OSCE organizes study visit of Turkmenistan officials to United States on freedom of religion and belief | WPN World People News

High-level officials from Turkmenistan discussed the implementation of international standards on freedom of religion and belief during an OSCE-supported week-long study visit to the United States, which concluded in Washington D.C. on 14 August.

The visit was designed to facilitate the exchange of best national practices promoting full respect for the right of religion and belief. The delegation was comprised of senior officials representing the Presidential Administration, Mejlis (the national parliament) of Turkmenistan, the Foreign Ministry, the General Prosecutor’s Office, and the National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights under the President of Turkmenistan.

During the visit the delegation met U.S. Special Representative for Religion and Global Affairs Shaun Casey; U.S. Special Representative to Muslim Communities Shaarik Zafar; Acting Director of the Office of International Religious Freedom Daniel Nadel; Deputy Assistant Secretary Daniel Rosenblum; and religious freedom specialists from the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of State. The participants also attended the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington and had meetings with representatives of the U.S. Helsinki Commission on Security and Co-operation in Europe and Congressional Muslim Staffer Association.

“The 2013 OSCE Ministerial Council called on participating States to ‘fully implement OSCE commitments on the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief,’” said Vardon-Deniz Hoca, Human Dimension Officer at the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat. “This study visit marks an important milestone in the successful co-operation that the OSCE Centre has established with the authorities of Turkmenistan in recent years as the visit offered an excellent opportunity for policy-makers from two OSCE participating States to discuss practices in developing laws, regulations and policies promoting freedom of religion and belief.”

Members of the delegation also visited New York where they had meetings at the Peace Islands Institute, the Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University, the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Buddhist Council of New York.

Source: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe