The U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of Transition Initiatives created programs for conflict resolution training that it continued to implement, targeting several Muslim communities. The American Speaker Program has been particularly effective in promoting dialog and informing local audiences about religious freedom in the U.S. The Embassy also continued publishing its informational magazine in Hausa, the language of the predominantly Muslim north. In January, as part of the Embassy's efforts to engage Islamic opinion leaders, a forum initiated by the Emir of Kano brought together U.S. Embassy officials and five U.S. speakers with Muslim leaders for dialog on Islam, poverty alleviation, and other foreign policy issues.
North Korea. The United States does not have diplomatic relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea but pursues improvements in religious freedom through a variety of means. During talks in Pyongyang in October 2002, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James A. Kelly highlighted U.S. concerns about the regime's deplorable record on human rights and religious freedom. The U.S. regularly raised these concerns about North Korea in multilateral fora and bilaterally with other governments. U.S. officials urged other countries to condition their bilateral relations with North Korea on concrete, verifiable, and sustained improvements. At the 59th session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, the U.S. Government worked to achieve passage for the first time of a resolution on the human rights situation in North Korea, including the regime's deplorable record on religious freedom. U.S. policy allows U.S. citizens to travel to the country, and a number of churches and religious groups organized efforts to alleviate suffering caused by shortages of food and medicine.
The Secretary of State again designated North Korea a "country of particular concern" in 2003.
Pakistan. U.S. Embassy officials attended the trials of several individuals charged with blasphemy, including the trial of Dr. Younis Sheikh, and encouraged government officials to pursue aggressive investigations of incidents involving the bombing of churches. The Embassy also assisted local and international human rights organizations to follow up on specific cases involving religious minorities. Through the International Visitor Program, the Embassy sponsored several academics to travel to the United States to take part in programs that focus on religious freedom and pluralism. The United States has urged the Government to address extremist elements of some madrassas.
Russia. U.S. officials regularly meet with Government officials to press for protections to religious freedom. Consular officers raised the issue of visas for religious workers with the Passport and Visa Unit in the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Embassy officers also met with missionaries during regional travel in the country's interior. On December 20, the Ambassador held a meeting with Minister of Justice Yuriy Chayka and expressed concern over the inconsistent application of registration requirements by regional MOJ officials. In November, the Deputy Chief of Mission hosted a reception for fifty religious workers and government officials to focus on religious freedom issues.
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