USCIRF Calls for Greater Protection of Religious Sites in Conflict Areas

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) calls on all parties to armed conflicts around the world to abide by international humanitarian law. They should cease attacks that target, damage, and destroy houses of worship and religious sites in conflict zones, and not use houses of worship as weapons depots or as bases to launch attacks. In times of peace or conflict, governments are obligated by international law to protect religious sites.

“USCIRF underscores that international humanitarian law protects houses of worship and religious sites as sacrosanct. They cannot be targeted for destruction or incur incidental damage during armed conflict. International humanitarian law allows for exceptions to this prohibition only under very narrow circumstances,” said USCIRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck. “We are alarmed that, despite these protections, houses of worship and religious sites continue to be impermissibly damaged and destroyed in armed conflicts around the globe.”

In recent months, multiple religious sites have been targeted in conflicts throughout the world. As a result of the conflict between Israel and Hamas after Hamas’ violent attack against Israel in October, a rocket damaged the Convent of the Missionaries of Charity in Gaza. Other churches and monasteries have been damaged as well. Gaza’s oldest mosque, the Omari Mosque, was largely destroyed in an airstrike. IDF vehicles have damaged or destroyed parts of sixteen cemeteries in Gaza and Palestinian terrorist groups have placed primed rocket launchers in cemeteries. Amid fighting in Sudan, the Rapid Support Forces attacked a Coptic Christian monastery in Wad Madani. During a gathering on Christmas morning in Ethiopia, a drone strike hit the grounds of the Full Gospel Church in Baro village of Kombolcha. Also, since Russia’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, approximately 500 houses of worship in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed. In Burma, the military junta has, since seizing power in 2021, destroyed approximately 200 houses of worship and religious sites such as Buddhist monasteries, churches, and mosques during fighting with opposition forces.

“The sheer scale of destruction against houses of worship and religious sites in conflicts around the world is a shocking affront to the universal right to freedom of religion or belief. For example, throughout Nigeria, violent nonstate groups constantly attack houses of worship, religious leaders, and worshippers,” said USCIRF Commissioner Frank Wolf. “USCIRF urges the U.S. government to call upon all parties to armed conflicts to abide by international humanitarian law.”

In November 2023, USCIRF issued a press release on attacks on religious sites during armed conflict and a report examining threats to religious sites in Turkey, which documented damage to religious sites in the country. In October 2023, USCIRF expressed concern over rising religious hatred as a result of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. In 2019, USCIRF issued a factsheet on international law protecting houses of worship and holy sites.

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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].

USCIRF Releases New Report on Religious Freedom in Indonesia

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new report:

Indonesia Country Update - This report provides an update on religious freedom conditions in Indonesia during 2023. Blasphemy allegations and convictions remain persistent religious freedom violations throughout Indonesia. The new criminal code, passed at the end of 2022 and signed by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in January 2023, will further criminalize blasphemy and expand on other religious freedom violations when implemented in 2026. Additionally, local government initiatives to codify discrimination against minority communities, including religious minorities, continue to gain traction throughout the country. Finally, Indonesia’s education system in some locales continues to mandate the wearing of religious clothing such as the hijab, even for non-Muslim girls.

In its 2023 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended the U.S. Department of State place Indonesia on its Special Watch List (SWL) for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom. In March 2023, USCIRF held an event on Rising Authoritarianism in ASEAN Member States, and in September 2023 released a report on The Bureaucratization of Religion in Southeast Asia.

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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].

USCIRF Commemorates the Anniversary of the U.S. Government’s Determination of the Uyghur Genocide

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) commemorates the third anniversary of the U.S. government’s determination of China’s genocide against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in the Xinjiang region.

“We applaud the U.S. government—both the then Trump administration and the current Biden administration—for recognizing the Chinese government’s atrocities in the Uyghur region as genocide and crimes against humanity. We also appreciate the overwhelming bipartisan support on Uyghur issues in Congress,” stated USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel. “But, as we mark the third anniversary of the Uyghur genocide determination, the Chinese government’s persecution in the Uyghur region remains unrelenting. The U.S. government and like-minded international partners must redouble their efforts to hold the Chinese government accountable for its despicable atrocities against ethno-religious minorities in Xinjiang.”

Chinese authorities have placed millions of Uyghurs in concentration camps in which they experience torture, sexual violence, forced abortion, and forced sterilization. Nearly a million Uyghur children have been forcibly separated from their detained parents and placed in state-run boarding schools. The government also continues to subject Uyghurs to forced labor in factories in Xinjiang and throughout China.

“The Chinese government is one of the world’s worst religious freedom violators. Its persecution of Uyghur Muslims in particular demands strong condemnation and concrete policy actions,” USCIRF Commissioner David Curry stated. “The Chinese government not only persecutes religious groups inside China, but it has also increasingly extended its authoritarian reach overseas, relentlessly intimidating Uyghurs, Tibetans, Christians, and Falun Gong practitioners in the United States and other countries. We urge the U.S. government’s continued action on these concerns, including Congress supporting the passage of the Uyghur Policy Act of 2023 (H.R.2766).”

USCIRF has consistently highlighted the Chinese government’s religious freedom violations. USCIRF applauded the U.S. government’s joint sanctions with like-minded partners against Chinese officials responsible for egregious religious freedom violations against Uyghur and other Muslims in Xinjiang. USCIRF also applauded President Joseph R. Biden for implementing a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in protest against the Chinese government’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang. Additionally, USCIRF recommended the U.S. Congress support human rights legislations that address China’s religious freedom and human rights abuses, including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (Public Law 117–78).

In its 2023 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended the U.S. government redesignate China as a “Country of Particular Concern,” or CPC, for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. On December 29, 2023, the U.S. Department of State redesignated China as a CPC. Earlier this month, USCIRF released a Policy Update on China, with recommendations to the U.S. government on steps it can take to address China’s techno-authoritarianism, transnational repression, and malign political influence in the United States.

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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].