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February 3, 2015 | USCIRF

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) commends the release of activist Dr. Tun Aung and urges the government of Burma to release other prisoners of conscience in fulfillment of the promises of President Thein Sein. 

“USCIRF welcomes the release of Dr. Tun Aung from Burmese custody,” said USCIRF Chair Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett.  “However, we continue to advocate for the unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience from Burma’s jails and urge authorities to act promptly in fulfilling President Thein Sein’s pledge to release all political prisoners by the end of 2013, a promise yet to be realized. In fact, over the last year, more people have been jailed for the peaceful expression of their beliefs.”

USCIRF had been working in conjunction with the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and Amnesty International USA through the Defending Freedoms Project to gain the release of Dr. Tun Aung and now for the release of Ko Htin Kyaw, Ko Tin Maung Kyi, and Ko Zaw Win. 

The Defending Freedoms Project, created in 2013, partners with Members of Congress to increase support and attention to cases of prisoners of conscience worldwide.  Representative Aaron Schock (R-IL) had adopted Dr. Tun Aung and worked diligently for his release.

The January 19 release of Dr. Tun Aung followed mounting pressure from the international community for the activist’s release.  Dr. Tun Aung, a respected medical doctor and leader among the Rohingya Muslim community, was arrested in 2012 after attempting to pacify an angry crowd of rioters involving both Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims.  The Burmese government blamed him for the resulting violence due to his status as a community leader, and detained him.  Following an unfair trial, he subsequently was sentenced to 17 years behind bars in Burma’s notorious Insein Prison.

“Dr. Tun Aung’s case is not unique,” said Lantos Swett.  “There are countless prisoners of conscience who remain languishing in Burmese jails, and USCIRF is particularly concerned about the continued detention of human rights defenders Ko Htin Kyaw, Ko Tin Maung Kyi, and Ko Zaw Win from the Movement for Democracy Current Force, a peaceful human rights organization operating in Burma.  They were imprisoned in 2014 for peacefully protesting restrictions on expression and assembly.”

Read more on USCIRF’s work on Burma.

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

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February 3, 2015 | By Katrina Lantos Swett & M. Zuhdi Jasser

The following op-ed appeared in The Huffington Post on February 3, 2015

What did the terrorist attacks against the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and the kosher supermarket in Paris share with the flogging of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi in Jeddah last month? Each was an assault on freedom of conscience, religion, or belief. Moreover, in the Charlie Hebdo and Badawi cases, those responsible denied their victims the right to speak freely about religion because, in their view, such critics are blasphemers who insult religion and must be punished.

People naturally should try to do their utmost to honor and uphold each other's inherent dignity as fellow human beings and respect their most cherished beliefs. But when this laudable idea is rejected by a demand that perceived transgressors be silenced by force -- including even murder and torture -- rather than engaged through debate and discussion, the line has been crossed from freedom to coercion.

As the Badawi case illustrates, it is not just private individuals and groups which cross that line. Governments also label and punish certain speech by enforcing blasphemy laws, some of which carry the death penalty. In so doing, they embolden citizens to commit bloodshed against alleged blasphemers.

In the face of this assault on human rights and dignity, the world community must confront these abusive laws and the horrific acts they unleash, pressing offending nations to repeal these statutes and release people imprisoned because of them.

As Badawi can attest, one such nation is Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom enthrones its own interpretation of Sunni Islam and bans the public expression of any other religious belief. Dissenters may be charged with offenses ranging from apostasy to blasphemy.

Badawi founded and edited the Free Saudi Liberals website, a forum for the free expression of diverse political and religious views. The government arrested him in June 2012, charging him with apostasy and "insulting Islam." While in January 2013, a Saudi court dropped the apostasy charge, it sentenced him in July 2013 to 600 lashes and seven years in prison on other charges and ordered that his web site be shut down. Last May, an appeals court increased the sentence to 10 years and the number of lashes to 1,000, or 50 lashes weekly for 20 consecutive weeks. Badawi's latest flogging has been postponed and the Saudi high court is reviewing his case.

While Saudi Arabia punishes dissenters from its interpretation of Sunni Islam, Iran does likewise to those it deems to threaten its own brand of Shi'a Islam. Muslims, including Shi'a dissenters, and non-Muslims including Baha'is and Christians, who have been jailed, tortured, and executed for "insulting Islam" or "waging war against God."

But when it comes to the application of blasphemy provisions, no nation is more zealous than Pakistan. While these laws largely target Muslims and carry the death penalty or life in prison, they disproportionately impact religious minority communities. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, on which we serve, knows of at least 17 Pakistanis on death row and 19 more serving life sentences for blasphemy, with many more awaiting trial.

Pakistan's blasphemy statutes also fan the flames of skyrocketing sectarian violence and provide extremist groups and vigilantes fuel to unleash terror, especially against minorities, with impunity.

No Pakistanis are safe from these laws, not even government officials. In 2011, Shabbaz Bhatti -- Pakistan's minority religious affairs minister and a Christian, and Salmaan Taseer -- the governor of Punjab province and a Muslim, were assassinated for opposing these laws. Reacting to mere allegations of blasphemy, mobs recently lynched a Christian man and his pregnant wife, while a policeman used an axe to kill a Shi'a in custody.

Clearly, the world community must respond to these abuses.

In March 2011, the United States and like-minded countries blocked efforts at the United Nations to internationalize blasphemy prohibitions, defeating an initiative that promoted an international legal norm against the so-called "defamation of religions." Instead, a framework that promotes tolerance, understanding, and community engagement replaced that flawed concept.

It is time to show similar resolve today by pressing nations to repeal their blasphemy laws and challenging leaders to promote cultures of tolerance and mutual respect.

It is particularly important for free nations to repeal their own codes. Several European countries, from Austria to Greece, Ireland to Poland, still have blasphemy laws on the books. Repealing them would send the right message.

Finally, the world should press for the release of Raif Badawi and other blasphemy-law victims. While many Western governments condemned Badawi's flogging and urged that his case be reviewed, which reports suggest is now happening, none have called for his unconditional release.

Let the message be clear: Don't quash speech that belittles or offends. Fight such speech with more speech -- speech that ennobles. Honor freedom of expression and religion by repealing all blasphemy laws.

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

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February 2, 2015 | USCIRF

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Reports of pre-election violence, combined with rising societal and political tensions, increase the likelihood of religiously-motivated violence around Nigeria’s February 14 presidential elections, warns the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). 

“We welcome Secretary of State John Kerry’s timely trip to Nigeria in January.  His warning to presidential candidates Goodluck Jonathan and Mohammadu Buhari that the United States will withhold visas to persons who engage in, plan, and/or perpetrate electoral violence sends a strong message in support of peaceful elections,” said USCIRF Chair Dr. Katina Lantos Swett.  “Every effort needs to be undertaken to ensure peaceful elections and prevent the use of religion to stir up more violence.  The events leading up to and immediately following February 14 are crucial to Nigeria’s long-term stability and status as a multi-religious and multi-ethnic society.”

Concerns of electoral violence along Muslim-Christian lines are compounded by the horrific attacks perpetrated by Boko Haram.  This violent Islamist insurgency has now displaced one million people and controls large sections of the northeast of the country.  The terrorist organization’s escalating attacks and the Nigerian government’s inadequacy in responding to them create a difficult and volatile environment for the upcoming elections.  There are serious concerns that these factors will negatively impact the voting process and could lead to questions of electoral credibility, further putting Africa's most populous country at grave risk. 

USCIRF has warned for almost a year that the presidential elections again are becoming a flashpoint for religiously-motivated violence.  The April 2011 electoral violence in Nigeria’s north and Middle Belt states started as political, but quickly became religious in nature.  Three days of rioting left more than 800 dead (500 in Kaduna alone, with the vast majority being Muslims), 65,000 displaced, and 430 churches destroyed.  Earlier this month, USCIRF issued a Factsheet on Religion and Nigeria’s 2015 Presidential Elections, highlighting the potential for electoral and sectarian violence as the elections near.  With only weeks before the contest, reports are increasing of pre-election violence and threats directed at the candidates, parties, and their supporters.

“Unless Nigerian leaders take concrete steps to prevent electoral violence and calm their supporters, these elections could be more violent than those in 2011,” said USCIRF Chair Lantos Swett. “The potential for violence is increasing almost daily.”

USCIRF calls on Nigeria’s political parties to hold responsible their members who issue statements inciting violence along religious lines, and Nigeria’s police and judiciary to impartially hold accountable all perpetrators of electoral violence.

USCIRF has recommended the U.S. government designate Nigeria a “country of particular concern” since 2009.  The government of Nigeria continues to tolerate systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom affecting all Nigerians, both Christian and Muslim.  For many years, the government has failed to bring those responsible for sectarian violence to justice, prevent and contain acts of such violence, or prevent reprisal attacks.  As a result since 1999, more than 18,000 Nigerians have been killed in sectarian violence between Muslims and Christians.  Boko Haram, a militant group that espouses an extreme and violent interpretation of Islam, benefits from this culture of impunity and lawlessness as it exploits Muslim-Christian tensions and seeks to destabilize Nigeria.

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