FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 17, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) applauds the U.S.  Senate’s adoption of S. Res. 322, a resolution spearheaded by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) that focuses on the perilous status of religious minorities in Iraq.  The Senate passed this bipartisan resolution on August 5; this follows the earlier passage in the House of a companion measure (H. Res. 944) authored by Representative Gary Peters (D-MI). Both measures reflect many of the recommendations USCIRF has advanced and are critically timed ahead of the U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq and as Iraq seeks to form a new government.

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August 11, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC - Seven Baha’i leaders who have been in prison for two years were sentenced to 20 years in prison by an Iranian court, according to Baha’i activists who spoke with the media.

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July 22, 2010

WASHINGTON - The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) commends Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's publicly criticizing attacks on religious groups today in Hanoi, urging the Vietnamese government to address religious freedom and other human rights concerns.  

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July 15, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today criticized the criminal convictions of Andrei Erofeev and Yuri Samodurov for insulting the feelings of religious believers through a Moscow art show they organized in 2007.   A Moscow court imposed fines totaling more than $10,000 on the two defendants.  

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July 2, 2010

WASHINGTON DC - On Thursday, militants bombed the Sufi Data Darbar shrine in Lahore, Pakistan, killing at least 40 and wounding hundreds.  The shrine holds the remains of a Persian Sufi saint, Abul Hassan Ali Hajvery, important to the Barelvi sect of Islam.

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July 1, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As Nigeria assumes the presidency of the UN Security Council today, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) expresses its continuing concern about the horrific sectarian violence that has wracked Nigeria for over a decade and the Nigerian government’s culture of impunity, which, significantly, includes a longstanding failure to prosecute and convict the perpetrators of that violence.

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June 22, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) yesterday sent the following letter to President Obama regarding his upcoming meeting with King Abdullah.

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June 18, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Leonard A. Leo, Executive Vice President of the Federalist Society, was reelected Wednesday June 16 as Chairman of the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), for a second year-long term.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 18, 2010

“USCIRF is pleased that the Obama Administration has nominated a candidate for the post of Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom,” said Leonard Leo, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Chair.  “We have been urging this for months and are pleased that the day has finally come. Under the International Religious Freedom Act, the Ambassador-at-Large also serves as a ex-officio member of our Commission, and we look forward to getting to know Suzan Johnson Cook as the confirmation process proceeds in the Senate.”