Jun 9, 2025
Vicky Hartzler Elected Chair of Bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Asif Mahmood Elected Vice Chair
Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today elected Vicky Hartzler as its Chair for 2025-2026. USCIRF Commissioners also elected Asif Mahmood as the Commission’s Vice Chair.
“USCIRF is a vital part of the United States foreign policy efforts to promote religious freedom. This human right is enshrined in both our own constitution and in international law, but even more fundamentally it is etched in the heart of every person,” said Chair Hartzler, “It is an honor to serve as chair, and I will work with Vice Chair Mahmood and the other Commissioners continuing our bipartisan efforts to advance this right for everyone and everywhere abroad. I am grateful to outgoing Chair Stephen Schneck and Vice Chair Meir Soloveichik for their staunch and compassionate leadership. I also extend my thanks to former Commissioner Susie Gelman for her work and whose term concluded this past month.”
Chair Hartzler was appointed to USCIRF by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) in 2024. Prior to her appointment, she served as the congresswoman for Missouri’s fourth congressional district from 2011 to 2023. While in Congress she served on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) and “adopted” three Chinese pastors imprisoned for their faith through the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. She also sponsored “The Combatting the Persecution of Christians in China Act” and co-sponsored the “Uyghur Stop Oppressive Sterilization (SOS) Act.”
Vice Chair Mahmood was appointed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) in 2024. He is currently a practicing physician that lives in California. He is also a human rights activist, interracial and inter-faith community organizer, and philanthropist, leading advocacy campaigns on human rights in South Asia. He is a Board Member of Hope the Mission, one of the largest homeless shelters in California.
“Working for freedom of religion or belief is as important now as it has ever been. It requires concerted efforts from across the political spectrum and USCIRF’s bipartisan composition places it at the core of those efforts,” said Vice Chair Mahmood. “We must not let up in our work to recommend and advocate for policy in the U.S. government to help people live freely according to the dictates of their conscience. I look forward to continuing doing that with fellow Commissioners, including Commissioners Stephen Schneck and Meir Soloveichik.”
USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and leadership of both political parties in the Senate and House of Representatives. Also serving on the Commission are Ariela Dubler, Maureen Ferguson, Mohamed Elsanousi, Stephen Schneck, and Meir Soloveichik. Read the Commissioners’ biographies here.
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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan legislative branch agency 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]
Additional Name(s): Futsum Gebrenegus
Gender: Male
Current Location: Wenjel Mermera Central Criminal Investigation Interrogation Center
Perpetrator: Eritrea
Religion or Belief: Christian – Orthodox
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Date of Detainment: November/18/2004
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: Yes
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment
Reason for Persecution: Discussing Religion & Religious Texts Expression about Religion Religious Activity Religious Association
Fitsum-Berhan Gebrenegus
Extra Bio Info:
Fitsum-Berhan Gebrenegus is detained for his religious activity and leadership role.
In November 2004, Eritrean police authorities arrested Gebrenegus, an Eritrean Orthodox priest at the Mekane Hiwet Medhane-Alem Church, for leading an evangelical reform movement within the Orthodox church. Gebrenegus’ arrest came amid a sweep of crackdowns on evangelical pastors and leaders of the Medhane Alem (Savior of the World) renewal movement, following the ban of evangelical churches in 2002. Authorities confined him in Wengel Mermera Central Criminal Investigation Interrogation Center and held him incommunicado for over 20 years without charge or trial.
In late 2023, it was reported that Gebrenegus was in good health, though he had suffered in the past from mental health challenges. Prior to his detention, Gebrenegus was the senior physician at St Mary's Psychiatric Hospital in Asmara. He has one child and was unable to see his wife before she died of cancer during his imprisonment.
Publicly Available Information:
Dr Fitsum-Berhan Gebrenegus Prisoners of Faith
Futsum Gebrenegus Church in Chains
Fitsum-Berhan Gebrenegus The Voice of the Martyrs
Supporting imprisoned believers in their darkest hour Release International
Imprisoned church leaders in Eritrea desperately need your continuing prayers Open Doors
ERITREAN PASTOR'S DAUGHTER: "I Realized My Dad Wasn't Coming Home" VOM Radio
May 30, 2025
The governments of Central Asia—that is Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan—influenced by decades of Soviet rule, maintain similar legislation to combat “extremism.” Each of these governments uses these laws beyond just addressing legitimate security threats to penalize individuals engaged in peaceful religious activities. Enforcement measures have included harassment, fines, forced renunciations of faith, detainment, imprisonment, and, at times, torture and extrajudicial killings.
On today's episode, Jasmine Cameron, the Europe and Eurasia Senior Legal Advisor at the American Bar Association, and Edward Lemon, the President of the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs, join USCIRF Commissioner Asif Mahmood. They discuss the international standards for protecting core human rights while addressing security concerns and the ways in which extremism laws in Central Asia violate such standards. They also share how Central Asian states abuse extremism legislation to penalize peaceful religious activities through transnational repression. Finally, they offer recommendations for the U.S. to support religious freedom in Central Asia.
Read USCIRF’s Issue Update on the Abuse of Extremism Laws in Central Asia for more information on this topic. To learn more about religious freedom in Central Asia, read USCIRF’s 2025 Annual Report.