USCIRF Welcomes Import Ban against Xinjiang Firms

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today welcomed the decision by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to issue five new Withhold Release Orders (WRO) due to concerns about forced labor and religious freedom violations in the region aimed towards Uyghur and other Muslims.

“This is an important step to keep goods that are produced using forced labor out of American markets,” USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel stated. “Thanks to U.S. leadership, Chinese companies now know that they cannot profit off the slavery of Uyghur Muslims.”

The WROs include all products made with labor from the Lop County No. 4 Vocational Skills Education and Training Center; hair products made in the Lop County Hair Product Industrial Park; apparel produced by Yili Zhuowan Garment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and Baoding LYSZD Trade and Business Co., Ltd; cotton produced and processed by Xinjiang Junggar Cotton and Linen Co., Ltd.; and computer parts made by Hefei Bitland Information Technology Co., Ltd. in Anhui, China. In Fiscal Year 2020, CBP has issued 8 WROs on products from China.

According to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and other reports, dozens of American and international companies are suspected of directly employing or sourcing from suppliers that use forced labor involving thousands of Uyghur and other Muslims. In July 2020, the U.S. government issued a business advisory on the risks of supply chains that rely on the forced labor in Xinjiang and elsewhere in China. The Department of Commerce also added 11 Chinese companies implicated in forced labor to the Entity List.

In March 2020, a bipartisan coalition of Members of Congress introduced the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (H.R.6210/S.3471​), which would bar the importation of any goods made in Xinjiang.

“If the cost of doing business in Xinjiang is compromising our values, that is too steep a price,” noted USCIRF Commissioner Gary Bauer. “USCIRF urges Congress to pass the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act swiftly to extend the administration’s policy to other products originating from Xinjiang.”

In its 2020 Annual Report, USCIRF 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 against Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, Christians, and Falun Gong practitioners.

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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].

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

Why human rights sanctions could work with Iran

By Dwight Bashir, Special to CNN World

Editor's note: Dwight Bashir is Deputy Director of Policy and Research at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. You can follow him @DwightBashir. The views expressed are his own.

This coming week, two seemingly unrelated events concerning Iran are taking place. First, the U.N. expert on human rights in Iran is presenting his latest report in Geneva at the 25th session of the UN Human Rights Council, and will conclude that conditions have not improved since President Hassan Rouhani took office last August. Second, in Vienna, global powers (P5+1) begin the next round of talks with Iran seeking a comprehensive, long-term deal over Tehran's nuclear program.

On the face of it, Iran's human rights record and its nuclear capabilities have little or no connection. But a deeper look suggests that they in fact do – and the implications are profound.

More about Why human rights sanctions could work with Iran

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Rouhani Should Give Priority
To Religious Freedom in Iran

By: Dwight Bashir for Al-Monitor -Posted on September 17

Next week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will take the world stage for the first time as he addresses the UN General Assembly in New York. No one expects him to follow along the lines of his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who used the platform to spew vitriol for eight years. In fact, it's likely that Rouhani will speak in conciliatory tones.

During his election campaign, Rouhani said he wanted a swift resolution with the West on Iran's nuclear ambitions and already he has made some tactical overtures to the West. But at home, when it comes to Iran's harsh treatment of its own people, Rouhani has yet to clarify how he plans to deliver on another campaign promise to make the government more respectful of its people's rights. In deciding how to decipher his plans on nuclear matters, the world would do well to watch how Rouhani deals with his own people.

During the campaign, Rouhani pledged to issue a "civil rights charter,” which would call for equality without discrimination based on race, religion, or sex as well as provide greater freedom for opposition parties and minorities - in part by releasing political and other prisoners.

Last month, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran published a report offering Rouhani a road map for turning these pledges into reality. The recommendations focus on executive branch actions under his purview. However, some question Rouhani"s ability to make good on improvements because of limits imposed on him by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has ultimate veto power on key domestic issues.

How Iran"s largest religious minority communities are faring is arguably the best gauge of Iran's treatment of its citizens. Why? Iran's Baha'is, Christian converts and Sufis have no political aspirations, pose no violent threat and ask only to practice their beliefs freely and be accorded the same rights as other Iranian citizens.

Since Rouhani"s election in June, religious minorities have continued to face repression. There has been a renewed crackdown on Protestant Christians resulting in numerous arrests; Sufi activists were convicted in an unfair trial for peaceful religious expression; and, for the first time in 15 years, a Baha'i, Ataollah Rezvani , was shot to death because of his faith. In the months leading up to Rezvani"s murder, intelligence officials had been harassing and threatening him and a month after his killing, no official investigation is underway.

Just days before Rouhani assumed power, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei released a series of fatwas, one of which stated that Baha'is were "deviant and misguided” and should be shunned. While the edict was not surprising, the timing of the fatwa was telling and a reminder to the new president that easing up on Baha"is was still a red line not to be crossed.

In addition, Iranian-American pastor Saeed Abedini"s outrageous eight-year prison term for his conversion to the Christian faith was upheld last month as he approaches one year in prison on Sept. 26.

Baha"is, Christians and Sufis in Iran share something in common that drives authorities to persecute them. In contrast to their disdain for 35 years of the cleric"s brutish enforcement of their restrictive interpretation of Shiite Islam, Iranian Muslims are flocking in droves to learn about these other faiths. In fact, the number of underground converts has grown significantly in recent years.

Notwithstanding, some believe Rouhani has shown signs of tolerance. Earlier this month a Twitter message from an account supposedly managed by Rouhani's office wished Jews in Iran and around the world a happy Rosh Hashanah. It was followed by a similar tweet from the verified account of Iran"s foreign minister, Mohammad Javid Zarif. Reacting to these two tweets, noted Iran expert Karim Sadjadpour replied with the most poignant response ,

"Would be great if @HassanRouhani could also extend warm wishes to Iran's Baha'i community, long-persecuted as 'enemies of God.'”

Following eight years of Ahmadinejad's inflammatory anti-Semitic rants, Rouhani's sentiment alone was a welcome and sharp contrast. Unfortunately, because the bar has been set so low for so long, Rouhani should be judged on his deeds rather than his words.

There are concrete, first steps Rouhani could take. He could call for Sufis to be pardoned during Ashura commemorations in November. He could press for the release of pastor Abedini and the remaining Christian prisoners of conscience by Christmas day. And he could ensure that more than 100 Baha"is in prison for their faith are set free by March 20, 2014, which marks both the Iranian and the Baha"i new year.

Western powers should adopt these and other rights-focused benchmarks on the sidelines of initial discussions next week about getting back to the table on Iran"s nuclear pursuits. Put bluntly, governments that limit the freedoms of their own people have shown no historical inclination to act peacefully toward other people. On the other hand, democracies that respect the rights of their people rarely go to war with each other. Prudence alone suggests the wisdom of holding Iran"s feet to the fire on human rights.

Thus, the biggest mistake the United States and its allies could make going forward would be to sidestep Iran"s international human rights obligations in favor of making progress on its international proliferation commitments. These concerns are not mutually exclusive, nor should Iran interpret the allure of a short-run nuclear bargain with the West as a free pass on its long-standing domestic abuses.

While Rouhani certainly will not use his first address at the United Nations to talk about his government's transgressions inside Iran, he should be reminded that the international community is watching and, ultimately, will hold him accountable.

Dwight Bashir is deputy director of policy and research at the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. The views expressed here are his own, and may or may not reflect the views of the commission. On Twitter: @DwightBashir.

To reach USCIRF please send an email to [email protected] or contact the Commission at (202) 786-0613.