WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) condemns the raid by Pakistan’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on the publications and audit offices of the Ahmadiyya community in Punjab province.  During this raid, which took place on December 5, police beat and arrested several Ahmadis who later were charged under provisions in Pakistan’s penal code and Anti-Terrorism Act.   

“USCIRF condemns the brutal raid on the Ahmadiyya offices, the first such raid since Pakistan amended its constitution 42 years ago, declaring that Ahmadis are ‘non-Muslims,’” said USCIRF Chair Rev. Thomas J. Reese, S.J. “These actions flow out of Pakistan’s constitution and penal code, both of which impede religious freedom as they prevent Ahmadis from exercising their faith and even calling themselves Muslim.  Pakistan’s anti-terrorism law should not be applied to the peaceful Ahmadiyya community simply because they are Ahmadis.”

Pakistan’s constitution declares Ahmadis to be “non-Muslims.”  Its penal code subjects Ahmadis to severe legal restrictions and officially-sanctioned discrimination, making it criminal for Ahmadis to call themselves Muslims, preach, propagate, or disseminate materials on their faith, or refer to their houses of worship as mosques. The government applies the anti-terrorism law as an unwarranted pretext to arrest members of the Ahmadiyya community.  Ahmadis also continue to be murdered in religiously-motivated attacks that take place with impunity. 

Punjab province, the site of the raid and home to the greatest number of religious minorities, has a deeply troubling religious freedom record. Two-thirds of all blasphemy cases originate there, including that of Abdul Shakoor, an optician and book store owner.  The CTD raided his book store and arrested him. In January 2016, Mr. Shakoor was sentenced to five years in prison on blasphemy charges and three years on terrorism charges, to be served concurrently, for propagating the Ahmadiyya faith by selling copies of the Qur’an and Ahmadiyya publications.

Since 2002, USCIRF has recommended to the State Department that Pakistan be named a “country of particular concern” under the U.S. International Religious Freedom Act for its “systematic, ongoing and egregious” violations of religious freedom. For more information on religious freedom conditions in Pakistan and for recommendations for U.S. policy, please see the Pakistan chapter in USCIRF’s 2016 Annual Report (in English and Urdu). 

To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or 202-523-3258

WASHINGTON, DC – At the recommendation of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Dr. Tenzin Dorjee was appointed to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on December 8, 2016. 

“USCIRF welcomes Dr. Tenzin Dorjee as our newest Commissioner,” said USCIRF Chair Rev. Thomas J. Reese, S.J.  “He will be a great asset to our Commission as we work to fulfill our mandate of highlighting serious threats to religious freedom throughout the world and making policy recommendations to the President, Secretary of State, and Congress on behalf of the cherished right of freedom of religion or belief and its fuller integration into U.S. foreign policy.”

Tenzin Dorjee is Associate Professor at the Department of Human Communication Studies, California State University, Fullerton (CSUF). His primary teaching and research interests are in intergroup, intercultural, intergenerational communication, identity issues, peace building, and conflict resolution. He has authored and co-authored peer-reviewed articles and chapters on Tibetan culture, identity, and communication, nonviolence and middle way approaches to Sino-Tibetan conflict, intergenerational communication context, and others. He is also a published author of articles and translated works of Tibetan Buddhism and culture into English. He is a co-author of the forthcoming scholarly book Communicating Across Cultures (2^nd Edition, Guilford Press) with Professor Stella Ting-Toomey. He worked as a translator at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, India, for over 13 years. He is former Member-At-Large in the Executive Council of the Western States Communication Association (WSCA), Chair of WSCA’s Distinguished Teaching Award Committee, Basic Course Director of the Department of Human Communication Studies, CSUF, and President of the Tibetan Association of Southern California. In the summer of 2013, he volunteered over two months at the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala and in the summer of 2016, he volunteered teaching intercultural communication and research methodology at the College for Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarah, India, and the Dalai Lama Institute for Higher Education, Bengaluru, India.

Comprised of nine commissioners, USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan federal body that is principally responsible for reviewing the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and making policy recommendations to the President, Secretary of State, and Congress. The President and leadership of both political parties in the Senate and House of Representatives appoint USCIRF Commissioners.

To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or 202-786-0615.

WASHINGTON, DC – With the passing of Fidel Castro on November 25, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) urges the Cuban government to take a long hard look at his legacy, especially with regard to the oppressive treatment of religion which has marked the country’s history since Castro's rise to power in 1959. 

While USCIRF has noted that some improvements have been made in recent years in the area of religious freedom, our Annual Reports document the Cuban government’s continued violations. Areas of concern include: harassment of religious leaders and laity, interference in religious groups’ internal affairs, and preventing democracy and human rights activists from participating in religious activities. The government also has threatened to close and confiscate church properties and reportedly has demolished some churches.

“USCIRF hopes that the Cuban government will now act decisively to turn the page toward freedom,” said USCIRF Chair Rev. Thomas J. Reese, S.J.  “Despite constitutional protections, the government actively limits and controls religious practices through restrictive laws and policies, and surveillance and harassment. There is much that needs to change for the Cuban people, and Raul Castro and other Cuban officials should be judged by their actions.”

While USCIRF does not take a position for or against the U.S embargo of Cuba, as part of the U.S.-Cuba ongoing discussions, the U.S. government should continue to emphasize that the Cuban government needs to improve religious freedom conditions on the island.  

In its 2016 Annual Report, USCIRF recommends that the U.S. government should press the Cuban government to: stop arrests and harassment of religious leaders; end the practice of preventing democracy and human rights activists from attending religious services; cease interference with religious activities and religious communities’ internal affairs; allow unregistered religious groups to operate freely and legally and revise government policies that restrict religious services in homes or other personal property; lift restrictions on the building or repairing of houses of worship, holding of religious processions, importation of religious materials, and admittance of religious leaders; and hold accountable police and other security personnel for actions that violate the human rights of religious practitioners.

USCIRF placed Cuba on its Tier 2 list in its 2016 Annual Report. In Tier 2 countries, the violations the government engages in or tolerates are serious and characterized by at least one of the elements of the International Religious Freedom Act’s “systematic, ongoing, and egregious” standard. For more information, please refer to the Cuba chapter in USCIRF’s 2016 Report (in English and in Spanish).

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or 202-786-0615.