FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 24, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) condemns the violations of religious freedom and human rights taking place in Azerbaijan.   These violations are evident in the arrests, detentions, and harsh sentences given to human rights defenders, members of religious groups, and civil society activists. Such violations are at odds with Azerbaijan’s strong tradition of secularism and religious tolerance. USCIRF Commissioners recently visited Azerbaijan to raise concerns about these detentions and religious freedom conditions.

“The Azerbaijani government continues to hold prominent prisoners of conscience including RFE/RL investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova and Leyla and Arif Yunus. These courageous advocates who support religious freedom and human rights should be honored for their work rather than facing false accusations and detention and, in the case of the Yunuses, being held in pre-trail detention for over a year and denied much-needed medical care.  Sadly, their treatment is only the tip of the iceberg, as more than 100 prisoners of conscience languish in Azerbaijan’s prisons and still others stand accused,” said USCIRF Chairman Robert P. George.

Ismayilova, whose trial just ended in Baku with the prosecution seeking a nine-year sentence, is a well-known atheist who publically has supported Muslims’ right to religious expression and won awards for her coverage of official corruption in Azerbaijan.  She is falsely accused of embezzlement, tax evasion, and abuse of power.  Leyla Yunus is the head of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, and her husband Arif is an expert on Islam. Supporters of religious freedom, they had been falsely accused of tax evasion, illegal business activities and abuse of authority and given prison terms on August 14 of eight and one-half and seven years respectively. Lawyer Rasul Jafarov was sentenced in April 2015 to 6 ½ years in prison on false charges of financial crimes; he had worked with Leyla Yunus to document cases of religious prisoners – both were arrested shortly after publicizing their lists of prisoners.    

In early-July meetings with Azerbaijani officials in Baku, a USCIRF delegation raised concerns about religious freedom in the country, including the detention of the Yunuses.  The delegation also raised the cases of Zakariyya Isakh Mammadov and Shahin Hasanov, two readers of Turkish theologian Said Nurs, whose texts are banned in Azerbaijan, and two female Jehovah’s Witnesses, Valida Jabrayilova and Irina Zakharchenko, who are in pre-trial detention for distributing religious texts which the government had not officially approved. These actions contrast with the government’s support for other religious minorities, including Jews, Catholics, and Russian Orthodox.

“The Azerbaijan government must free these and other prisoners of conscience. The recent release from prison of prominent Shi’a cleric Tale Bagirov – however belatedly – is a step in the right direction, but the government needs to do more to uphold its religious freedom and human rights commitments.  It is vitally important that Azerbaijan’s strong tradition of religious tolerance be reflected in its support for the right of religious freedom and human rights of all its citizens,” said Chairman George.

USCIRF placed Azerbaijan in Tier 2 in the 2015 Annual Report because of its restrictions on freedom of religion or belief.  These restrictions include: almost all Protestant denominations denied legal status; members of unregistered religious groups raided; state permission required to produce, import, export, or distribute religious material; and state-approved religious education required to preach, teach religion, or lead ceremonies.  Muslims, who constitute 96 percent of the population, are subject to further government restrictions.

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 24, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) strongly condemns the passage by Burma’s Union Parliament of the religious conversion bill.  This bill is one measure in a package of “race and religion bills” which a group of nationalist Buddhist monks have advanced.  Each discriminates against and restricts the religious freedom of non-Buddhists, particularly Muslims, and diminishes women’s rights. 

“By word and deed, Burma’s government continues to further entrench and legalize discrimination based on religious beliefs and sex,” said USCIRF Chairman Robert P. George.  “Burma’s leaders once again have disregarded internationally agreed human rights standards.  The government claims that these bills  protect women and religion, but civil society groups in Burma have exposed them for what they are – tools the government uses to continue to violate the freedom of religion and related human rights,” said Chairman George.

Under the religious conversion bill, individuals choosing to adopt another faith confront special bureaucratic hurdles – including requiring applicants to provide extensive and intrusive personal information, to receive “approval,” thereby creating a system that effectively would discourage and reject conversions. 

“This measure is discriminatory, period.  It is gravely wrong for the government to presume to dictate whether an individual can change their religion or belief,” said Chairman George.  “We call on President Thein Sein immediately to reject this ill-conceived measure.”

One of the extremist movements led by a group of nationalist Buddhist monks, the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion – also known as Ma Ba Tha,  created the race and religion bills and has been pushing the government to adopt them ever since.  USCIRF has criticized these efforts.  Burma’s government has failed to implement meaningful protections for religious and ethnic minorities, and instead has adopted politically expedient discriminatory measures, such as the population control law and interfaith marriage law.  

USCIRF again recommended in 2015 that Burma 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 Burma as a CPC since 1999, most recently in July 2014.

For more information, see the Burma Chapter (in English and Burmese) in USCIRF’s 2015 Annual Report.

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

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

August 18, 2015 | Robert P. George and Thomas J. Reese

The following op-ed appeared in The Christian Science Monitor on August 18, 2015

Is Eritrea guilty of crimes against humanity?

The question evidently matters to the UN Human Rights Council, which last month extended for another year the mandate of its Commission of Inquiry (COI) on human rights in the Horn of Africa nation. This extension followed the COI’s release in June of a 500-page report detailing its abuses.

The question should also matter to the rest of the world, given Eritrea’s serious contribution to the global refugee crisis, as seen through the continued flight of 5,000 Eritreans monthly from their homeland, many of whom are heading north to Europe. 

The COI report confirmed what the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), on which we serve, has documented for years:   Eritrea is the North Korea of Africa. It is a totalitarian police state which rules by fear, not law, producing a tragedy for human rights, including religious liberty, which the world must not ignore.

The regime of President Isias Afwerki and the Popular Front for Democracy and Justice have run Eritrea since 1993 after winning a long war for independence from Ethiopia. War with Ethiopia resumed in 1998, and while the conflict ended in 2000, Eritrea’s leaders operate on a permanent war footing.

The government deploys a pervasive domestic surveillance apparatus. Eritreans constantly fear they are being monitored and can be detained.

For a country of fewer than five million people, Eritrea has a vast penal system, and arbitrary detention is widespread.  Moreover, Eritrea’s judicial system lacks any semblance of independence or justice.  Citizens frequently aren’t told why they’re being detained or for how long, and those who are imprisoned often are tortured. Many are held incommunicado and some disappear and are never seen or heard from again.

Civic space for the free and peaceful practice of religion is incredibly restricted, with the government grossly interfering with Eritrea’s four recognized religious communities – the Coptic Orthodox Church, Sunni Islam, Roman Catholicism, and a Lutheran-connected denomination. It has kept Orthodox Patriarch Abune Antonios under house arrest since 2006 for objecting to its meddling in church affairs, and has deposed him from his position as leader of his church.

The regime makes all other religious groups illegal. Imprisoned Jehovah’s Witnesses and evangelical and pentecostal Protestants routinely are tortured and pressed to recant their faith. Jehovah’s Witnesses are denied citizenship due to their conscientious objection to military service.

Both USCIRF and the US State Department concur that Eritrea is one of the world’s worst religious freedom environments, with the State Department designating Eritrea a “country of particular concern” or CPC each year since 2004.

Eritreans also are subjected to indefinite periods of universal conscription when they reach 18 and often at near-starvation levels, amounting to forced labor or slavery; women who serve often report being sexually assaulted.

Hundreds of thousands of Eritreans -- between six and 10 percent of the country’s population -- have fled such tyranny over the past generation. The government has a shoot-to-kill policy against those making the attempt and frequently tortures their family members.

Those who leave are at risk of human traffickers capturing, torturing and killing them. Those who traverse Libya risk falling into Islamist State hands.   Those crossing the Mediterranean risk drowning.

Do any of Eritrea’s depredations amount to crimes against humanity? If the UN makes that determination next year, Eritrea’s regime and its rulers will be referred to the International Criminal Court.

Meanwhile, what can the United States do?

It can continue naming Eritrea a CPC, while taking specific CPC actions based on religious freedom violations. It can maintain its long-standing arms embargo against Eritrea. It can limit Eritrea’s ability to levy and forcibly collect a tax on Eritrean Americans by imposing visas bans on Eritrean officials.It can work with other nations to advocate the release of religious prisoners, including Patriarch Antonios, and support the efforts of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and nongovernmental organizations to aid Eritrean refugees.

Eritrea’s tyranny has unleashed tragedy. The world community must press for a reversal of course toward freedom.

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