U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing
Religious Freedom in Southeast Asia: Techno-Authoritarianism and Transnational Influences
Thursday, January 25, 2024
3:30 -5:00 PM ET
Virtual
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) hosted a virtual hearing on how Southeast Asian countries use techno-authoritarianism to undermine religious freedom and are increasingly borrowing such tactics from China and Saudi Arabia.
Despite growing civil society activism and economic development in recent decades, religious freedom conditions throughout Southeast Asia continue to stagnate or, in many places, decline. With the rise of technology and digital surveillance, alongside other transnational influences from outside the region, religious freedom is under increasing threat. The Burmese military disseminates hate speech and calls for widespread violence through social media to perpetrate atrocities against the predominantly Muslim Rohingya. In Indonesia, blasphemy charges increasingly cite social media as the source of the offending incident. Across Southeast Asia as a whole, transnational influences from outside the region threaten to change the political and legal landscape with major consequences for religious freedom and related human rights.
The first panel discussed trends in technology and digital surveillance throughout Southeast Asia impacting religious freedom. The second panel discussed transnational influences from outside of Southeast Asia, such as China and Saudi Arabia, that seek to fundamentally alter the religious freedom landscape.
Opening Remarks
Panel I
Panel II
Submitted for the Record
Statement from The Sikh Coalition
This hearing is open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the public, and the media. Members of the media should register online and can email [email protected] for any questions or to schedule an interview. The video recording of the hearing will be posted on the Commission website. For any additional questions, please contact [email protected].
Additional Name(s): Mariam Qisoom, Mariam al-Qisoom, Mariam Qaisum مريم آل قيصوم
Gender: Female
Current Location: Investigation Prison, Dammam
Perpetrator: Saudi Arabia
Religion or Belief: Muslim – Shi'a
Sentence: 25 Years' Imprisonment
Date of Detainment: February//2019
Date of Sentencing: March//2023
Current Status: Not Released
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Civil Rights Work for Religious Communities Criticizing Religious Freedom Conditions Human Rights Work for Religious Communities Religious Identity
Nature of Charges: Unknown
Mariam Al Qisoom is imprisoned in relation to human rights and civil rights work for a religious community.
In February 2019, authorities reportedly arrested Qisoom in relation to her human rights work and pro-democracy activities on the behalf of Saudi Arabia's Shi'a minority community.
In March 2023, a court reportedly sentenced Qisoom to 25 years in prison and imposed a 25-year travel ban.
Qisoom reportedly has four children.
معًا من أجل العدالة, Tweet, March 24, 2023
"مريم آل قيصوم: في شهر المرأة ويوم الأم… ناشطة أخرى تواجه السجن المؤبد!" Together For Justice
المنظمة الأوروبية السعودية لحقوق الإنسان ESOHR, Tweet, March 21, 2023
"عيد الأم في السعودية: أمهات يواصلن نضالاً عظيماً أمام آلة القمع الوحشية" European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR)
Jan 5, 2024
USCIRF Releases New Policy Update on China
Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new report:
China Policy Update – This report provides an overview of U.S. policy on religious freedom and human rights in China, the U.S. government’s technology policy and China’s human rights abuses, and China’s transnational repression and malign political influence in the United States. It concludes with specific recommendations for steps the U.S. government can take to further elevate religious freedom and other human rights matters in its policy toward China.
In its 2023 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State redesignate China as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. This past October, USCIRF authored an op-ed highlighting China’s political interference through lobbying in the U.S. Congress. In May, USCIRF held a hearing on transnational repression and religious freedom.
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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].