USCIRF Commends U.S. Holocaust Museum Spotlight on China

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today commended the decision of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to add China to its list of case studies due to concerns about the mass internment of Uighur and other Muslims. 

Apr 24, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 24, 2020

USCIRF Commends U.S. Holocaust Museum Spotlight on China

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today commended the decision of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to add China to its list of case studies due to concerns about the mass internment of Uighur and other Muslims. This list is designed to focus attention on countries where mass atrocities are currently underway or where early warning signs call for preventative action. The museum also concluded that the concentration camps in Xinjiang constitute possible “crimes against humanity.”   

“The Chinese government is responsible for some of the most egregious religious violations in the twenty-first century,” noted USCIRF Commissioner Gary Bauer“The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s recent decision is an important step toward recognizing, documenting, and ultimately stopping the Communist Party’s crimes against humanity.”

“The world has known about the concentration camps in Xinjiang for almost three years,” USCIRF Commissioner Tenzin Dorjee added. “We must act now. We urge Congress to pass the Uighur Intervention and Global Humanitarian Unified Response Act and other pending legislation intended to promote religious freedom in China as soon as possible.”

In its 2019 Annual Report, USCIRF called upon the administration to use its authority under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and the International Religious Freedom Act to impose targeted sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for severe religious freedom violations, especially Chen Quanguo, the current Communist Party Secretary of Xinjiang.

In February 2020, USCIRF released a factsheet explaining how the Chinese government’s new Regulation for Religious Groups could further restrict 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 threats to 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] or Danielle Ashbahian at [email protected].