FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 9, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) commends the United States and eight other countries for requesting a meeting of the UN Security Council, now scheduled for December 10, to resume talks on human rights in North Korea.  USCIRF encourages the Council to include religious freedom in these discussions.  North Korea’s deplorable record on human rights and religious freedom prompted the Security Council to hold similar discussions one year ago, the first time the Council formally deliberated the country’s myriad human rights violations.  Given no improvements, the Security Council’s attention to these abuses is needed now more than ever.

“North Korea’s human rights violations, including the denial of the fundamental right to freedom of religion or belief, are both undeniable and indefensible.  USCIRF commends U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power for her strong support of calling out such abuses in the UN Security Council.  Raising these issues in the premier UN body responsible for international peace and security sends the North Korean government the necessary and high-level reminder that its human rights abuses are known, egregious, and that the world is watching,” said USCIRF Chairman Robert P. George.

North Korea’s government severely restricts religious freedom and harshly punishes individuals attempting to practice their faith outside of the small number of officially recognized groups.  In fact, the February 2014 report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (COI) found “an almost complete denial of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, as well as of the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, information and association.”

The UN’s Third Committee last month again overwhelmingly approved a resolution urging the Security Council to consider the COI’s recommendations, including North Korea’s referral to the International Criminal Court. The General Assembly is expected similarly to approve the resolution within a few weeks.  As president of the Security Council during December, the United States can draw attention to the COI report and work to generate support from UN Member States for the Security Council to revisit North Korea’s grave human rights abuses.

“The COI report has brought to light what many of us have known all along – that the depredations North Korea inflicts on its own people by denying them their human rights, including religious freedom, makes it one of the world’s most repressive regimes,” said Chairman George.  “In the face of such evil, the North Korean people need the international community’s support.”

USCIRF again recommended in 2015 that North Korea be designated as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act for its particularly severe violations of religious freedom.  The State Department has designated North Korea as a CPC since 2001.  For more information, see the North Korea Chapter (in English and Korean) in USCIRF’s 2015 Annual Report. 

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 7, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today issued the following statement:  

USCIRF calls on the U.S. government to designate the Christian, Yazidi, Shi’a, Turkmen, and Shabak communities of Iraq and Syria as victims of genocide by ISIL.  USCIRF also urges American and other world leaders to condemn the genocidal actions and crimes against humanity of ISIL that have been directed at these groups and other ethnic and religious groups. USCIRF further urges a firm condemnation of the brutal persecution of, and crimes against humanity committed against, Sunni Muslims by the Assad regime in Syria and by ISIL in the case of Sunni Muslims who refuse to embrace their extremist ideology.

USCIRF also encourages continued and robust efforts by the U.S. and international community to bear witness to these crimes and make additional designations of genocide and crimes against humanity, whether those are committed by ISIL, the Assad regime, or others, as appropriate.

USCIRF recommended in its 2015 Annual Report that the U.S. government should support a referral by the UN Security Council to the International Criminal Court to investigate ISIL’s atrocities against religious groups in both Iraq and Syria.  USCIRF also noted in its 2015 Report that the al-Assad regime systemically has targeted and massacred Sunni Muslims, thereby creating the environment in which ISIL could rise and spread, threatening the entire region and all religious communities that reject its violent religious ideology, with the smallest religious minority communities facing an existential threat. 

 “The hallmark of genocide is the intent to destroy a national, racial, ethnic, or religious group, in whole or in part.  ISIL’s intent to destroy religious groups that do not subscribe to its extremist ideology in the areas in Iraq and Syria that it controls, or seeks to control, is evident in, not only its barbarous acts, but also its own propaganda,” said USCIRF Chairman Robert P. George. “The al-Assad regime also must be held to account for its targeting primarily of Sunni Muslims and the crimes against humanity that it is committing.” 

For more information, please see USCIRF’s chapters in the 2015 Annual Report on Iraq and Syria.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact Travis Horne at [email protected] or 202-786-0615.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 1, 2015

USCIRF Calls for Continued Syrian Refugee Resettlement

Rigorous individualized vetting allows the United States to both welcome Syrian refugees and protect security.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today reiterates its support for the United States to continue resettling Syrian refugees.  USCIRF is horrified by the terrorist attacks that took place in Paris on November 13 and in Lebanon one day earlier and denounces in the strongest terms the brutality of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). USCIRF also stands with those who have fled this terror.

“The United States must continue to live up to our nation's core values which are reflected in our leadership in resettling vulnerable refugees,” said USCIRF Chairman Dr. Robert P. George.  “That responsibility starts with a generous policy of admitting those Syrian refugees to the United States who are vulnerable to the most horrific mistreatment – including murder, rape, torture, and enslavement.”

USCIRF understands the dangerous threat ISIL poses to the United States and the urgent need to ensure our nation's security. It is important to underscore that individuals seeking resettlement as refugees are among the most carefully vetted people to enter our country. Before being resettled in the United States, refugees must undergo rigorous interviews and background checks conducted by numerous U.S. government agencies. In the case of Syrian refugees, the U.S. government conducts additional security checks due to the circumstances in that country. 

“This rigorous individualized vetting allows the United States to both welcome Syrian refugees and protect security,” said Chairman George. “USCIRF also calls on the United States to prioritize the resettlement of Syrian refugees based on their vulnerability. Throughout the region, Christians and members of some other religious minority communities have been targeted by ISIL for persecution – and in some cases genocide – because of their faith.  At the same time, we recognize that ISIL has also targeted both Shia and Sunni Muslims who have resisted their violent ideology.  In these instances, religion, as an important factor in determining vulnerability, may legitimately be taken into account in the prioritization process.”

To read USCIRF's chapter on Syria in the 2015 Annual Report, click here.

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