FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 17, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Sunday, March 15, the day an official U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) delegation to Pakistan departed the country, Pakistani Taliban terrorists attacked two churches in Lahore during worship services.  At least 15 people were killed and over 80 wounded.  The funerals will be held today.  The attack follows other assaults on Shi’a mosques and meeting places.

“We mourn with those grieving at funerals today.  These horrific attacks sought to kill as many Christians as possible, occurring during Sunday services at two Lahore churches,” said USCIRF Chair Katrina Lantos Swett.  “During our visit we learned about government efforts to fight the Pakistani Taliban, and yet these attacks continue to unfold without adequate response.  Prime Minister Sharif and his government need to respond decisively and ensure worship sites are secured and perpetrators arrested and prosecuted.  Just weeks earlier a Shi’a mosque was attacked in the capital Islamabad.  It is important to recognize that these terrorist groups are equal opportunity murderers and minority Muslims as well as Christians have been victims of their vicious attacks.”

Commissioner Mary Ann Glendon said, “From our meetings with Pakistani officials, we don’t discount Pakistan’s many challenges.  Yet Pakistan’s own Supreme Court has recognized the need for stronger actions, calling for a special police force to protect minority worship sites and a new commission on religious minorities.  No such force has been created and the commission, buried within the Ministry for Religious Affairs, has no direct access to the Prime Minister.  Creating such a security force and bringing the minority commission into the cabinet could help improve the situation while also fulfilling Pakistan’s highest court’s ruling.”

USCIRF Chair Katrina Lantos Swett and Commissioner Mary Ann Glendon visited Islamabad on March 12-15 to meet with Pakistani officials, civil society, and religious communities.  It was the first Commissioner-level visit to Pakistan in USCIRF’s history.  There are reports that Christian protestors killed two bystanders believed to be involved in the attack.  USCIRF has monitored religious freedom conditions in Pakistan for many years and repeatedly has recommended that the State Department designate it as a “country of particular concern” for the government’s perpetration and toleration of severe religious freedom violations.  The Pakistan chapter of USCIRF’s 2014 Annual report details these violations. 

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or 202-786-0613.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 17, 2015 | USCIRF

Statement of Commissioner Eric P. Schwartz upon completing a visit to Sri Lanka, March 15-17, 2015

I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to visit Sri Lanka with USCIRF Senior Policy Analyst Sahar Chaudhry to assess the climate for religious freedom, other human rights, and tolerance since the country’s 2015 election.

During our three day visit, we had the opportunity to meet with Minister of Foreign Affaris, Mangala Samaraweera, Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapaksa, Minister of Buddha Sasana Karu Jayasuriya, and Minister of Muslim Religious Affairs Abdel Halim Mohamed Hasheem, as well as representatives from Sri Lanka’s diverse religious communities, among others.

We are encouraged by statements made by officials with whom we met.  In particular, we welcome comments in support of national reconciliation among all Sri Lanka’s religious and ethnic communities.  After a devastating war and reports that religious minority communities were increasingly subjected to attacks in recent years, the new government's engagement with religious minorities is an important step forward in the effort to promote national unity and increased space for all religious groups.

We welcome other measures by the government, in the areas of freedom of expression and association in particular, which tend to create a climate conducive to religious freedom.

We are very pleased to hear that reports of abuses perpetrated against minority religious communities have diminished over the last few months.  We encourage the government to hold perpetrators of such crimes accountable.  We believe accountability will encourage a critical sense of security and well-being among affected communities.

While welcoming recent government measures, representatives of civil society with whom we met expressed continued concerns about the ability of religious communities to practice their chosen faiths without restriction.  This includes the ability to build houses of worship and to be free of any acts of intimidation or harassment. 

We hope and trust Sri Lankan officials will address these issues in the weeks and months to come. Nonetheless, we leave Sri Lanka with a sense of great encouragement, and we look forward to further progress on these critically important issues.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or 202-786-0613.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 16, 2015 | USCIRF

WASHINGTON, D.C. — March 15 marked the 4th anniversary of the protests in Damascus, Aleppo and Daraa which set the stage for the Syrian conflict.  On this sad anniversary, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) remembers the millions of Syrians who have suffered.  USCIRF also notes that Syria’s history of religious diversity may be lost and all of Syria’s religious communities are largely deprived of religious freedom.

“After four years of conflict, religious diversity and freedom in Syria are victims of the actions of the al-Assad regime, as well as of internationally-recognized opposition fighters and U.S.-designated terrorist groups, in particular the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL),” said USCIRF Chair Katrina Lantos Swett.  “By the systematic targeting and massacre of primarily Sunni Muslims, the al-Assad regime created the environment in which ISIL could rise and spread, threatening the entire region and all religious communities that reject its violent religious ideology, with the smallest religious minority communities facing an existential threat.  The world must face the stark reality that many may never be able to return to their homelands.  Not only must we continue to bear witness to their plight, we also must protect them and grant them safe haven.”

More than half of Syria’s pre-conflict population now is internally displaced or are refugees in neighboring countries.  Of the more than 3.8 million registered refugees who sought safety, mostly in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, and Iraq, an estimated three-quarters are women and children under the age of 17 -- including tens of thousands of babies who are stateless.  An estimated 9.3 million people in Syria need food, water, and shelter, including more than 6.5 million who are internally-displaced.  In addition, four years of conflict and ISIL’s widespread and well documented attacks, including beheadings and mass murder, have irrevocably damaged the country’s religious diversity.

USCIRF calls on the U.S. government to work with our international partners to prioritize the protection of and assistance to all non-combatant Syrians, especially religious and ethnic minorities, and help ensure that issues related to religious freedom and human rights are included in any political negotiations that seek to end this devastating crisis.  USCIRF also urges the U.S. government to increase the U.S. refugee ceiling from 70,000 to at least 125,000; increase the number of Syrians accepted for resettlement; and ensure that Syrians who pose no threat to the United States and are fleeing the al-Assad regime or terrorist groups are not unfairly excluded from the U.S. resettlement program under overbroad terrorism bars.

In its 2014 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended for the first time that Syria be designated a CPC.  The Syria chapter in the Report includes other recommendations, as does the op-ed Year of the Refugee.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or 202-786-0613.