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November 30, 2015 | M. Zuhdi Jasser and Katrina Lantos Swett

The following op-ed appeared in The Christian Science Monitor on November 30, 2015

Pope Francis arrived yesterday in the troubled nation of Central African Republic, the last part of his three-nation African tour.  While CAR has had bouts of political instability, the past two years have witnessed horrors that have plagued other nations  – explosive Muslim/Christian violence, along with targeted killing of people because of their faith and destruction of houses of worship.  Since late September, new fighting has led to nearly 100 deaths and 40,000 people being forced to flee their homes.

By his very presence, the Pope spotlighted the need for reconciliation between Christians and Muslims, which he expressed while visiting a Muslim area, as well as stronger protection for religious freedom and increased engagement by the international community.  This formula is critical not only to CAR’s future but to that of other countries facing similar challenges. 

CAR’s recent tribulations began with an all-too-familiar rebellion against the government in December 2012 leading to President François Bozizé’s ouster in March 2013.   What followed were forced disappearances, illegal detentions, torture, and political opponents being murdered.   But in one way, this rebellion was different: It was led by Michel Djotodia, the commander of the Séléka, a coalition of mostly Muslim rebels in a country that was 85 percent Christian.   It shocked many Central Africans who mistakenly viewed every Séléka depredation as Muslims deliberately targeting Christians.

In June 2013, Bozizé began plotting a return to power, recruiting local militias known as the anti-Balaka.  Bozizé manipulated Christian anger about Séléka abuses, including attacks on churches and Christian communities which spared mosques and Muslims, and depicted his forces as avenging Séléka assaults against non-Muslims.  Fighting escalated in December 2013, when the anti-Balaka began pummeling Muslim neighborhoods, homes, and businesses in Bangui, CAR’s capital city.  The ensuing tit-for-tat violence included targeted killings based on religious identity.    

Regional and international pressure forced out President Djotodia in January 2014 and parliament elected Bangui’s mayor, Catherine Samba Panza, as interim president two weeks later.  Violence continued through midyear, especially against Muslims.  The country’s de facto partition between the Séléka and the anti-Balaka and the signing of the Brazzaville peace accords in July produced a hollow, fragile pause in the bloodshed.   

But by that time, the damage had been done:  CAR was devastated and fractured along religious lines as never before.

Last year, the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC) began investigating reports of genocide in CAR.  In December, the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the Central African Republic issued its report which detailed atrocities on both sides.  

The report found a “pattern” in anti-Balaka atrocities of ethnic and religious cleansing against CAR’s Muslim minority.    Militia members told Muslims to leave the country or die, and hundreds were killed, including those fleeing in evacuation convoys.  Even before the fighting began, Muslims were only 15 percent of the population.  Since the anti-Balaka assaults, 99 percent of Bangui’s Muslims and 80 percent of CAR’s Muslim population have fled and 417 of the country’s 436 mosques have been destroyed.

While the COI found no evidence of ethnic or religious cleansing of Christians, it confirmed that Séléka fighters periodically targeted priests, pastors, and nuns, and church buildings and other institutions and raped and killed Christians while shielding Muslims.  

The Pope’s visit shines further light on the Séléka and anti-Balaka violence and human rights abuses and underscores the need for a response.  CAR’s leaders must ensure a future for Muslims by stressing that they are equal citizens.   They must help rebuild destroyed mosques and make sure that CAR’s national reconciliation forum recommendations are implemented.   The international community must continue aiding refugees and displaced persons.

The United States, for its part, should continue sanctioning Central Africans responsible for the violence and support the formation of a Special Criminal Court.  The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), on which we serve, urges the State Department to designate CAR a “country of particular concern,” marking it among the world’s worst religious freedom violators.  In all future engagements with CAR authorities, UN officials, and neighboring countries, the United States should include issues related to ending the bloodshed, supporting rule-of-law reforms and professionalizing CAR’s judiciary, reducing interfaith tensions, protecting religious freedom, and securing religious minority rights.  

CAR has endured a trauma that must not be replicated elsewhere.   For CAR’s sake and its own, the world must help bring aid to the innocent, justice to the guilty, and religious freedom, interfaith harmony, and reconciliation to that stricken land.

M. Zuhdi Jasser is a Vice Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).  Katrina Lantos Swett is a USCIRF Commissioner.

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 30, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) condemns in the strongest possible terms the heinous attack on an Ahmadi Muslim factory and mosque on November 21 and 22 in the Jehlum district located in the Punjab province.

“USCIRF strongly condemns this attack against the Ahmadi Muslim community and is saddened by reports that people are fleeing their homes in fear for their lives,” said USCIRF Chairman Robert P. George. “While the Pakistani government reportedly has dispatched the army to restore peace and detained more than 40 suspects, the government needs to do much more to stem the climate of impunity that pervades Pakistan. To these ends and as a first step, the government should provide protection to the Ahmadi community and denounce language clerics use that incites hatred and violence.”  

The attacks on the factory and mosque reportedly occurred when an Ahmadi factory worker was accused of desecrating the Qur’an, an act that under Pakistani law is considered blasphemous and punishable by death. A mob of several hundred people reportedly destroyed the factory by setting it ablaze. Additional reports indicate that inflammatory speech by religious clerics incited the additional violence that lead to the mosque attack.

USCIRF has long documented systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief in Pakistan. Since 1974, Ahmadis have faced severe legal restrictions which are codified in both the country’s constitution and its criminal code and under which, for example, Ahmadis cannot refer to themselves as Muslims and can face criminal charges for professing, propagating, or practicing their faith. Additionally, the country’s blasphemy laws continue to be problematic for Ahmadis and others. These laws, which are contrary to international standards of the freedom of religion or belief, seek to punish individuals who allegedly defile a place of worship or the Qur’an, or insult religious beliefs or the Prophet Muhammad. At least 38 people in Pakistan have been convicted and sentenced to life in prison or death for blasphemy, the largest number of any country in the world.

“This latest attack against the Ahmadi community is yet another example in a long list that underscore the fact that Pakistan represents one of the worst situations in the world for religious freedom for countries not currently designated by the U.S. government as “countries of particular concern” (CPC). The United States government should designate Pakistan a CPC and vigorously urge the Pakistani government, among other measures, to repeal their anti-Ahmadi and blasphemy laws,” said Chairman George.

Since 2002, the Commission has recommended Pakistan be named a "Country of Particular Concern" by the State Department under the U.S. International Religious Freedom Act. For additional recommendations and analysis please see USCIRF’s 2015 Pakistan report here.

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

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November 24, 2015

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) calls on the Turkish government to reopen the Greek Orthodox Theological School of Halki, which was closed 44 years ago this month when the government nationalized all private institutions of higher learning.

“Without the seminary, the Greek Orthodox community cannot educate in Turkey the next generation of clergy to lead their congregants in worship, observance, and practice,” said USCIRF Chairman Robert P. George. “The failure to reopen the Halki seminary is a stark example of the Turkish government’s failure to uphold its international obligations to protect and promote the freedom of religion or belief.”

The Turkish constitution, adopted in 1982, is based on the French model of laïcité (secularism). The constitution states that “there shall be no interference whatsoever by sacred religious feelings in state affairs and politics.”  Consequently, religious communities – neither the Sunni Muslim majority nor minority communities – have full legal status, and all communities are subject to state control. Furthermore, under Turkish secularism, religious communities have limited rights to own and maintain places of worship or other properties, train and appoint religious clergy, and offer religious education.

In recent years, the Turkish government has taken some steps that have improved religious freedom conditions for religious communities. These reforms include: returning minority properties that were expropriated over decades, lifting the ban on Islamic headscarves in public and educational institutions, and revising public school religious textbooks. Turkey also is providing safe haven to more than two million Syrian refugees, many of whom are fleeing religious persecution and sectarian violence. However, the government over the past two years also has dramatically curtailed other human rights, including the freedoms of the press, expression, and assembly, with troubling implications for the freedom of religion or belief in the country.

“Turkey has demonstrated by its response to the Syrian refugee crisis that it can be a world leader in protecting the victims of religious oppression and sectarian violence. President Erdoğan, Prime Minister Davutoğlu, and the newly elected Parliament should demonstrate that same leadership at home by prioritizing freedom of religion or belief and all other internationally protected human rights,” said Chairman George. “Unconditionally reopening Halki seminary without delay would be one step in the right direction.”

In its 2015 Annual Report, USCIRF placed Turkey in its Tier 2 category because of its restrictions on freedom of religion or belief.  For additional information and recommendations, click here to read USCIRF’s 2015 Annual Report chapter on Turkey.

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