FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 29, 2019

USCIRF Releases 2019 Annual Report and Recommendations for World’s Most Egregious Violators of Religious Freedom

Victims Database Also Announced

Washington, D.C. – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released its 20^th Annual Report documenting country conditions in, and analyzing and recommending U. S. policy initiatives toward, the world’s worst violators of religious freedom.

USCIRF, as an independent, bi-partisan commission, advises the President, Congress and the Secretary of State on international religious freedom issues. In its Annual Report, USCIRF unflinchingly describes threats to religious freedom around the world and recommends to the State Department countries for designation as “countries of particular concern” (CPCs) for engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations.” USCIRF also recommends to the State Department that non-state actors cited for similarly severe violations be designated as “entities of particular concern” (EPCs). This year, USCIRF has recommended 16 countries for CPC designation and five entities for EPC designation. Also, USCIRF placed 12 countries on its Tier 2 list, meaning the violations meet one or two, but not all three, of the elements of the systematic, ongoing, egregious test for CPC status.

“In addition to insights on religious freedom conditions in these 28 countries, the Annual Report provides actionable policy recommendations for Congress and the Administration to help improve conditions abroad where people are being persecuted for their religion or belief,” said USCIRF Chair Tenzin Dorjee. “Our goal is not only to call out the offenders, but to provide concrete actions for the U.S. government to take in working with these countries to get off our lists.”

The 16 countries USCIRF recommended for CPC designation include 10 that the State Department so designated in November 2018 – Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan – as well as six others that the State Department has not designated – Central African Republic (CAR), Nigeria, Russia, Syria, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. 

The 12 countries on USCIRF’s Tier 2 list are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cuba, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, and Turkey.

The five entities recommended for EPC designation include the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Taliban in Afghanistan, al-Shabab in Somalia, and new to the list this year, the Houthis in Yemen and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Syria.

“The freedom to believe as one’s conscience dictates is a fundamental human right and vital to the security, stability and economic vitality of any state or region,” said Dorjee. “In the past year, we have seen severe violations of religious freedom mount around the globe, from the imprisonment of individuals charged with blasphemy in several countries to the internment of over one million Uighur Muslims in China.  We and others laboring in the realm of religious freedom must persevere in our efforts to make this right a reality for everyone, everywhere.” 

USCIRF also announced the imminent launch of its Victims Database, which will enable users to learn more about religious prisoners of conscience in countries USCIRF recommends as CPCs. USCIRF is establishing a mechanism for collecting data on victims to begin populating the database later this year.

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About USCIRF

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze and report on threats to religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or Kellie Boyle at [email protected] or +1-703-898-6554.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 26, 2019
 

USCIRF Calls on State Department to Lift Saudi CPC Waiver After Mass Shi’a Execution

USCIRF 2019 Annual Report Cites Numerous Violations and Recommends Additional Policy Actions by the State Department

WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is deeply troubled by the Saudi government’s mass execution on Tuesday of 37 Saudi nationals, a majority of whom were Shi’a Muslim. Those beheaded included prominent Shi’a cleric Sheikh Mohammed al-Atiya, who was charged with attempting to “spread the Shi’a confession,” and Abdulkareem al-Hawaj, a Shi’a Muslim who was arrested after participating in a protest at the age of sixteen.

“The Saudi government’s execution of minority Shi’a Muslims on the basis of their religious identity and peaceful activism is not only shocking, but also directly contradicts the government’s official narrative of working toward greater modernization and improving religious freedom conditions,” said USCIRF Chair Tenzin Dorjee.

A USCIRF delegation visited Saudi Arabia in September 2018 to assess conditions and will reveal its latest recommendations for U.S. policy on Saudi Arabia on Monday, April 29, during the release of its 2019 annual report.

In November 2018, the State Department again designated Saudi Arabia as a “country of particular concern” for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations; however, it continued to keep in place an indefinite waiver of any punitive action as it has since 2006.

“The State Department must stop giving a free pass to the Saudi government, which, for many years, has punished numerous Saudi citizens and expatriate workers for exercising their fundamental right to freedom of religion or belief,” said Dorjee, noting that USCIRF has consistently called for the removal of the waiver.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze and report on threats to religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or Kellie Boyle at [email protected] or +1-703-898-6554.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 25, 2019
 

Open Letter to the Missing Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima on His 30th Birthday

Your Holiness Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima,

Tashi Delek or Happy 30th Birthday Your Holiness. As much as the Chinese government wants us to forget you, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) wishes you happy birthday and we unanimously advocate for your immediate release.

It is heartbreaking that you have been forcibly disappeared since age six and still remain in captivity and China has censored even basic information on you and your whereabouts. However, Tibetans’ faith in Your Holiness is unshakable. During a personal visit I made last August to your monastery in exile—the Tashi Lhunpo Monastic University—India, I met with His Eminence Ngagchen Rinpoche and other prominent monastic leadership and had a discussion of your wellbeing. We all shared the same deep concerns for Your Holiness. On a positive note, it is my honor and privilege to inform you that your monastic university in exile is thriving with monk scholars engaged in a rigorous and systematic curriculum of Buddhist studies and practices. We all have been thinking of you and praying for your long and healthy life. As I wrote you last year, with each passing year, our resolve to find you and restore you to your rightful role becomes stronger.

Your Holiness, your tragic situation reflects China’s sinicizing and politicizing Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan reincarnation system. Communist China considers religion a poison, demonizes His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and forces monasteries and Tibetans inside Tibet to worship Communist Party leadership; yet it claims the right to recognize incarnations of His Holinesses Panchen Lama and Dalai Lama. Most recently, in a Reuters’ interview, His Holiness the Dalai Lama said that he may reincarnate in a free country, and if there were two reincarnations of his, nobody will trust and accept China’s selection. Thus, China cannot control the next reincarnation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama as they did with you. The U.S. Senate passed a resolution supporting His Holiness’s reincarnation right and Tibetan people’s religious right. And just this month, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Asia Subcommittee Chair Senator Cory Gardner said, “Let me be very clear. The United States Congress will never recognize a Dalai Lama that is selected by the Chinese.” Your Holiness, despite the Chinese government’s systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations, nobody can change the fact that you are the 11th Panchen Lama as recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. As a Tibetan-American and USCIRF Chair, it is my honor, privilege, and responsibility to advocate on your behalf. Congressman Jim McGovern joined me in adopting you as our Religious Prisoner of Conscience and we coordinate our advocacy efforts for your freedom and wellbeing. I urge our president and secretary of state to impose sanctions on Chinese officials and agencies under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act for perpetrating religious freedom violations and to continue to implement the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018 to seek access to you and press for your immediate and unconditional release.

Your Holiness, on behalf of all Tibetans, I offer you traditional mandala for your long and healthy life along with fervent prayer for your freedom and receiving your blessing in person.

Most respectfully,
Tenzin Dorjee

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze and report on threats to religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or Kellie Boyle at [email protected] or +1-703-898-6554.