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March 26, 2014 | USCIRF

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today urged President Obama during his visit to Saudi Arabia later this week to raise religious freedom concerns and call for the release of prisoners of conscience.

“Religious freedom or belief fits squarely within the announced focus of the President’s Saudi visit: regional and security concerns,” said USCIRF chairman Robert P. George.  The Saudi government’s severe restrictions on religious freedom breed religious extremism and insecurity.  Given President Obama’s statement just last month that religious freedom is key to U.S. foreign policy and national security, the Saudi visit gives the President the opportunity to raise this issue with an ally with whom we share many concerns and challenges.  According to the White House, the agenda also will include ways to counter violent extremism, yet Saudi Arabia’s new terrorism law and subsequent royal decrees outlining details of the law appear to stifle all forms of dissent, including criminalizing atheism and any criticism of Islam. 

“Saudi Arabia remains truly unique in the extent to which it restricts the public expression of any religion other than Islam,” said Chairman George.  “Not a single church or other non-Muslim house of worship exists anywhere in the country.  The government elevates its own interpretation of Sunni Islam over all other interpretations.  It has arrested and detained Shi’a Muslim dissidents and continues to imprison individuals for apostasy, blasphemy, and sorcery.”

In May 2012, the Saudi government detained two Saudis, Sultan Hamid Marzooq al-Enezi and Saud Falih Awad al-Enezi, allegedly for becoming members of the Ahmadi community in Saudi Arabia.  While they could face the death penalty for apostasy, they remain detained without charge.  Their current whereabouts and status are unknown, and they have had no access to legal counsel.  Raif Badawi, the founder and editor of the Free Saudi Liberals website which encourages religious and political debate, was arrested in June 2012 in Jeddah and charged with apostasy and “insulting Islam” through electronic channels, among other charges.  In January 2013, a Saudi court elected not to pursue the apostasy charge, which carries the death penalty.  In July 2013, Badawi was sentenced by the court to 600 lashes and seven years in prison and his website was shut down. 

“I urge the President to press King Abdullah to release Sultan Hamid Marzooq al-Enezi, Saud Falih Awad al-Enezi, and Raif Badawi,” Chairman George said.  “These prisoners of conscience have done nothing more than exercise their internationally-guaranteed rights of freedom of religion and expression.”

The U.S. has designated Saudi Arabia for 10 years as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, for systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom under the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act.  Although it has been designated a CPC since 2004, an indefinite waiver on taking any action in consequence of the CPC designation (which is an option under the International Religious Freedom Act) has been in place since 2006.

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

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February 14, 2014 | USCIRF

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today welcomed the recent announcement by the Departments of Homeland Security and State of two new waivers that would help ameliorate some of the unfair effects of overbroad bars on refugees, including those from Syria, fleeing religious or other persecution.

“The terrorism-related provisions are meant to exclude terrorists. That is the right goal and must be pursued unyieldingly. But we must avoid overbroad language that unintentionally and perversely excludes refugees fleeing terrorist groups and authoritarian regimes, which often includes individuals fleeing religious persecution,” said USCIRF Chairman Robert P. George. “It is particularly unfair when overbroad provisions deny individuals refugee status because they aided opposition groups the United States has supported. The waivers help ensure that the United States is meeting its moral, humanitarian, and legal obligations to vulnerable individuals seeking refuge from persecution, while also vigilantly protecting U.S. security,” continued Chairman George.

On February 5, 2014, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department announced two waivers of U.S. immigration law’s terrorism-related inadmissibility grounds. The exemptions, issued pursuant to authority granted by Congress, apply to individuals who provided only “insignificant” or “limited” support to groups that are not on any U.S. government list of designated terrorist groups. According to the announcement, such support includes routine commercial or social transactions, certain humanitarian assistance, or support provided involuntarily under substantial pressure. To be eligible for an exemption, individuals must disclose the support and show that they had neither the intent to support nor knowledge that the support would further terrorist or violent activities.

Being granted a waiver is only one step in a long process. Individuals must meet all other eligibility requirements, including passing extensive security and background checks, and must not pose a threat to the security of the United States.

USCIRF also commends our fellow citizens and the United States government for providing desperately needed humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees, and we welcome the announcement that the United States will resettle 2,000 of the most vulnerable refugees in our country. Given the depth and gravity of the Syrian refugee crisis, however, USCIRF believes we can and should do more. “While third-country resettlement will not be a solution for the vast majority of Syrian refugees, we urge the U.S. government to increase its resettlement commitment. With more than 2 million Syrian refugees – many of them children -- and the number growing fast, this crisis places an entire generation at risk of hunger, disease, illiteracy, trafficking, and indoctrination into extremist ideologies inconsistent with democracy and universal human rights, including religious freedom,” said Chairman George.

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

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February 5, 2014 | USCIRF

The upcoming Sochi Winter Olympics has thrust Russia into the world spotlight. The Kremlin’s increasing intolerance, however, deserves equal, if not greater, attention. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is concerned about this increase which is fueled by overly broad laws that limit the freedoms of religion and expression and which clearly violate international standards: one of these laws penalizes blasphemy and the other prohibits the “promotion of nontraditional sexual relations among minors.”

“These laws are part of the Putin government’s assault on freedom of religion and expression,” said USCIRF Chairman Robert P. George. “They reflect the growing influence of elements within the Russian Orthodox Church’s Moscow Patriarchate, which is allied with the Kremlin in restraining competing voices in public life, both religious and secular.”

Russia's anti-blasphemy law imposes up to three years in jail and fines of up to 15,000 USD for public actions in places of worship which disrespect or insult religious beliefs, and up to 9,000 USD and a year of imprisonment for similar acts committed elsewhere.

“Besides punishing those who are deemed to have offended the feelings of others, this vaguely worded but sweeping law gives Moscow’s stamp of approval to certain religious beliefs while criminalizing the expression of others,” said George “Opposed by many Russian opinion leaders and even some parliament members, such government-sponsored intolerance clearly violates international standards.”

Russia’s law banning what it deems to be “promotion of nontraditional sexual relations among minors” was signed into law on June 30, 2013, a day before the blasphemy law.

“While the rights of parents and families to direct the upbringing and moral and religious education of their children certainly must be respected,” George said, “a sweeping law of this type restricting the communication of ideas violates the internationally-protected right to free expression, as would a law banning the expression of opposing views on sexual morality. People must be free, to express their convictions peacefully without fear of punishment or discrimination, and everyone’s rights must be protected.

“Free expression deserves protection on all sides of this issue,” said George. “Merely holding or promoting a view about sexual morality, a particular definition of marriage, or the moral status or regulation of sexual conduct should be protected expression under international standards. Except in the narrow circumstances permitted under international human rights law, no government legitimately may ban or limit the peaceful expression of religion or belief. No individual or institution, religious or secular, should suffer state-sanctioned discrimination or civic disabilities for holding or peacefully expressing their beliefs,” George concluded.

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