USCIRF Welcomes the Release of Two Religious Prisoners in Saudi Arabia

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomes news of the release from prison of Salma al-Shehab and Assad al-Ghamdi. While in prison, both detainees were reportedly subjected to medical neglect, solitary confinement, and verbal abuse. Al-Shehab was arrested in 2021 for social media activity criticizing the Saudi government’s male guardianship system that imposes particular religious views. In 2024, authorities sentenced al-Ghamdi to 20 years in prison for “insulting religion” under the country’s counterterror law for social media posts.

“No person should be imprisoned for criticizing a government’s mandated interpretation of religion,” said USCIRF Chair Stephen Schneck. “Both releases signal the Saudi government’s recent gradual improvement of religious freedom conditions, but severe and systematic restrictions remain.”

“While we welcome news of their release, many other religious prisoners remain unjustly detained,” said USCIRF Commissioner Maureen Ferguson. “The U.S. government should press Saudi officials for the release of Mohammed al-Ghamdi, Nourah al-Qahtani and Manahel al-Otaibi, as well as call for Loujain al-Hathloul's, expired travel ban to be fully lifted.”

In its 2024 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. State Department designate Saudi Arabia as a “Country of Particular Concern,” for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. USCIRF’s 2024 Country Update on Saudi Arabia evaluates the male guardianship system’s religious restrictions on women and girls.

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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 Urges Resumption of Lautenberg-Specter Program

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) urges the Trump administration, as it reviews U.S. refugee policy, to prioritize reopening the legal pathway that allows Jews, Christians, Baha’is, and other persecuted religious minorities from Iran and the former Soviet Union to resettle in the United States.

“For decades, the Lautenberg-Specter program has allowed members of oppressed religious groups to escape Iran and the former Soviet states, serving as a concrete example of the United States’ commitment to religious freedom,” said USCIRF Commissioner Susie Gelman. “Pausing this lifeline places already vulnerable individuals at heightened risk of persecution. It also jeopardizes host countries’ willingness to provide safe harbor for applicants while they undergo U.S. vetting.”       

Originally enacted in 1990 for Jews and Evangelical and other Christians in the former Soviet Union with close family ties in the United States, the program was expanded to Iranian religious minorities in 2004. Since then, Congress has annually reauthorized it on a bipartisan basis through what is known as the Lautenberg-Specter amendment. Applicants undergo rigorous background and security checks by U.S. law enforcement agencies while they remain in a temporary host country outside the United States. During processing and upon resettlement, individuals in the program are financially supported by sponsors in the United States.  

“The Lautenberg-Specter program furthers two of President Trump’s key foreign policy priorities—promoting religious freedom abroad and countering Iran.” said USCIRF Commissioner Vicky Hartzler. “Resuming the resettlement of these vulnerable religious minority refugees would send a clear signal that the U.S. government prioritizes helping victims of persecution who legally seek the protection of the United States.”  

USCIRF has long supported the Lautenberg-Specter program, including by repeatedly recommending that Congress authorize it permanently. In January 2023, USCIRF convened a hearing on Religious Freedom and Women’s Rights in Iran that highlighted the program’s importance, including through the story of a resettled Iranian Christian. In February 2025, USCIRF hosted a public event, Standing with the Silenced, that included remarks from a Ukrainian Christan resettled to the United States through the program.

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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].