FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 17, 2015 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Hundreds of people have been killed in Boko Haram terrorist attacks throughout northern Nigeria and in sectarian violence in the Middle Belt during the past two months. The July 20 meeting in Washington D.C. between President Barack Obama and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari offers both nations the opportunity to reinvigorate their commitment to, and develop initiatives that would, help curb both types of violence.  

“We are extremely concerned by Boko Haram’s senseless killing of innocent people, the targeting of worshippers, and the destruction of houses of worship,” said USCIRF Chairman Robert P. George.  “This increase in violence has left more than 300 dead since the beginning of July and is a stark reminder that Boko Haram is a destabilizing force in Nigeria and the region.”

Presidents Buhari and Obama will be discussing ways to tackle Nigeria’s multiple security, corruption, and development challenges. “USCIRF welcomes the Administration’s calls for the Nigerian government to comprehensively address these challenges.  We urge that these discussions focus on improving civilian security from  Boko Haram’s attacks and the long-standing herder-farmer sectarian violence.  Such discussion should urge the Nigerian government to respect human rights during military and police responses and ensure justice for victims.  Addressing the issues of radicalization, northern socio-economic disparities, land conflicts, displacement, and reconciliation also are crucial to helping ensure security and ending the violence,” said George.       

USCIRF has documented an increase in Boko Haram attacks since the start of Ramadan.  Of particular concerns are the attacks on houses of worship, including: three mosques attacked in early July that killed more than 150 people in Borno and Plateau states Eid al-Fitr celebrations bombed on July 16 in Damaturu and Gombe that killed at least 60; 32 churches burned on July 5 in Borno; the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Potiskum bombed, also on July 5, with 5 people killed, including the priest; and the ECWA church in Jos attempted bombing on July 12.  In addition to the Boko Haram attacks, hundreds more have been killed since Buhari’s election this past April in violence by predominately Muslim herders against predominately Christian farmers throughout the Middle Belt.

USCIRF has recommended since 2009 that Nigeria be designated a “country of particular concern” for systemic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations.  A USCIRF delegation’s visit to Abuja and Kaduna from May 9 through May 16 reinforced these concerns which include Boko Haram’s terrorist attacks against Christians and Muslims, recurring sectarian violence, and escalating interfaith tensions.  While the Nigerian federal government does not engage in religious persecution, it fails to implement effective strategies to prevent or stop terrorism or sectarian violence and does not bring to justice those responsible for such violence.  The Nigerian government’s almost exclusively military approach to Boko Haram contributes to ongoing terrorism in the country.  Boko Haram exploits sectarian fissures to manipulate religious tensions and destabilize Nigeria. 

For more information, see the Nigeria Chapter in USCIRF’s 2015 Annual Report.

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

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

July 6, 2015 | Robert P. George and Katrina Lantos Swett

The following op-ed appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on July 5, 2015

Today, July 6, the Dalai Lama of Tibet, a modern-day exemplar of liberty, will turn 80.

It is fitting that in Philadelphia, where our great Declaration was signed, the National Constitution Center will bestow the Liberty Medal in October on this remarkable advocate for human rights, including religious freedom.

While much of the world will be showering the Tibetan Buddhist leader with accolades, one entity will be conspicuously silent: the government of China.

For more than a half century, China and the Dalai Lama have represented two opposite paths for humanity. While China is a serious human-rights violator, the Dalai Lama is the embodiment of a better way.

While China has long been engaged in a systematic effort to stamp out Tibetan culture and religion, one that has intensified with time, the Dalai Lama has taken steps to preserve Tibetan heritage while in exile in India, including building a library to further that aim.

While China has frequently warred against its own people, gunning down pro-democracy protesters in 1989 in Tiananmen Square, the Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize that same year.

While China continues to persecute religious communities, from Christians to Uighur Muslims, Buddhists to Falun Gong, the Dalai Lama champions religious freedom and interfaith respect, and has met with leaders of other faiths across the globe.

It is no surprise, then, that China’s government has sought to silence or diminish him for so long.

A notorious example happened 20 years ago, on May 17, 1995. On that day, Beijing abducted a 6-year-old boy whom the Dalai Lama had designated three days earlier as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama — a key position in Tibetan Buddhism — replacing him with its own hand-picked choice.

Besides being a human-rights atrocity in itself, this action was a brazen attempt by the state to choose the leadership of a religious community. Beijing had no business being involved, let alone dictating the outcome.

Yet Beijing did get involved. And that’s what it continues to do with Tibetans, especially Buddhists.

Since 2008, it has ramped up repression of Buddhists across Tibet, through harassment, imprisonment, and torture — incidents that the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), on which we serve, continues to document.

In March 2014, following his release from prison, Goshul Lobsang died from injuries sustained while incarcerated for his role in protesting local Chinese authorities in 2008. He had been subjected to extreme malnourishment and brutal torture, including regular pain-inducing injections and repeated stabbings.

Meanwhile, the horrors of self-immolation have continued. In recent years, at least 141 Tibetan Buddhists, including monks and nuns, have set themselves ablaze to protest China’s repression.

And in March of this year, Beijing continued its journey through the realm of the ridiculous, with the officially atheist regime accusing the Dalai Lama of blasphemy for suggesting reincarnation might cease with him.

Over the past year, China’s government has persecuted others as well. Officials have bulldozed churches, torn down crosses, and jailed pastors; they have detained and tortured Falun Gong members and inhibited many Uighur Muslims from observing Ramadan and practicing their faith year-round.

How should the United States respond in its dealings with China?

Our State Department can continue to designate China a “country of particular concern,” marking it as among the world’s worst religious freedom abusers.

Congress can keep spotlighting China’s prisoners of conscience through its Defending Freedoms Project — created in partnership with USCIRF, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, and Amnesty International.

At every turn, we can tell China’s leaders by word and deed that respect comes not through wealth or power but by honoring, not bullying, people who heed the call of conscience over the dictates of the state.

That is the Dalai Lama’s message and the creed of our country as well.

Robert P. George is the chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (www.ucirf.gov). [email protected]

Katrina Lantos Swett is a USCIRF commissioner. [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 19, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today commemorates World Refugee Day.  According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), nearly 60 million people are refugees or internally displaced, the highest number the agency has ever recorded.  Many of these people are fleeing religious persecution and intolerance.

“Heartbreaking numbers of people have been forced to flee their homes in a desperate attempt to find safe haven, with many trapped in squalid refugee camps and war zones, or risking their lives at sea,” said USCIRF Chairman Dr. Robert P. George.  “Millions are victims of the twin evils of political tyranny and religious intolerance and persecution which have helped create the massive suffering we see today.”   

In Iraq, nearly three million people have been internally displaced due to ISIL’s offensive, with some minority religious communities facing the threat of extinction.  At least 6.5 million of Syria’s pre-civil war population now is internally displaced, and nearly four million more are refugees in neighboring states.  In Nigeria, more than one million people have fled Boko Haram, and in the Central African Republic, a million or more people have been driven from their homes due to sectarian violence; 80 percent of the country’s Muslims have fled the country.  In Burma, at least 100,000 Kachin Christians and 140,000 Rohingya Muslims remain internally displaced, with many living in squalid camps. One in ten Rohingya reportedly have fled by boat, desperately seeking, and often not finding, safe haven in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia.  A record number of refugees also are attempting the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to apply for asylum in Europe, with large numbers coming from Eritrea, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.”

“The United States and other governments must respond effectively, humanely, and generously to this unprecedented challenge.  While Washington has played a leading role, the U.S. government must do more, including increasing the U.S. annual refugee resettlement ceiling from 70,000 to 100,000 or more, over time, and increasing funding and logistical support to the U.N., humanitarian organizations and refugee host nations and communities.  Such actions would signal to refugees, internally displaced people and our allies that we mean to continue to be part of the solution,” said George.

USCIRF also urges the U.S. government to provide the Department of Homeland Security and other relevant federal agencies the funding and staff to help conduct background checks and process applications in a timely manner.  Furthermore, the U.S. government should work with UNHCR to quickly identify the most vulnerable individuals and families among those who have been displaced and help speed their resettlement.

For more USCIRF recommendations, see USCIRF’s 2015 Annual Report.

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