FOR YOUR INFORMATION

April 14, 2014 | By Katrina Lantos Swett and M. Zuhdi Jasser

The following op-ed appeared in the Global Post on April 10, 2014.

WASHINGTON — Last week's Formula 1 automotive racing event spotlighted the host country of Bahrain, which remains home to the region’s largest United States naval base. As a recent fact-finding visit revealed, the Kingdom continues to be a stark study in contrasts facing its share of challenges and fateful decisions ahead.

In one respect, Bahrain has served as a regional model for modernization, including the tolerant treatment of non-Muslim religious minorities, from Christians and Hindus to Jews and Baha’is.

But on the other hand, the minority Sunni government has inadequately addressed the legitimate grievances of its peaceful Shi’a majority, including religious freedom violations perpetrated against its members.

The recent shocking bomb attack by extremists outside the capital city of Manama, which killed three police officers, underscores the increasingly uncertain environment faced by Bahrain’s people and government. This should be a concern to the United States on the security front as well as for human rights reasons.

Three years ago in February, predominantly Shi’a protestors demanding reform and an end to anti-Shi’a discrimination were met by a heavy-handed response resulting in dozens of deaths and the destruction of Shi’a mosques and other structures.

While Bahrain since has taken steps toward progress, it must act with greater urgency and purposefulness to end religious discrimination and embrace lasting reform. Otherwise, events could well overtake Bahrain, undoing its achievements, unraveling its society, and emboldening the forces of instability and strife, not only in Bahrain, but also elsewhere in the region. If Bahrain acts wisely and expeditiously, it likely will not only avert deeper trouble, but usher in a brighter and more secure future.

During our January visit as representatives of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, we heard an expressed commitment to making demonstrable progress, particularly on the rebuilding of the Shi’a mosques and other structures. Bahrain has allocated $8 million for rebuilding, a two-fold increase from its initial pledge.

Moreover, the government has set an end-of-2014 deadline, as opposed to its original deadline of 2018, to complete construction of the 30 structures that were destroyed during the 2011 disturbances.

Nevertheless, while the government told us it had completed construction of 10 of these Shi’a structures, it acknowledged that the Shi’a community had actually paid for and built six of them.

Officials said they arranged to secure legal permits for each of them, and several stated they were open to reimbursing the community. Reimbursement would be an appropriate follow-through on the government’s commitment, but would also be a welcome gesture of sincerity and good will.

A serious concern is that the government still is not holding the guilty accountable for the 2011 abuses that included targeting, imprisoning, torturing, and killing protestors. Only a few lower-level police officers have been prosecuted and convicted. There is little transparency about these cases, raising questions as to whether the convicted officers actually are serving jail time. It appears that no high-level officials have been held accountable.

Shi’a Muslims are still being arrested and detained arbitrarily, while incendiary sectarian rhetoric in the media continues against them. Discrimination persists, including in the Bahraini military and police, where no Shi’a serve at senior levels. Shi’a human rights defenders like Nabeel Rajab remain in jail.

One encouraging sign is that the Crown Prince has met with Shi’a and other opposition leaders. The Crown Prince’s involvement is a hopeful step forward and could pave the way for genuine progress toward reform. Such high-level engagement is essential.

In the end, both Bahrain’s successes and challenges highlight the crucial fact — seen across the globe — that religious freedom and tolerance promote stability and strength while discrimination and repression risk destabilization and strife.

Today, Bahrain stands at the crossroads between those two paths. It is time for Bahrain to follow the path toward reconciliation and inclusion by bringing Shi’a and Sunni together and by making the necessary reforms to end discrimination and build on its foundation of tolerance by fully respecting religious freedom.

Katrina Lantos Swett and M. Zuhdi Jasser serve as vice chairs for the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent, bipartisan federal commission, the first of its kind in the world, dedicated to defending the universal right to freedom of religion or belief abroad.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at 202-786-0613 or [email protected].

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 11, 2014 | USCIRF

WASHINGTON, DC – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on April 9, 2014 announced his reappointment of USCIRF Commissioner Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett.  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on March 28, 2014 announced his reappointment of USCIRF Commissioners Mary Ann Glendon and Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser to the USCIRF.

“USCIRF is very pleased with the reappointments of Dr. Lantos Swett, Professor Glendon and Dr. Jasser,” said USCIRF Chairman Dr. Robert P. George.  “They have provided the Commission with invaluable insight and knowledge throughout their time as Commissioners.  Their contributions have been and will continue to be essential toward helping USCIRF fulfill its mandate of highlighting serious threats to religious liberty throughout the world and making policy recommendations to the President, Secretary of State, and Congress on behalf of the cherished right of freedom of religion or belief and its fuller integration into U.S. foreign policy and national security.”

Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett established the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice in 2008 and serves as its President and Chief Executive Officer.  This human rights organization is proudly carrying on the unique legacy of the late Congressman Tom Lantos who, as the only survivor of the Holocaust ever elected to Congress, was one of our nation’s most eloquent and forceful leaders on behalf of human rights and justice.  In addition to managing the Lantos Foundation, Dr. Lantos Swett teaches human rights and American foreign policy at Tufts University.  Her varied professional experiences include working on Capitol Hill as Deputy Counsel to the Criminal Justice Sub-Committee of the Senate Judiciary Committee for then Senator Joe Biden and as a consultant to businesses, charitable foundations and political campaigns.  Dr. Lantos Swett is finishing her first two-year term and currently serves as vice-chair.

Mary Ann Glendon is the Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard University and former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See.  She writes and teaches in the fields of human rights, comparative law, constitutional law, and political theory. Glendon is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1991, the International Academy of Comparative Law, and a past president of the UNESCO-sponsored International Association of Legal Science.  She served two terms as a member of the U.S. President's Council on Bioethics (2001-2004), and has represented the Holy See at various conferences including the 1995 U.N. Women's conference in Beijing where she headed the Vatican delegation. Glendon has contributed to legal and social thought in several articles and books, and has lectured widely in this country and in Europe.  Professor Glendon is finishing her first two-year term with the Commission.

M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D. is the President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) based in Phoenix, Arizona.  A first generation American Muslim, Dr. Jasser’s parents fled the oppressive Baath regime of Syria in the mid-1960’s for American freedom.  A devout Muslim, he and his family have strong ties to the American Muslim community having helped lead mosques in Wisconsin, Arkansas, Virginia and Arizona.  He is a former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander with 11 years of service.  In the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the United States, Dr. Jasser and a group of American Muslims founded AIFD.  AIFD promotes diverse Muslim voices as advocates for liberty through the separation of mosque and state, in order to counter what it regards as the root cause of Islamist terrorism--the ideology of political Islam (Islamism) and the supremacy of the Islamic state.  An internationally recognized expert on Islamism, Dr. Jasser is widely published on domestic and foreign issues related to Islam, Islamism, national security, and modernity.  He has spoken at hundreds of national and international events including multiple testimonies before the U.S. Congress.  He is author of the book “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save his Faith” (Threshold Editions).  Dr. Jasser is finishing his first two-year term, and currently serves as vice-chairman.

Comprised of nine commissioners, USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan federal body that is principally responsible for reviewing the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and making policy recommendations to the President, Secretary of State, and Congress. USCIRF offers policy recommendations to improve conditions at the critical juncture of foreign policy, national security, and international religious freedom standards. The President and leadership of both political parties in the Senate and House of Representatives appoint USCIRF Commissioners.  

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact USCIRF at [email protected] or 202-786-0613.

The following op-ed appeared in USA Today on April 1, 2014

Overzealous security precautions keep America from living up to its ideals.

Last month, as Syria's civil war entered its fourth year, bloodshed continued without pause and the number of refugees continued to swell. Those are among the reasons that the Obama administration took an important step to sustain a U.S. tradition of protecting refugees, including Syrians fleeing their country. But the administration can do more.

The United States has long provided haven and resettlement to those escaping tyranny. And though resettlement will clearly not be the solution for the vast majority of the world's 15 million refugees, it can be a critical and life-saving option for the most vulnerable.

For decades, Republican and Democratic administrations have provided this lifeline while taking precautions to keep out individuals who wish to do us harm. But we've failed in maintaining the right balance, unjustly barring people who are not terrorists and who pose no threat to the USA. Because they have been wrongly labeled by provisions of our immigration law, these victims face uncertain and fearful futures.

Dubious definition

Our immigration law defines terrorism broadly to include any collection of individuals that uses armed force against any government, even a murderous tyranny opposed by the United States. It does not recognize that in a civil war, it is often impossible for civilians to avoid some contact with such people.

For instance, the law bars entry to an individual fleeing Syria if she had sold food or provided shelter to U.S.-backed Syrian rebels.

The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department recognized this problem and acted to address it. On Feb. 5, they announced two waiver provisions for applicants otherwise eligible for protection who provided "insignificant" or "limited" support to groups that, while still considered terrorist organizations under immigration law, are not officially designated terrorist groups.

To be eligible, individuals must disclose the support and show that they neither intended to support nor knew that their support would further terrorist or violent acts.

Some members of Congress have accused the administration of putting national security at risk, arguing that even this minimal accommodation puts American lives in danger. But they have this backward. The Obama administration hasn't gone too far; it hasn't gone far enough.

The fine details of the rules still falsely label refugees as a threat. For example, the rules block refugees who have provided non-lethal support to the very groups our government backs if that support was not trivial. But why should we punish Syrians for following our lead?

Expand the waiver

There are other categories of refugees who still fall afoul of current law, such as former combatants who never acted against U.S. interests and have laid down their arms, and individuals who provided "insignificant" support for groups that the U.S. has designated as terrorist groups. The administration should consider expanding its waiver to include these groups.

To be sure, while a waiver gives an applicant a chance, it does not give anyone a free ride to refugee status. Case-by-case review is part of granting any waiver.

Individuals must still meet all other eligibility requirements, including passing extensive security and background checks, and must not pose a threat to national security. The goal is to make certain that no dangerous individual — whether from al-Qaeda or any other group in Syria or elsewhere seeking to harm America for any reason — gains U.S. resettlement.

We are not suggesting that the United States admit waves of new refugees. While there are more than 2 million Syrians outside their homeland, the U.S. resettlement program for Syrians is focused only on several thousand of the most vulnerable.

What granting the waiver — and considering its expansion — achieves is the restoration of a measure of justice and common sense to the process while doing no injury to the nation's security needs. By protecting those fleeing terrorists and persecution, it provides a ringing affirmation of our heritage and history as a compassionate, welcoming country.

That is something all Americans should support.

Elliott Abrams, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, was a deputy national security adviser in the George W. Bush administration. Eric P. Schwartz, dean of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, was assistant secretary of State for population, refugees and migration in the Obama administration. They are members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or 202-786-9812.