Oct 15, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
USCIRF Welcomes the Appointment of Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues
Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomed today the appointment of Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Robert A. Destro to serve concurrently as the U.S. Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues. This position is mandated by the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 but had been vacant since January 20, 2017.
“The U.S. Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues is a crucial position for countering the Chinese Communist Party’s attempt to erase the unique identity of Tibetan Buddhism,” noted USCIRF Commissioner Gary Bauer. “USCIRF welcomes the strong choice of Assistant Secretary Robert A. Destro to fulfill this role, and we look forward to working with him.”
USCIRF has consistently recommended that the Trump administration fill the role of Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues. In its 2020 Annual Report, USCIRF also called upon the administration to use its authority under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and the International Religious Freedom Act to impose targeted sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for severe religious freedom violations, especially Chen Quanguo, the current Communist Party Secretary of Xinjiang and former Secretary of Tibet. USCIRF has also called for the release of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama and one of USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience.
“Chinese authorities are launching a full-scale assault against ethnic communities in their indigenous lands across the country,” Commissioner Nury Turkel added. “The Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues must put the weight and resources of the U.S. government behind efforts to work for the full realization of religious freedom for all Tibetans.”
In February 2020, USCIRF released a factsheet explaining how the Chinese government’s new Regulation for Religious Groups could further restrict religious freedom. This factsheet has been crucial to raising the profile of religious freedom issues in Tibet and mobilizing government resources to address these issues.
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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 threats to 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].
Oct 21
Oct 21st 10:00am
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Oct 21st 11:30am
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing
Combatting Online Hate Speech and Disinformation
Targeting Religious Communities
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
10:00 – 11:30 AM
Virtual Hearing
Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a virtual hearing about how some governments use and enable others to use social media platforms to sow disinformation and hate speech that target religious communities and incite violence against them.
During the past two decades, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms have emerged as invaluable tools for connecting people around the world. However, we have also witnessed the use of social media to spread false and discriminatory information that dehumanizes specific groups of people, including faith communities and religious minorities. Online hate speech and misinformation has been used to target and mobilize violence against the Rohingya in Burma, Jews in Iran, Shi’a Muslims in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and Christians and Muslims in Nigeria, to name only a few.
The U.S. government and the international community must do more to understand how social media technologies are used to mobilize religious freedom violations, and work together to address this phenomenon. Witnesses will give analysis on these topics and present policy recommendations to the U.S. government.
Opening Remarks
- Gayle Manchin, Chair, USCIRF
Written Remarks - Tony Perkins, Vice Chair, USCIRF
Written Remarks - Anurima Bhargava, Vice Chair, USCIRF
Written Remarks
- David Kaye, Clinical Professor of Law, University of California, Irvine; former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression
Written Testimony - Susan Benesch, Executive Director, Dangerous Speech Project
Written Testimony - Shakuntala Banaji, Professor of Media, Culture and Social Change, London School of Economics
Written Testimony - Waris Husain, Adjunct Professor, Howard University; former USCIRF Policy Analyst
Written Testimony
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 threats to religious freedom abroad.
Additional Name(s): Mehmutjan Memet, Maihemuti Maimaiti, مەھمۇت مەمەت
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: China
Ethnic Group: Uyghur
Religion or Belief: Muslim – Unspecified/Other
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Sentence: 16 Years' Imprisonment
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Distributing Religious Materials Ethnoreligious Identity Online Activity
Nature of Charges: Unknown
Mehmut Memet
Extra Bio Info:
Mehmut Memet is detained for his ethnoreligious identity.
In 2017, authorities in Uchturpan (Wushi) county, Aksu prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), detained Memet for reportedly sending “illegal” content over WeChat. He was reportedly sent to a internment camp in Uchturpan. Memet's detention came amid mass detentions of largely Muslim ethnic minorities in XUAR in 2017 and 2018.
On an unspecified date, Memet was reportedly sentenced to 16 years in prison on unspecified charges.
Publicly Available Information:
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Photo attributed to Xinjiang Victims Database
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"Mehmut Memet" Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)
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"Mehmutjan Memet" Xinjiang Victims Database