Jul 22
Jul 22nd 10:00am
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing
Technological Surveillance of Religion in China
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Virtual Hearing
Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a virtual hearing about the Chinese government’s use of surveillance and data analytic technology to oppress religious groups and how the United States government should respond.
During the past two decades, the Chinese government has created an Orwellian surveillance state with an unprecedented ability to gather private information about its citizens. The government has installed hundreds of millions of surveillance cameras across the country, using facial and voice recognition systems to distinguish and track Uyghurs and Tibetans. In addition, authorities have systematically installed cameras in churches to identify and target anyone who attends services. Meanwhile, Chinese censors monitor WeChat and other social media apps for “unauthorized” religious content, while hackers target the phones of religious freedom advocates. China’s exportation of its surveillance technology and repressive model holds dire implications for religious freedom around the world.
As a consequence, in October 2019 and again in May 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce restricted certain Chinese companies from obtaining advanced U.S. technology and recently warned American businesses about the legal and ethical risks of developing surveillance tools in Xinjiang. While some U.S. companies have begun to reassess the compromises required to conduct business in China, the U.S. government and American businesses can and must do more to protect religious freedom for all.
Witnesses will provide analysis on U.S. export regulations, international human rights standards for tech companies, how China continues to use data analysis to target people of faith, and policy recommendations about how the U.S. government can help the tech sector protect religious freedom.
Opening Remarks
- Gayle Manchin, Chair, USCIRF
Written Remarks - Tony Perkins, Vice Chair, USCIRF
Written Remarks - Anurima Bhargava, Vice Chair, USCIRF
Written Remarks
Panel I
- Cordell Hull, Acting Under Secretary of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce
Written Testimony
Panel II
- Amy Lehr, Director, Human Rights Initiative, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Written Testimony - Chris Meserole, Deputy Director, Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Initiative, Brookings Institution
Written Testimony - Sheena Greitens, Associate Professor, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin
Written Testimony - Lobsang Gyatso Sither, Digital Security Programs Director, Tibet Action Institute
Written Testimony
This hearing is open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the public, and the media. Members of the media should email [email protected] for any questions or to schedule an interview. The video recording of the hearing will be posted on the Commission website. For any additional questions, please contact Jamie Staley at [email protected] or 202-279-0274.
Gayle Manchin, Chair · Tony Perkins, Vice Chair · Anurima Bhargava, Vice Chair
Gary Bauer · James W. Carr · Frederick A. Davie
Nadine Maenza · Johnnie Moore · Nury Turkel
Erin D. Singshinsuk, Executive Director
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.
Jun 10
Jun 10th 10:30am
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing
Safeguarding Religious Freedom in Northeast Syria
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM ET
Virtual Hearing
Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a virtual hearing about the opportunities and challenges related to religious freedom for those living in Northeast Syria.
Northeast Syria has been a region with devastating conflict over the past decade. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) violently targeted religious and ethnic minorities between 2014 and 2019 from all walks of life. At the same time, the Assad regime has maintained its violent campaign since 2011 to repress all forms of both armed and peaceful opposition, with disregard for the massive human suffering it has caused. As coalition forces joined local efforts to defeat ISIS and a measure of security slowly returned to the northeast, constituents from the area launched an initiative to introduce local governance, autonomy from the Assad regime, diverse representation, and individual freedoms. That initiative evolved into what is now known as the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
In October 2019, the U.S. government announced a significant drawdown of its military presence in northeast Syria and signaled tacit approval for Turkey to cross the border. That incursion and subsequent establishment of an occupation zone atop AANES-governed territory has been catastrophic for local communities. It has led to the displacement of around 100,000 civilians and the persistent shelling of towns and villages, including some that are traditionally home to Muslim Kurds and Arabs as well as Christian and Yazidi populations.
Witnesses will give analysis about religious freedom conditions in the AANES, Turkey’s ongoing actions in the region, the threat of ISIS, and the impact of U.S. policy.
Opening Remarks
- Tony Perkins, Chair, USCIRF
Written Remarks - Gayle Manchin, Vice Chair, USCIRF
Written Remarks - Nadine Maenza, Vice Chair, USCIRF
Written Remarks
Panel
- Amy Austin Holmes, Fellow, Woodrow Wilson Center, and Visiting Scholar at Harvard University
Written Testimony - Sara Kayyali, Syria Researcher, Middle East and North Africa Division, Human Rights Watch
Written Testimony - Hassan Hassan, Program Director, Non-State Actors and Geopolitics, Center for Global Policy
Written Testimony - Michael Rubin, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
Written Testimony
Submitted for the Record
This hearing is open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the public, and the media. Members of the media should register online and can email [email protected] for any questions. The video recording of the hearing will be posted on the Commission website. For any additional questions, please contact Jamie Staley at [email protected] or 202-279-0274.
Tony Perkins, Chair · Gayle Manchin, Vice Chair · Nadine Maenza, Vice Chair
Gary Bauer · Anurima Bhargava · James Carr
Johnnie Moore · Nury Turkel
Erin D. Singshinsuk, Executive Director
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.
Mar 04
Mar 4th 2:30pm
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing
Citizenship Laws and Religious Freedom
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
2:30 – 4:00 PM
325 Russell Senate Office Building
Hearing Summary
Hearing Transcript
Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a hearing about how citizenship laws are leveraged to deny religious minorities the legal protections of citizenship, making them vulnerable to exploitation, discrimination, and mass atrocities.
The recognition of an individual’s citizenship is the bedrock for all accompanying political and civil rights, “the right to have rights.” In recognition of the importance of citizenship, the 1961 United Nations Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness argues that an individual may not be deprived of one’s nationality on “racial, ethnic, religious, or political grounds” or if this “would render him stateless.”
With widespread protests in recent months in India in response to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and a proposed National Register of Citizens, however, citizenship laws as a tool to target religious minorities is receiving much needed international attention. This phenomenon has a long-standing precedent with such measures as the 1982 Citizenship Law in Burma stripping the Rohingya of their rights as citizens. Without citizenship rights, minority communities are left to face further persecution and violence by both governments and non-state actors. In particular, government efforts to strip religious minorities of their citizenship can be a key predictor of mass atrocities.
Witnesses will discuss how citizenship laws are used to target religious minorities, particularly in Burma and India, and will highlight the importance of the atrocity prevention framework for understanding the potential consequences of these laws.
Opening Remarks
- Tony Perkins, Chair, USCIRF
Written Remarks - Gayle Manchin, Vice Chair, USCIRF
Written Remarks - Anurima Bhargava, Commissioner, USCIRF
Written Remarks
Panel I
- Naomi Kikoler, Director, Simon Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Written Testimony - Dr. Azeem Ibrahim, Director, Displacement and Migration, Center for Global Policy
Written Testimony - Aman Wadud, Human Rights Lawyer, Assam, India
Written Testimony - Dr. Ashutosh Varshney, Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences and Director of the Center for Contemporary Asia, Brown University
Written Testimony
Submitted for the Record
- Elizabeth Seshadri Statement
- Collective of Indian Scholars Statement
- Hindu American Foundation
- Hindus for Human Rights Statement
- Justice for All Statement
- Shiromani Akali Dal Amritsar America Statement
- Sindhi Foundation Statement
- South Asian American Civil and Human Rights Lawyers Statement
- South Asian Organizations' Joint Statement
- South Asian Scholar's Statement
This hearing is open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the public, and the media. Members of the media should RSVP at [email protected]. The hearing will be livestreamed via the Commission website. For any questions please contact Jamie Staley at [email protected] or 202-786-0606.
Tony Perkins, Chair · Gayle Manchin, Vice Chair · Nadine Maenza, Vice Chair
Gary Bauer · James Carr · Anurima Bhargava
Tenzin Dorjee · Sharon Kleinbaum · Johnnie Moore
Erin D. Singshinsuk, Executive Director
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.