For Your Information

August 14, 2012| By Mary Ann Glendon and Sam Gejdenson

The following guest column appeared in The Star-Ledger on August 14, 2012.

September will be here before we know it. While some will be looking forward to autumn, others will be apprehensive as the month approaches. They will wonder whether Congress will reauthorize a key measure that has allowed Jews, Christians, Baha"is and other religious minorities to escape religious persecution in Iran and in former Soviet nations.

Originally enacted as part of the 1990 Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill, the Lautenberg Amendment, named after its author, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), has been reauthorized ever since. However, it is set to expire on Sept. 30 unless Congress steps up to the plate and does the right thing again.

What does the Lautenberg Amendment do? It provides critical safeguards for historically persecuted groups seeking refugee status by easing the burden of proof and permitting fast-track processing to prevent undue backlogs in "third” countries that host their processing. Without such assurances, these countries likely would no longer be willing to provide transit visas to allow religious minorities to be processed in safety on their soil.

The amendment does not increase the number of refugees allowed into the United States or require any special appropriated funds. Rather, it recognizes the kinds of persecution these groups historically have faced. The small number of refugees who qualify each year are fully screened and vetted.

The Lautenberg Amendment has been the lifeline for many refugees, especially religious minorities from Iran. Every year since 1999, the secretary of state has designated Iran a "Country of Particular Concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act for egregious, ongoing and systematic violations of religious freedom.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, on which we serve, has found that religious freedom conditions continue to deteriorate in Iran, especially for religious minorities, most notably Baha"is, as well as for Christians and Sufi Muslims, while physical attacks, harassment, detention, arrests and imprisonment have intensified.

Even the recognized non-Muslim religious minorities protected under Iran"s constitution - Jews, Armenian and Assyrian Christians, and Zoroastrians - face increasing discrimination, arrests and imprisonment. In fact, religious freedom conditions in Iran have regressed to a point not seen since the early days of the Islamic revolution, more than 30 years ago.

Failure to reauthorize the Lautenberg Amendment would clearly endanger the lives of people seeking freedom and send the signal that the United States is unconcerned. Such inaction would hearken back to the 1930s, when the United States largely closed its doors to refugees seeking to escape Nazi tyranny.

Thankfully, Congress is concerned. The Lautenberg Amendment has broad bipartisan support in the House and Senate, but last year was reauthorized only at the last minute. This year we hope that well before Sept. 30, Congress sends the signal loudly and clearly that religious freedom is paramount for all, including persecuted religious minorities.

Mary Ann Glendon serves as a vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Sam Gejdenson serves as a USCIRF commissioner. Keep the conversation going at njvoices.com.

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

August 3, 2012 | by USCIRF

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom today issued a new report, “The Religion-State Relationship & the Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief: A Comparative Textual Analysis of the Constitutions of Majority Muslim Countries and Other OIC Members.”

This study is especially timely given that a number of these countries, including some that top the U.S. foreign policy agenda, currently are redrafting or revising their constitutions. A constitution’s text is important as both a statement of fundamental law and national aspirations, and a tool for those seeking to enforce its promises.

The study, which updates a 2005 USCIRF study, analyzes how constitutions of countries belonging to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) treat issues of human rights and religious freedom. Specifically, it compiles and analyzes the constitutional provisions currently in place regarding the relationship between religion and the state, freedom of religion or belief, and related human rights. The study focuses on 46 countries with majority Muslim populations and 10 other countries that, while not majority Muslim, are OIC members. The study finds that these countries, stretching from Europe to Africa through the Middle East and into Asia, encompass a variety of constitutional arrangements addressing the role of Islam and the scope of religious freedom and other related human rights.

To read the full report (with or without appendices), a two-page summary of the report, and a summary of the international standards for constitutional religious freedom protections (in English or Arabic), please click here.

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

For Your Information

August 1, 2012| by Azizah al-Hibri and M. Zuhdi Jasser

The following op-ed article appeared in the Washington Post on August 1, 2012: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/ramadan-and-religious-freedom/2012/08/01/gJQA9HqBQX_blog.html

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), on which we serve, extends its warmest wishes to the world"s 1.6 billion Muslims, nearly a quarter of its population, at the advent of Ramadan, the most holy month in the Islamic calendar.

From North and South America to Europe, and Africa and Australia to Asia, including the Middle East, Ramadan reminds Muslims of the soulful ties that bind them together. For Muslims, it is a month to strengthen faith in God and reaffirm love and reliance upon Him and His Word as revealed through the message of the Prophet Muhammad. The month also is an opportunity for Muslims to fulfill God"s commandment to fast from sunrise to sunset (2:185), an act that joins Muslims together as equals. It is also far more. Whether reciting the Qur"an, offering prayers, performing charity, or sharing in the nightly Iftar dinner, Ramadan is a month for self-reflection and atonement. It also is a time for Muslims to come closer to God, scripture, family, friends, and neighbors, while gaining a deeper understanding and empathy for those who are less fortunate.

Given all that is happening in today"s world, Ramadan provides an especially important inflection point this year. In this time of reflection, we are particularly disturbed that Muslims and non-Muslims alike continue to have their right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion violated by governments, religious extremists, and sometimes even their misguided neighbors.

As USCIRF Commissioners, we serve an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission that monitors these violations around the world and makes recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress. We promote and defend international standards of religious freedom and advocate equally for all, regardless of creed. Both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights declare that countries must uphold principles of religious freedom, including the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; freedom to change one"s religion or belief; and the freedom to manifest one"s religion or belief peacefully. Many countries do not adhere to these principles -- although they are signatories to international agreements -- leading to the oppression and harassment of, and violence against, those who believe and those who do not believe. As Commissioners, we continue to urge the U.S. government to hold countries accountable for violating international standards of human rights and religious freedom.

During this holy month of Ramadan, we trust that all Muslims will reflect on how this freedom relates to their devotion to God as well as to the Qur"anic injunction: "Let there be no coercion in religion” (2:256). Thus, faith can bolster the inalienable right to religious freedom for those of different religions and beliefs. It is our hope that in this holy month, Muslims will remember that God imparted to this world people of great diversity, including diversity in religions and beliefs. As the Qur"an states repeatedly, "Had God so willed, He could have made [all human beings] a single people…” (42:8). Furthermore, He created differences among us not to divide us but to have us learn from one another (49:13).

It is also our hope during Ramadan that non-Muslims will take this opportunity to get to know better their Muslim neighbors and friends, and break bread with them at an evening Iftar. Only through friendship and dialogue can we discard oppressive stereotypes and build communal bonds.

Finally, it is our hope that all of us remember that the respect and freedom, including religious freedom, which we seek for ourselves are only as possible, protected, and meaningful as the freedoms we allow for others and help them achieve.

Ramadan Kareem!

*Azizah al-Hibri and M. Zuhdi Jasser serve as Commissioners on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

Please contact Samantha Schnitzer at [email protected] or (202) 786-0613 to interview a USCIRF Commissioner.