FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 11, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As tensions continue to rise in China’s western province of Xinjiang, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) urges the Obama Administration to raise prominently the repression of Uighur Muslims in future discussions with Chinese officials and to consider targeting officials or security agencies in Xinjiang with sanctions if conditions there do not improve.  While Uighur issues were raised during the recent U.S.-China Strategic Dialogue, China’s vice foreign minister Wang Guangya thanked the United States for taking a “moderate” line on Xinjiang and for acknowledging that ethnic violence there was an “internal matter.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 14, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is deeply concerned about the recent upsurge of sectarian violence in Iraq.  Among the most recent bombings, a village outside of Mosul inhabited by Shabak, an ethnic and predominantly Shiite minority, was completely destroyed by two large truck bombs, killing at least 28 people and injuring at least 150.  In addition, a café in the Yazidi town of Sinjar was attacked by two suicide bombers, killing at least 21 and injuring at least 30.  The Yazidi are a small religious minority indigenous to northern Iraq.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 7, 2009

WASHINGTON DC – The European Court of Human Rights on July 17 rejected claims to allow Muslim girls and Sikh boys to cover their hair while attending public school in France. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a bipartisan U.S. government panel that monitors religious freedom abroad, faulted the ruling for its failure to cite any evidence to support its conclusion that the head coverings constituted a genuine threat to public order.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 27, 2009

About the Commission 
The impact of religion in international affairs and U.S. foreign policy has grown markedly in recent years.  The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan independent federal commission created by Congress in 1998, is the only independent government body in the world focused principally on monitoring and advancing the internationally recognized freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief and related human rights.  It is also the only international human rights commission in the United States government.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 27, 2009

WASHINGTON, DC – Human rights and religious freedom must be a priority when high-level talks take place between the Chinese government and the Obama Administration in Washington July 27-28, said the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a bipartisan watchdog panel monitoring religious freedom abroad.

For Immediate Release
July 24, 2009

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) calls on parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Sudan to abide by the ruling issued Wednesday (July 22, 2009) by the Abyei Arbitration Tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.  The decision settles the Abyei boundaries dispute, which is central to achieving peace in Sudan.  Immediately following the announcement, the National Congress Party (NCP), which dominates the North, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), which governs Southern Sudan, pledged their commitment to the ruling. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 22, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) advocated for the autonomy of religious institutions facing government interference as part of the official U.S. delegation to the OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on freedom of religion or belief, July 9-10 in Vienna, Austria.