eastern and pacific. this weekend on c-span3. >> at the foot of that bridge, i was speaking. -- beaten. i thought i was going to die. >> 1965, john lewis took part in a voting rights march in montgomery alabama 0 that took him across a bridge. >> we came within hearing distance of the state troopers.

a man identified himself and said, i am a major of alabama state troopers. this is an unlawful march and it will not be allowed to continue. one of the young people walking beside me said give us a moment to kneel and pray. the major said -- >> "a cross that bridge." sunday at 8:00 p.m. on c-span's "q&a." >> this is a discussion on the state of campaign finance following the supreme court to texas and united decision. panelist said that groups that do not have to comply with disclosure laws are outspending those that do. they also talked about how changes in campaign finance could affect this year's presidential and congressional elections. from the bipartisan policy center, this is one hour 20 minutes. >> ok. welcome, everybody. i am a senior fellow at the

bipartisan policy center and i have more than a passing interest in this issue as a running -- as i have been running campaigns for congress. we will not talk about the last one. i was kind of there when the history changed and win campaigns began to become very expensive. it is a matter of personal interest to me as well as a matter of great interest to our country, but we are delighted to welcome you for a sixth event in our democracy project 2012 election series. the project is cheered by myself -- chaired by myself and others. the topic today is the capital behind capitol hill. development of finance campaign -- campaign finance. i suspect our panelists will not

be limited to what is happening on capitol hill. we will probably talk on the presidential race, as well. that is material. sometimes in this debate, i think that capitol hill gets neglected because we talk about the money going into the presidential race when the impact of money on congressional and senatorial races is probably greater than it is in presidential races. as i mentioned, having witnessed the increase money has had on our election and at every level of government over the last three decades, as well as the growth of superpac and related entities in the last few years, i believe that it is important to break down the numbers in disgust to what degree money will affect the upcoming elections. our panelists are very, very talented and able to do that. i want to raise this point. these are not questions about money and politics, the amount of superpac money and soft money, hard money. money, hard money.