USCIRF's Vice Chairwomen, Sandra Jolley and Kristina Arriaga, met with Pastor Andrew Brunson in Turkey this week. Pastor Brunson has been detained for a year on fabricated charges. During his meeting he told commissioners, "Knowing that I am not forgotten is important to me." More here.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is disappointed by the decision to permanently lift U.S. trade and economic sanctions on Sudan. In June, USCIRF wrote Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urging him to maintain sanctions on Sudan, stating that “Sudan has not ‘sustained positive actions’ with regard to religious freedom.” More here.
The Commission believes that when discussing blasphemy, it is important to focus on the real people impacted, and not just the laws themselves. This report, Selected Blasphemy Cases -- highlights a selection of individuals imprisoned or imperiled because of blasphemy laws. See USCIRF’s report on global blasphemy laws here.
On Oct. 11, USCIRF Vice Chairwoman Kristina Arriaga testified to the National Security Subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on the U.S. government role in protecting international religious freedom. Read her testimony here.
Welcome to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) webpage! Click here to learn more about the work of USCIRF. Click here to learn more about the Commissioners of USCIRF.
USCIRF released a new report on July 17, 2017 titled Women and Religious Freedom: Synergies and Opportunities. While a common misperception persists that women’s rights to equality and freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) are clashing rights, the two are actually indivisible and interrelated, the new report finds.
"The deprivation of [Rohingya Muslims’] rights—by both government and societal actors—is one of the most profound human rights tragedies of the 21st Century." USCIRF Report December 2016
Elizabeth Cassidy from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) will present the Commission’s findings on the world’s blasphemy laws, demonstrating that rather than protect religious freedom, they often invite abuse and lead to violence. USCIRF Analyst Andrew Kornbluth and other speakers will also discuss the effects of blasphemy laws.
A Right for All: Freedom of Religion or Belief in ASEAN examines the religious freedom-related challenges in the region that transcend country borders and emphasizes the strategic important of robust U.S. engagement.
On October 2, USCIRF's Elizabeth Cassidy, Director of International Law and Policy, and Tina Mufford, Senior Policy Analyst, met with Malaysian Senator Datuk Paul Low (4th from L), Ambassador Tan Sri Zulhasnan Rafique (3rd from R), and other Malaysian officials.
Read USCIRF’s annual report chapter about Malaysia here.
Pastor Andrew Brunson
Photo credit: fpclw.org
USCIRF Religious Prisoners of Conscience
Click on the prisoner names to view more information on their cases.
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.
Respecting Rights? Measuring the World’s Blasphemy Laws catalogs the offending laws found in a wide range of countries. In some countries, blasphemy laws are enforced weakly, if at all, yet such laws, “in both theory and practice, harm individuals and societies.” The report details laws spanning the globe from countries such as Canada and Switzerland to Iran and Indonesia with penalties ranging from fines to death. Surprisingly, more than one-third of the world’s nations have blasphemy laws today.
Selected Blasphemy Cases seeks to put a human face on blasphemy laws. The individuals highlighted here are only a sample of those who have been negatively impacted by blasphemy laws. For some we have pictures, but for many we do not. Read their stories, the charges against them, and their sentences to better understand the devastating impact of these laws and the need for repeal.
While a common misperception persists that women’s rights to equality and freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) are clashing rights, the two are actually indivisible and interrelated, as shown in Women and Religious Freedom: Synergies and Opportunities. FoRB is neither a right of “religion” as such, nor an instrument for support of religiously phrased limitations on women’s rights to equality. Harmful practices affecting women and girls cannot be accepted as legitimate manifestations of FoRB because the assertion of one human rights claim cannot be used to extinguish other rights.
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.
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.
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.
“For more than four years, Maryam Naghash Zargaran has suffered in an Iranian prison, falsely charged with ‘propagating against the Islamic regime and collusion intended to harm national security’,” - Commissioner Clifford D. May.
USCIRF Vice Chairman Daniel Mark stated that he “welcomed this long-overdue step by Burma’s government. Pwint Phyu Latt and Zaw Zaw Latt, both Muslim, were wrongfully imprisoned for their interfaith activities."
USCIRF Chair Thomas J. Reese, S.J. testified on May 24, 2017 before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission at a hearing titled "Freedom of Belief: Countering Religious Violence."
Click here to read Chair Reese's written testimony.
Click here to read Chair Reese's oral testimony (below as prepared for delivery).
"Dear Pastor Chinh and Mrs. Hong: I write to you as a Commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and a person of faith who is deeply concerned about your well-being."
USCIRF calls for the release of those accused of or convicted of blasphemy stating that blasphemy "laws are used to intimidate and harass individuals, including religious dissenters and minorities and violate their freedom of religion and belief.”
"What will Iran’s May 19 presidential election mean for the Baha’i, the country’s largest non-Muslim religious group? Given that every candidate was handpicked by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s Guardian Council, the answer is simple: Nothing good."
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…
Thomas Bill Search