USCIRF Releases 2017 Annual Report

USCIRF Recommends Russia be Designated a Country of Particular Concern

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its 2017 Annual Report on the state of religious freedom in selected countries. “Overall,” said USCIRF Chair Thomas Reese, S.J., “The Commission has concluded that the state of affairs for international religious freedom is worsening in both the depth and breadth of violations.  In the 2017 report, the Commission calls for Congress and the administration to stress consistently the importance of religious freedom abroad, for everyone, everywhere, in public statements and public and private meetings.”

The International Religious Freedom Act requires the U.S. government to designate as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, any country whose government engages in or tolerates particularly severe religious freedom violations that are systematic, ongoing, and egregious. To fulfill USCIRF’s mandate to advise the State Department on which countries should be designated as CPC, the Commission researches and monitors religious freedom conditions abroad and issues an annual report on countries with serious violations of religious freedom.

This year’s report calls on the Secretary of State to designate Russia as a CPC partly due to its continued use of its “anti-extremism” law as a tool to repeatedly curtail religious freedoms for various faiths, most recently the Jehovah’s Witnesses.  “The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ right to religious freedom is being eliminated through a flawed application of this law," commented USCIRF’s Chair, Thomas Reese, S.J.  “The recent Russian Supreme Court ruling bans the legal existence of the group throughout Russia.”

In 2017, USCIRF recommends that the State Department again designate the following 10 countries as CPCs: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. USCIRF also finds that six other countries meet the CPC standard and should be so designated: Central African Republic, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Syria, and Vietnam.

In 2017, USCIRF places the following 12 countries, where religious freedom violations are severe but do not fully meet the CPC standard, on the Commission’s Tier 2 list:  Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cuba, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, and Turkey.

USCIRF remains concerned about the “securitization” of religious freedom, citing Bahrain as an example where the government has cracked down on the Shi’a Muslim majority yet the U.S. administration is lifting human rights conditions on weapons sales to that country.  USCIRF Chair, Thomas Reese, S.J., said that “Religious freedom should not suffer under the guise of seeking to ensure national security.”

Some governments have made efforts to address religious freedom concerns. For example, USCIRF does not recommend Egypt and Iraq for CPC designation in 2017, as it had for Egypt since 2011 and Iraq since 2008.  In Egypt, while ISIS affiliates increasingly targeted Coptic Christians, the government took some positive steps to address religious freedom concerns, although the rest of its human rights record has been abysmal. In Iraq, while the Iraqi government has sought to curb sectarian tensions, ISIS has committed genocide, ruthlessly targeting anyone who does not espouse its extremist ideology.  

For years, USCIRF has recognized and documented how non-state actors are some of the most egregious violators of religious freedom.  The Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2016 requires the President to identify non-state actors engaging in particularly severe violations of religious freedom and designate each as an “entity of particular concern” (EPC).   The act defines a non-state actor as “a non-sovereign entity that exercises significant political power and territorial control; is outside the control of a sovereign government; and often employs violence in pursuit of its objectives.” 

Accordingly, for the first time, USCIRF recommends that the following three non-state actors be designated as EPCs: the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria; the Taliban in Afghanistan; and al-Shabaab in Somalia.

To view the full USCIRF 2017 Annual Report visit www.USCIRF.gov.

To interview a Commissioner please contact [email protected] or John D. Lawrence, Director of Communications ([email protected]/+1-202-786-0611).

Your Holiness Gedhun Choekyi Nyima:

Tashi Delek.  I write to wish you a happy and healthy 28^th birthday. Even though it saddens me to think that you may never read this, every Commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, on which I serve, is thinking of you on this special day.

Ever since you were abducted as a young child at the age of six, the Chinese government has refused to share even basic information about you and your whereabouts. Please know that I think about you every day, and as each year passes, my resolve to find you and restore you to your rightful role becomes stronger.

By the age of 28, I had received both a Tibetan and modern education, as well as advanced Buddhist studies in the Tibetan diaspora in India. I would like to know more about you, especially about your well-being and the education you have received.  I fear that the Chinese government has taken away your religious identity. I pray that you will one day be able to live a free life and take your rightful place as the 11^th Panchen Lama.

Please know that it is my responsibility to advocate on your behalf, and for those others in China who are being persecuted because of their religious beliefs and activities.

On behalf of all Tibetans, most respectfully, I offer you the traditional mandala for your good health, and long life.  I fervently pray for your freedom and receiving your blessing in person.

May you celebrate your 29^th birthday, and every birthday thereafter, in freedom.

With deepest respect,

Tenzin Dorjee

Tenzin Dorjee is a Commissioner at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a U.S. government body that monitors the universal right to the freedom of religion or belief. Commissioner Dorjee is also the first Tibetan Buddhist appointed to serve on the Commission.

USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project highlights the plight of individuals who have been imprisoned for their religious beliefs, practices or identity. To learn more about this project or to interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].

RUSSIA:  Supreme Court Outlaws the Jehovah’s Witnesses

USCIRF Condemns Russian Supreme Court Decision Banning the Jehovah’s Witnesses

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is disappointed, but not surprised, at the recent Russian Supreme Court decision to ban the Jehovah’s Witnesses from operating anywhere in the country.  USCIRF Chair, Thomas J. Reese, S.J., commented that “The court’s decision sadly reconfirms the disregard of the government for religious freedom in present-day Russia.  Individual and community expressions of faith, and even private religious beliefs, are not safe from state-sponsored repression and coercion in Russia today.”

Russian Justice Ministry attorney Svetlana Borisova reportedly said in court that the Jehovah’s Witnesses “pose a threat to the rights of citizens, public order and public security.”  USCIRF Chair Reese dismissed this statement as “simply a politicized assault on a religious group known worldwide for its pacifism and avoidance of politics.”

USCIRF firmly believes that a stable, prosperous, and tolerant Russia is in the world’s interest.  Yesterday’s ruling, however, can only lead to the impression that Russia is isolating itself from other advanced nations.  USCIRF Chair Reese went on to say that “The Russian government’s premeditated attack demonstrates that it does not consider itself bound by internationally recognized norms or conventions.  With this decision, the Russian government takes another unnecessary step away from the international community and toward isolation.”

Should the Jehovah’s Witnesses choose to appeal this decision, USCIRF urges the Russian court system to overturn this unjustified ruling.

To interview a Commissioner please contact [email protected] or John D. Lawrence, Director of Communications ([email protected]/+1-202-786-0611).