FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 23, 2018

Vice Chair Arriaga Expresses Concern About Patriarch Thích Quảng Độ

“I am especially concerned about Thích Quảng Độ’s wellbeing because he will turn 90 on November 27 and suffers from diabetes,” said Vice Chair Arriaga

Washington, D.C. — Kristina Arriaga, Vice Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), today expressed serious concern about the situation of Patriarch Thích Quảng Độ, the leader of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), for whom she advocates as part of USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project.

“As the United States and Vietnam continue to move from the past toward a future of dialogue and mutual respect, the case of religious prisoners of conscience like Patriarch Thích Quảng Độ remain a harbinger for whether this progress is temporary or long-lasting,” said Vice Chair Arriaga. “Until Thích Quảng Độ is allowed to fully exercise his religious freedom, USCIRF will remain active in advocating on his behalf.”

For more than three decades, Vietnamese authorities have repeatedly targeted, harassed, and detained Thích Quảng Độ for practicing his faith and advocating for religious freedom and related human rights. He has been under effective house arrest at Thanh Minh Zen Monastery in Ho Ch Minh City since 2001, except for a brief reprieve in 2003. He reportedly was expelled from the monastery on September 15 and is thought to be in his ancestral hometown in Thai Binh Province in northern Vietnam. He has been unable to communicate with his followers and it is unclear if he has access to medical care.

“I am especially concerned about Thích Quảng Độ’s wellbeing because he will turn 90 on November 27 and suffers from diabetes,” said Vice Chair Arriaga.

USCIRF has recommended that Vietnam be designated as a “country of particular concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act for engaging in systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom every year since 2002. For more information, see USCIRF’s 2018 Annual Report chapter on Vietnam.

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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 or 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
October 23, 2018
 

USCIRF Concerned About UNESCO Resolutions

“The idea that there’s a question about the Jewish historical presence in the Holy Land and specifically at these sites is unacceptable,” said Commissioner Bauer

WASHINGTON, DC — The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today expressed concern about two resolutions recently adopted by a commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

On October 10, 2018, the Programme and External Relations Commission of UNESCO’s Executive Board adopted Resolutions 28 and 29 concerning religious sites in the Holy Land. USCIRF appreciates the Commission’s efforts to affirm, correctly, that these sites “are of religious significance for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.” At the same time, Resolution 28 describes holy sites in Hebron/al-Khalil and Bethlehem solely as “Palestinian sites.”

Commissioner Gary Bauer cautioned, “The idea that there’s a question about the Jewish historical presence in the Holy Land and specifically at these sites is unacceptable and diminishes the religious rights of the Jewish people. UNESCO has no business pronouncing on territorial sovereignty or arbitrating territorial disputes.”
 

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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
October 16, 2018

USCIRF Strongly Condemns Codification of Repression in Western China

“This is a deeply troubling development because it signals that the Chinese
government believes it can justify its brutal repression of Uighur Muslims by writing it into law,” said Chair Dorjee

WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today strongly condemned the legalization of involuntary “re-education camps” in western China. As part of broader de-extremification efforts throughout the region, authorities in Xinjiang have reportedly revised their laws on the use of detention centers in an attempt to force Uighur and other Muslims whom they have arbitrarily and falsely accused of extremism to abandon their faith. According to reports, as many as one million Uighur Muslims have been subject to these “re-education” efforts in government internment camps.

USCIRF Chair Tenzin Dorjee said, “This is a deeply troubling development because it signals that the Chinese government believes it can justify its brutal repression of Uighur Muslims by writing it into law. Until recently, authorities denied the existence of these draconian camps, and now they have cloaked their repression in legalese. This drive to crush religious minority communities is not letting up – it is in fact getting worse – and it is being directed by those at the highest levels, both within the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party. The international community must condemn and act to stop this unprecedented violation of human rights.”

In its 2018 Annual Report, USCIRF described China’s intensified “sinicization” campaign to control, govern, and manipulate all aspects of faith into a socialist mold with “Chinese characteristics.” In recent testimony before the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, Chair Dorjee described China’s forced systematic repression of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang. Chair Dorjee has adopted and called for the release of Gulmira Imin, a Uighur Muslim, as part of USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project. Also, last week the Congressional-Executive Commission on China released its 2018 Annual Report, which details religious freedom violations against Uighur Muslims and other religious communities.

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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.