Welcome to USCIRF

  • USCIRF released a new report on June 1, 2017 titled : Wilting in the Kurdish Sun: The Hopes and Fears of Religious Minorities in Northern Iraq. Click here to read the report. 

  • Vice Chair Kristina Arriaga and Commissioner Jackie Wolcott meet with Mr. Md. Shahidul Haque, Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh, to discuss areas of mutual interests, June 22, 2017

  • USCIRF sent the following letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urging him to maintain sanctions on Sudan for religious freedom violations. Since South Sudan's secession in 2011, USCIRF has documented a deterioration of religious freedom conditions in Sudan year after year. During this period, the Sudanese government has arrested nearly 200 Christians, including 14 religious leaders. 

  • USCIRF Vice Chair Sandra Jolley speaks at the Coptic Solidarity 8th Annual Conference, June 15, 2017. 

  • Click here to learn more about the Commissioners of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, April 2017

  • USCIRF Commissioner Kristina Arriaga spoke at a Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs event on "Best Practices in International Religious Freedom Policy," June 6, 2017.  

  • USCIRF Chair Thomas J. Reese, S.J. and Vice Chairman Daniel Mark meet with Pakistan Federal Minister for Human Rights Kamran Michael, May 2017

  • USCIRF Chair Thomas J. Reese, S.J. testified on May 24, 2017 before a Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing titled "Freedom of Belief: Countering Religious Violence." Click here to read Chair Reese's testimony. Click here to watch the hearing. 

  • USCIRF hosted an event on May 17, 2017 titled "The State of International Religious Freedom." Commissioners discussed findings and recommendations from its 2017 Annual Report, in addition to the newly launched Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project. Click here to watch the event. 

  • USCIRF Commissioner Sandra Jolley meets with representatives from Boat People SOS to discuss religious freedom in Vietnam, May 15, 2017 

What's New at USCIRF

SUDAN: USCIRF Urges Secretary of State to Maintain Sanctions
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. read more
USCIRF Elects Daniel Mark as Commission Chairman; Sandra Jolley and Kristina Arriaga as Vice Chairs
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.”  read more
USCIRF Commends House Passage of Genocide Accountability Act, Urges Senate Action
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. read more

Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh (right) at a USCIRF hearing on Sudan in 2000.

FIRUZ KAZEMZADEH: One of the First USCIRF Commissioners Dies
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. read more
KURDISTAN REGION OF IRAQ: New USCIRF Report on Religious Minorities in the KRI
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. read more
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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:
Patriarch Abune Antonios
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

 

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.

Click here to read the report.

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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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