RUSSIA: Jehovah’s Witnesses Banned After Supreme Court Rejects Appeals

USCIRF Condemns the Banning of the Jehovah’s Witnesses

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) denounces the Russian Supreme Court ruling on Monday rejecting an appeal by the Jehovah’s Witnesses against an April decision declaring them as extremist. USCIRF Chairman Daniel Mark commented that “The Supreme Court’s decision sadly reflects the government’s continued equating of peaceful religious freedom practice to extremism. The Witnesses are not an extremist group, and should be able to practice their faith openly and freely and without government repression.”

This ruling clears the way for the Russian government to seize the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ assets and property throughout the country.  In recent years, the Witnesses have been subject to government-sanctioned harassment, have had their legal existence banned, and now will lose their physical presence as their meeting halls, known as Kingdom Halls, become the property of a government that violates the rights of religious groups as a matter of law.

In an April 20^th statement, USCIRF condemned the Russian Supreme Court’s decision to ban the Jehovah’s Witnesses (click here to read the statement).

USCIRF recommended in 2017 for the first time ever that Russia be designated a “country of particular concern” (or CPC) for systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. Chairman Mark added “This latest move by the Russian government confirms that our 2017 Annual Report recommendation is well-deserved. The Russian government is intensifying its crackdown on religious freedom at home while also extending its repressive policies to neighboring states.”

Click here to see the 2017 Annual Report chapter on Russia in English. Click here to see the chapter in Russian.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission, the first of its kind in the world. USCIRF reviews the facts and circumstances of religious freedom violations abroad and makes policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the Congressional leadership of both political parties. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or John D. Lawrence, Director of Communications ([email protected]/+1-202-786-0611).

Open Letter from USCIRF Vice Chair Sandra Jolley to Gulmira Imin on the 8th Anniversary of Her Arrest

Dear Gulmira:

I write to you as July 14^th comes to an end.  On that day eight years ago, as you know all too well, Chinese government officials arrested you.  While this open letter may never reach you, I want you to know that as a Commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, I am ardently advocating on your behalf.  Whenever I look at the face of my daughter, who is only a few months older than you, I think of the injustice of your imprisonment and feel my resolve grow even stronger to help see that you are released.

You are in prison unjustly, serving a life sentence on false charges of “splittism,” leaking state secrets, and organizing an illegal demonstration.  Your only “crime” is being a young leader of the Uighur Muslim community who, along with other members of your community, peacefully protested the deaths of Uighur migrant workers in Guangdong Province. Your family was not even notified of your arrest.  They feared that you had been killed until they saw you in prison garb in a TV documentary about the demonstrations.

I am deeply concerned about the Chinese government’s increasing restrictions on members of the Uighur Muslim community.  These restrictions reflect a tragically wrong and flawed policy. Instead of respecting Uighur Muslims’ freedom of religion or belief, the government unacceptably represses your community, targeting many under the rubric of countering what it alleges to be religious and other violent extremism.  Instead of welcoming you into a pluralistic fabric of Chinese community life, the government marginalizes, persecutes, and represses you and other Uighur Muslims.

As I advocate for your freedom, I think of my own family and community and the agony I would feel if I were separated from them.  Gulmira, I hope you stay strong.  I am committed to working on your behalf so that you can be reunited with your family and community. I look forward to the day when you are free.

With deepest respect,

Sandra Jolley

Sandra Jolley is the Vice Chair at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission, the first of its kind in the world. USCIRF reviews the facts and circumstances of religious freedom violations abroad and makes policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the Congressional leadership of both political parties. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or John D. Lawrence, Director of Communications ([email protected]/+1-202-786-0611).

USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project highlights the plight of individuals who have been imprisoned for their religious beliefs, practices or identity.

Click here to watch Vice Chair Jolley’s statement in support of Gulmira Imin.

Click here to see coverage from The Economist on USCIRF's press release. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 5, 2017

CHINA: USCIRF Condemns Ramadan Restrictions in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region

“The Chinese government has taken unprecedented steps to trample on the religious freedom of Uighur Muslims”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Muslims around the world recently marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan.  The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) strongly condemns the Chinese government’s restrictions on Uighur Muslims’ religious practice during Ramadan in the autonomous region of Xinjiang.

“The Chinese government has taken unprecedented steps to trample on the religious freedom of Uighur Muslims particularly during Ramadan,” said USCIRF Chairman Daniel Mark. “Chinese Communist Party officials were assigned to live in the homes of Uighur families in Xinjiang to prevent them from fasting and praying. This new level of control is yet another example of the Chinese government’s unacceptable repression of Uighur Muslims.  We call on Beijing to abide by its international human rights commitments and cease its harassment of religious communities.”

The Chinese government continues to suppress Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, often under the guise of countering what it alleges to be religious and other violent extremism. Other recent alarming developments include: new regulations prohibiting face-covering veils and beards; a ban on “extreme” Islamic baby names; and the confiscation of Uighur Muslims’ passports and Qur’ans.

Uighur Muslims also continue to receive unfair trails and are harshly treated in prison. USCIRF Vice Chair, Sandra Jolley, is advocating on behalf of Uighur Muslim Gulmira Imin, as part of USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project. Ms. Imin, a website administrator and Uighur advocate, was sentenced in May 2010 to life imprisonment on charges of splittism (undermining the unity of the state), organizing an illegal demonstration, and leaking state secrets.

“Eight years ago today, July 5, 2009, Uighurs gathered in Urumqi to peacefully protest the Chinese government’s treatment of their people.  The protests were met with police violence and a number of arrests and deaths occurred.  Gulmira Imin was arrested in connection with these riots and her harsh sentence is yet another example of the government’s persistent targeting of Uighur Muslims,” said Vice Chair Jolley. “The Chinese government should immediately release Gulmira Imin, prominent Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti, and all other prisoners of conscience.”

Click here to see Vice Chair Jolley’s statement in support of Gulmira Imin.

USCIRF again recommended in 2017 that China be designated as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, for systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. The State Department has designated China as a CPC since 1999, most recently in 2016. For more information, please see USCIRF’s China chapter in the 2017 Annual Report (in English and Chinese).

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission, the first of its kind in the world. USCIRF reviews the facts and circumstances of religious freedom violations abroad and makes policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the Congressional leadership of both political parties. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or John D. Lawrence, Director of Communications ([email protected]/+1-202-786-0611).