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February 2, 2015 | USCIRF

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Reports of pre-election violence, combined with rising societal and political tensions, increase the likelihood of religiously-motivated violence around Nigeria’s February 14 presidential elections, warns the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). 

“We welcome Secretary of State John Kerry’s timely trip to Nigeria in January.  His warning to presidential candidates Goodluck Jonathan and Mohammadu Buhari that the United States will withhold visas to persons who engage in, plan, and/or perpetrate electoral violence sends a strong message in support of peaceful elections,” said USCIRF Chair Dr. Katina Lantos Swett.  “Every effort needs to be undertaken to ensure peaceful elections and prevent the use of religion to stir up more violence.  The events leading up to and immediately following February 14 are crucial to Nigeria’s long-term stability and status as a multi-religious and multi-ethnic society.”

Concerns of electoral violence along Muslim-Christian lines are compounded by the horrific attacks perpetrated by Boko Haram.  This violent Islamist insurgency has now displaced one million people and controls large sections of the northeast of the country.  The terrorist organization’s escalating attacks and the Nigerian government’s inadequacy in responding to them create a difficult and volatile environment for the upcoming elections.  There are serious concerns that these factors will negatively impact the voting process and could lead to questions of electoral credibility, further putting Africa's most populous country at grave risk. 

USCIRF has warned for almost a year that the presidential elections again are becoming a flashpoint for religiously-motivated violence.  The April 2011 electoral violence in Nigeria’s north and Middle Belt states started as political, but quickly became religious in nature.  Three days of rioting left more than 800 dead (500 in Kaduna alone, with the vast majority being Muslims), 65,000 displaced, and 430 churches destroyed.  Earlier this month, USCIRF issued a Factsheet on Religion and Nigeria’s 2015 Presidential Elections, highlighting the potential for electoral and sectarian violence as the elections near.  With only weeks before the contest, reports are increasing of pre-election violence and threats directed at the candidates, parties, and their supporters.

“Unless Nigerian leaders take concrete steps to prevent electoral violence and calm their supporters, these elections could be more violent than those in 2011,” said USCIRF Chair Lantos Swett. “The potential for violence is increasing almost daily.”

USCIRF calls on Nigeria’s political parties to hold responsible their members who issue statements inciting violence along religious lines, and Nigeria’s police and judiciary to impartially hold accountable all perpetrators of electoral violence.

USCIRF has recommended the U.S. government designate Nigeria a “country of particular concern” since 2009.  The government of Nigeria continues to tolerate systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom affecting all Nigerians, both Christian and Muslim.  For many years, the government has failed to bring those responsible for sectarian violence to justice, prevent and contain acts of such violence, or prevent reprisal attacks.  As a result since 1999, more than 18,000 Nigerians have been killed in sectarian violence between Muslims and Christians.  Boko Haram, a militant group that espouses an extreme and violent interpretation of Islam, benefits from this culture of impunity and lawlessness as it exploits Muslim-Christian tensions and seeks to destabilize Nigeria.

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

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January 26, 2015 | USCIRF

WASHINGTON, D.C. – January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a day the United Nations has designated to annually commemorate the victims of the Holocaust.  January 27 also is the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the notorious Nazi death camp. 

“We must remember the horror of the Holocaust and honor the memory of millions of Jews whom the Nazis and their sympathizers slaughtered.  However, remembering and honoring the victims, while vitally important, is not enough.  We also must take action, unequivocally condemning attacks against Jews whenever and wherever they occur.  We must make certain that governments hold accountable perpetrators of anti-Semitic acts, and rededicate ourselves to ensuring that such hatred, bigotry, racism, and prejudice is eliminated.  We have our work cut out for ourselves, as the murder of four Jews in the kosher supermarket as part of the recent terrorist attack in Paris sadly underscores,” said Katrina Lantos Swett, USCIRF Chair.

Despite the staggering losses and horrifying lessons of the Holocaust, anti-Semitism today has increased in many parts of the world and has taken on an alarming number of forms, including blood libel and conspiracy theories; Holocaust denial, glorification and relativism; nationalism that condemns the “other;” and criticism of Israel that crosses the line to anti-Semitism.  In too many countries, governments fuel anti-Semitism, incite anti-Semitic acts, or do nothing in the face of such acts, with such actions serving as a warning sign of malignant forces that threaten civil society and freedom.  

“Seven decades after the Holocaust, anti-Semitism is again on the move.  It is a global menace, a grave threat to Jews around the world, and a challenge to the basic humanitarian values of liberty, pluralism, and tolerance.  Civil society, along with governments, has an indispensable role to play in combatting anti-Semitism in all its forms, whenever and wherever it takes place.  Individually and as a nation, we must commit ourselves to closing the gap between the promise and practice of “never again,” said USCIRF Commissioner Hannah Rosenthal.   

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

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January 22, 2015 | USCIRF

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) strongly condemns the package of race and religion bills that Burma’s parliament is considering.  These bills would further restrict religious freedom and discriminate against all non-Buddhists, particularly male Muslims, in religious conversions and marriages.  USCIRF criticized a May draft of one of these bills, the religious conversion law, as “irreparably flawed” and in contravention of “Burma’s international commitments to protect freedom of religion or belief.”

“Discrimination against non-Buddhists through law, regulation and practice already is pervasive in Burma.  Instead of countering prejudices, these bills would further entrench and legalize discrimination,” said Katrina Lantos Swett, USCIRF Chair.  “The bills risk fanning the flames of intolerance and violence against Muslims and other religious minorities.  If they become law, Burma will be taking a major step backward.” 

During USCIRF’s August trip to Burma (read the report), Commissioners M. Zuhdi Jasser and Eric P. Schwartz raised concerns about these bills in meetings with Burmese parliamentarians and representatives of the Union government.   

“Rather than protecting individuals’ rights to peacefully practice their faiths, the government of Burma is promoting restrictive, discriminatory measures that violate religious freedoms,” said Lantos Swett.  “The right to change your beliefs and marry a partner of your own choosing are personal decisions not in the scope of government.”

Specific concerns include:

• The Religious Conversion Bill would force those seeking to convert to give to the newly created Registration Boards an extensive list of personal information, answer intrusive questions, and wait 90 days for approval. 
• The Interfaith Marriage Bill imposes restrictions on marriages between non-Buddhist men and Buddhist women, including a 14-day waiting period during which time anyone can object to the marriage, and the court reviewing the objections has the power to deny the marriage.  Non-Buddhist men are denied numerous rights in the case of divorce and face criminal penalties if they ask their Buddhist wife to convert.  Under the bill, non-Buddhist men also bear most of the financial and/or criminal penalties, including prison sentences.  

USCIRF concluded in its 2014 Annual Report chapter on Burma (Burmese translation) that political reforms have not improved legal protections for religious freedom and have done little to curtail anti-Muslim violence, incitement, and discrimination, particularly targeting the Rohingya Muslim minority.  For more than a decade, USCIRF has recommended that Burma be designated as a “country of particular concern” (CPC) for its systematic, egregious and ongoing religious freedom violations.  The U.S. Department of State has designated Burma as a CPC repeatedly since 1999, most recently in July 2014.

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