FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) congratulates the Republic of South Sudan on its independence and calls on the United States and the international community to strongly support the South in its democratization and development efforts.

“July 9, 2011 is a tremendously exciting day for the people of South Sudan and the world, marking the end of the Southern Sudanese’s decades-long struggle and sacrifice for religious freedom and human rights,” said Leonard Leo, USCIRF chair.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 30, 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom (USCIRF) marks the tragic July anniversaries of two major assassinations in Pakistan and urges Pakistan’s government to bring the perpetrators to justice.

July 4th is the six-month anniversary of the assassination of Salman Taseer, the Governor of Punjab province.  July 2nd marks four months since the Pakistani Taliban assassinated Shahbaz Bhatti, the Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 27, 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today expressed concern that the lower house of the Tajik parliament has adopted further overly broad restrictive measures on religion.  State-imposed restrictions on religious activity have been steadily increasing in recent years, as documented in the May USCIRF Annual Report.

On June 15, Tajikistan's Parental Responsibility Law was approved by the lower house of parliament. Under the draft law, only children enrolled in state-approved institutes of religious education can participate in religious activity. The parliament refused to consider a proposal from the Islamic Renaissance Party that children be allowed to attend religious education after school.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 10, 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the two-year anniversary of the disputed June 9, 2009 elections in Iran, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomes the addition of three Iranian government entities and one Iranian government official to a sanctions list for serious human rights abuses in Iran.

The original executive order President Barack Obama signed on September 29, 2010 named eight Iranian officials. Yesterday's designation brings the total to eleven, eight of whom USCIRF identified as severe religious freedom abusers in May 2010.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Azizah Y. al-Hibri, Professor of  Law at the University of Richmond and founder and president, KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, was appointed by President Barack Obama yesterday (June 7), to serve as a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

“My fellow Commissioners and I are most pleased to welcome Professor al-Hibri to the Commission. She comes with a distinguished record of service as a human rights advocate devoted to the protection of freedom of religion for people of all faiths, and we look forward to working with her,” said Leonard Leo, USCIRF chair.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 2011

Washington, DC – While welcoming the Uzbek government's release of Yusuf Jumaev on May 18, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today called on Uzbekistan’s government to free thousands of religious and political prisoners. Jumaev, a dissident poet, was serving a five-year sentence in the notorious Jaslyk prison after protesting the 2005 killing of hundreds of Muslim demonstrators in the town of Andijon.  In its May 2011 Annual Report, USCIRF raised his case, along with those of others unjustly imprisoned.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 24, 2011

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) strongly condemns the coordinated raids by Iranian authorities this weekend on numerous Baha’i homes and the arrests of more than a dozen Baha’is who have been part of an effort to provide higher education to Baha'i youth because they are prevented from attending universities in Iran.

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May 10, 2011

April 28, 2011 | by USCIRF

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released its 2011 Annual Report and recommended that the Secretary of State name the following nations “countries of particular concern” or CPCs:  Burma, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.  

For the first time, USCIRF recommended that Egypt be designated a CPC.