SYRIA: Six Years of War
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March 15, 2017
What's New at USCIRF
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released a May 30 letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson calling on him to “take steps to address severe violations of religious freedom and other human rights” in Sudan. In the letter, USCIRF called on Secretary Tillerson to maintain existing sanctions on the Sudanese government due to deteriorating religious freedom conditions.
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At its June 13 meeting, USCIRF commissioners elected Daniel Mark as the Commission’s new chairman. Dr. Mark is an assistant professor of political science at Villanova University and battalion professor for Villanova’s Navy ROTC unit. In response to his election, Chairman Mark said, “I am greatly honored by the confidence shown in me by my fellow commissioners. I look forward to enhancing USCIRF’s role and voice in monitoring violations and recommending ways U.S. policy can play an even stronger role.”
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H.R. 390 would promote accountability for atrocities committed by ISIS and address the urgent humanitarian needs of persecuted religious and/or ethnic minorities targeted for genocide.
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Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh (right) at a USCIRF hearing on Sudan in 2000.
USCIRF was saddened to learn of the death of Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, one of the first Commissioners appointed to USCIRF Dr. Kazemzadeh was also a professor emeritus of history at Yale, a distinguished member of the American Baha’i community, and a tireless champion of international religious freedom.
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USCIRF's new groundbreaking report, the first of its kind to involve in-person interviews with representatives of almost all religious minority groups in the KRI, notes that "the KRI remains far more welcoming and tolerant to minorities than its regional neighbors" and expresses hope that special effort will be taken to "preserve [the] freedoms and rights" of minorities.
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Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project
USCIRF's Religious Prisoner of Conscience Project highlights individuals imprisoned for exercising their freedom of religion or belief, as well as the dedicated advocacy of USCIRF Commissioners working for their release. Please click the photos below for more information on the prisoners, and the Commissioners' efforts on their behalfs.
Featured Religious Prisoner:
Commissioner Thomas J. Reese: "I have chosen to work on behalf of Eritrean Orthodox Patriarch Abune Antonios whom the Eritrean government has imprisoned...Patriarch Antonios deserves to spend the last years of his life in freedom. I will work tirelessly to that end."
Click here for Chair Reese's full statement on Patriarch Antonios
Click here for information on Patriarch Antonios and religious freedom conditions in Eritrea.
Click here to watch the launch of the Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project.
USCIRF Religious Prisoners of Conscience
Click on the prisoner names to view more information on their cases.
Prisoner of Conscience List
Click here for USCIRF's Prisoner of Conscience List which is mandated by Public Law 114-281, the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act.
2017 Annual Report
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its 2017 Annual Report on April 25, 2017.
In the report, USCIRF recommends that the State Department add these ten countries to its list of “countries of particular concern,” defined under law as countries where particularly severe violations of religious freedom are tolerated or perpetrated: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
USCIRF also finds that six other countries meet the CPC standard and should be so designated: Central African Republic, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Syria, and Vietnam.
Wilting in the Kurdish Sun
USCIRF on June 1, 2017 released a report titled Wilting in the Kurdish Sun: The Hopes and Fears of Religious Minorities in Iraq. This groundbreaking report is the first independent report of its kind to involve in-person interviews with representatives of almost all the religious minority groups in the KRI.
The report notes that "the KRI remains far more welcoming and tolerant to minorities that its regional neighbors" and expresses hope that special effort will be taken to "preserve [the] freedoms and rights" of minorities.
VIETNAM: USCIRF Assesses State Department’s CPC Removal
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February 8, 2017
INDIA: Report Examines Legal Restrictions Religious Minorities Face
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February 8, 2017
UNITED STATES: USCIRF Urges Continued Refugee Resettlement
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February 8, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) urges the U.S. government to continue its efforts to resettle refugees fleeing conflict and persecution.
Deseret News -- Holocaust Remembrance Day: Europe must fight anti-Semitism
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
January 27, 2017 | Clifford D. May and Tenzin Dorjee
The following op-ed appeared in Deseret News on January 27, 2017
Philadelphia Inquirer -- Make religious freedom for all a top priority
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
January 23, 2017 | Thomas J. Reese and Daniel Mark
The following op-ed appeared in Philadelphia Inquirer on January 23, 2017
ERITREA: Release Patriarch Abune Antonios
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January 18, 2017
Two Years Later: Lessons from the Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher Attacks
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January 5, 2017
IRAN: USCIRF Condemns Religious Freedom Violations against Baha’is
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December 23, 2016
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The UN General Assembly on December 19 passed its 14th consecutive resolution which included a condemnation of the Iranian government’s actions against the Baha’i community, underscoring the persecution and discrimination members of this peaceful religious community have faced for decades.
Erin D. Singshinsuk Appointed Executive Director of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
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December 20, 2016
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today announced the appointment of Erin D. Singshinsuk as USCIRF’s Executive Director.
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About the Commission
Who We Are
USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission, the first of its kind in the world, that monitors the universal right to freedom of religion or belief abroad.
What We're About
Inherent in religious freedom is the right to think as we please, believe or not believe as our conscience leads, and live out our beliefs openly, peacefully, and without fear.
We are about freedom…
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