Jan 25

WHEN:

Jan 25th 3:30pm

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

Hearing Transcript

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

  • Kirril Shields, Program Manager, Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
    Written Testimony
  • Michelle Lee, Graduate Researcher, Columbia University
    Written Testimony

Panel II

  • Rana S. Inboden, Senior Fellow with the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, University of Texas at Austin
    Written Testimony
  • James Chin, Professor of Asian Studies, University of Tasmania
    Written Testimony
  • Andrew Khoo, Co-Chair, Constitutional Law Committee, Bar Council Malaysia
    Written Testimony



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

Extra Bio Info:

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.

Sources:

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].

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