FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 24, 2019
 

USCIRF Welcomes Release of Jailed Jakarta Governor; Denounces Indonesia’s Blasphemy Law
 

WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today welcomed the early release from prison of former governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama – also known as “Ahok” – after serving almost two years following a blasphemy conviction. USCIRF denounced the conviction and sentencing of Mr. Basuki in May 2017, which took place despite prosecutors’ recommendation that the blasphemy charges be dropped.

USCIRF Chair Tenzin Dorjee said, “Although we welcome Mr. Basuki’s early release, we’re troubled by the fact that Indonesia’s blasphemy law remains on the books and continues to be enforced in other cases. This law violates international human rights standards and until it is repealed, hardline and intolerant groups can continue to target religious minorities, such as Ahmadiyya and Shi’a Muslims, as well as Christians, simply for exercising their fundamental freedoms of speech and religion.”

In each of its annual reports since 2004 USCIRF has placed Indonesia on its Tier 2 list for engaging in or tolerating religious freedom violations that meet at least one of the elements of the “systematic, ongoing, egregious” standard used to designate a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act.

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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.

WASHINGTON, DC – Andy Khawaja, Commissioner on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), today announced his adoption of Hamid Kamal Mohammad bin Haydara, a Yemeni member of the Baha’i faith sentenced to death on charges that include attempting to convert Muslims, as part of USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project.

“I call on Houthi authorities to immediately release Hamid bin Haydara, to grant him access to medical care, and to end the persecution of Baha’i men and women in Yemen,” said Khawaja. “The Houthi disbandment of the Baha’i community in Yemen and detention of several Baha’i Yemenis on spurious charges is an intolerable attack on religious freedom.”

In 2013, authorities linked to the Houthi-run National Security Bureau arrested and detained Haydara initially without charges. Haydara virtually disappeared until September 2, 2014, when his wife, Ilham Zara’i, was finally permitted to visit him.

He was held in a prison in the middle of a conflict zone, with limited his access to adequate healthcare, until  January 8, 2015, when the official charges finally came. These included allegations of being a spy for Israel, attempting to make certain locations within Yemen a homeland for the followers of the Baha’i Faith, offering literacy classes that followed a curriculum deemed incompatible with Islam, and attempting to convert Muslims to the Baha’i Faith. After a 3-year delay in sentencing, on January 2, 2018, a judge condemned Haydara to death. He remains imprisoned and the Houthi Court of Appeals has scheduled the next hearing for Haydara on January 29, 2019.

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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
December 21, 2018

Open Letter from USCIRF Vice Chair Gayle Manchin to Mohammad Ali Taheri

Washington, D.C. –

Mohammad Ali Taheri,

I am writing to you in my capacity as the Vice Chair on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to inform you that I have taken on your case as a religious prisoner of conscience. The international religious freedom community has not forgotten you.

The Iranian authorities have consistently targeted you for exercising your basic human right to freedom of religion or belief. Their disregard for human rights and religious freedom can be seen in the “blasphemy” and other charges they brought against you for your expression of your spiritual beliefs. I am not the first to note Iran’s failure to live up to its international commitments to freedom of religion or belief, and, unfortunately, your case is not the only one that testifies to this fact. Nonetheless, I want you to know I stand with you in your pursuit of this basic freedom.

Back on March 3, 2018, I and others in the religious freedom community celebrated that your death sentenced had been overturned. Yet we viewed in dismay as your release was delayed yet again and you were handed an additional 5-year sentence. The Iranian authorities have held you far too long, they have taken enough.

Though relations between my country and yours remain fraught, I hope that my commitment to your cause demonstrates the hopes I and millions of my fellow Americans have for you and your country. It is our prayer that one day soon you will be given the justice you deserve and that all Iranians will live under a government that respects human rights including the freedom of religion or belief.

In closing, I want to only reemphasize that USCIRF and I will continue to advocate for your immediate release.

Sincerely,

Gayle Manchin