Bahai Iranian appointed by Clinton to religious freedom
commission
May 6, 1999, (White House) -- The President announced today his intent
to appoint Laila Al-Marayati, Firuz Kazemzadeh and Charles Z. Smith as
members of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, of Los Angeles, California, is a founding member
and past president of the Muslim Women's League, a Los Angeles based non-profit
organization focusing on the dissemination of accurate information about
Islam and Muslims, particularly regarding women. She has written extensively
and participated in numerous conferences and interfaith dialogues speaking
on a variety of issues related to Muslim women. Under her direction, the
Muslim Women's League founded the Women's Coalition against Ethnic Cleansing,
comprised of over 20 women's religious and civic groups. Dr. Al-Marayati
has also served as a member of the US State Department's Advisory Committee
on Religious Freedom Abroad, and, in September 1995, was a member of the
US Delegation, chaired by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, to the Fourth
World Conference on Women, sponsored by the United Nations, held in Beijing,
China. Dr. Al-Marayati is a Board certified obstetrician- gynecologist
in private practice in Glendale California, and is Clinical Associate Professor
in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Los Angeles County/USC
Women?s and Children's Hospital.
Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, of Alta Loma, California, is Secretary for External
Affairs of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United
States. As the American Baha'i community's principal spokesman on external
affairs issues, Dr. Kazemzadeh has testified frequently before the House
International Relations and Senate Foreign Relations Committees on the
religious repression of Baha'i abroad. He is Professor Emeritus of History
at Yale University, having taught Russian history there from 1956 until
his retirement in 1992. During his tenure at Yale, Dr. Kazemzadeh also
served variously as Director of Graduate Studies in Russian and Eastern
European Studies; Chair of the Council on Russian and East European Studies;
Chair of the Committee on Middle Eastern Studies; Director of Graduate
Studies in History; and Master of Davenport College. He is the author of
The Struggle for Transcaucasia, 1917-1921 and Russia and Britain in Persia,
1864-1914,as well as the co-author of several other books relating to Russia
and Central Asia. Since 1966 he has served as editor of World Order magazine.
Dr. Kazemzadeh was born in the Iranian Embassy in Moscow, where his father
served for many years, came to the United States in 1944, and received
his academic training at Stanford and Harvard.
The Honorable Charles Z. Smith, of Seattle, Washington, is a Justice
of the Washington State Supreme Court. He was originally appointed in July,
1988, to fill an unexpired term, and was elected, unopposed, in 1988 and
1990, and most recently in 1996 to another term of six years. Justice Smith
served from 1965 to 1995 on the General Board of the American Baptist Churches,
USA, and was President, American Baptist Churches from 1975 to 1977, and
Immediate Past President from 1977 to 1979. He has served in several local,
national, and international organizations concerned with religious freedom
and human rights, including active participation with the National Interreligious
Task Force on Soviet Jewry in monitoring compliance with the Helsinki Accords
during the period 1977 to 1985. Justice Smith taught at the University
of Washington School of Law from 1973 to 1983 and is now Professor of Law
Emeritus. He has also served on the boards of numerous civic, charitable,
cultural educational and health related organizations in Seattle and Washington
State, and a number of professional organizations and councils. Justice
Smith is a member of the National Bar Association and the Hispanic National
Bar Association. He received his B.S. from Temple University and a J.D.
from the University of Washington School of Law. He also retired from the
US Marine Corps Reserve with the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel.
The nine-member US Commission on International Religious Freedom was
established upon the strong bipartisan passage of the International Religious
Freedom Act of 1998, which the President signed into law on October 27,
1998. The Commission, which is advisory in nature, will issue an Annual
Report providing recommendations for US policy responses to international
religious freedom violations. Robert Seiple, Ambassador at Large for International
Religious Freedom, acts as an ex-officio member of the Commission.
The promotion of religious freedom abroad is a priority of the Clinton
presidency. These three distinguished appointees will further ensure that
international religious freedom continues to be an integral part of the
Administration's foreign policy.
Links
