Nov 12

WHEN:

Nov 12th 11:00am - Nov 12th 12:00pm

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

Conversation with USCIRF: Religious Freedom in Algeria

Thursday, November 12, 2020
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM (EST)
Virtual Event

Register Here

Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a virtual event about religious freedom conditions in Algeria. 

This special event will highlight recent and ongoing religious freedom concerns in Algeria, including the restriction and closure of Protestant churches, as well as the potential impact of recent political developments on religious freedom conditions in the country.  These trends were reflected in USCIRF’s 2020 Annual Report which recommended that the U.S. Department of State include Algeria in its Special Watch List for engaging in or tolerating severe religious freedom violations.  USCIRF Vice Chair Anurima Bhargava and Commissioner Johnnie Moore will host a conversation with guest panelists Jeff King of International Christian Concern (ICC), and Dalia Ghanem of the Carnegie Middle East Center. USCIRF Director of Outreach and Policy Dwight Bashir will moderate the conversation followed by questions and answers from attendees. 

 

Panelists

  • Anurima Bhargava, Vice Chair, USCIRF
  • Johnnie Moore, Commissioner, USCIRF
  • Jeff King, President, International Christian Concern
  • Dalia Ghanem, Resident Scholar, Carnegie Middle East Center

 

Moderator

  • Dwight Bashir, Director of Outreach and Policy, USCIRF

 

This virtual event is open to the public and media. The video recording will be posted on the Commission website. For any additional questions, please contact [email protected].

Additional Name(s): Yiminjan Sedul, ئىمىنجان سەيدىن, 依明江·賽都力

Gender: Male

Perpetrator: China

Ethnic Group: Uyghur

Religion or Belief: Muslim – Unspecified/Other

Health Concerns: High blood pressure

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Sentence: 15 Years' Imprisonment

Date of Detainment: May//2017

Date of Sentencing: February//2019

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Ethnoreligious Identity Religious Scholarship

Nature of Charges: Unknown

Iminjan Seydin

Extra Bio Info:

Iminjan Seydin is imprisoned for his ethnoreligious identity and religious scholarship.

In May 2017, authorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) detained Seydina, retired history professor and founder of the Imin Book Publishing Co., and sent him to an internment camp.

In February 2019, the Tianshan District People's Court in Urumqi municipality, XUAR, reportedly sentenced Seydin to 15 years in prison for “inciting extremism” reportedly in relation to his publishing of a book about Arabic grammar.

In May 2020, the China Daily published a "proof-of-life" video of Seydin, possibly indicating his release, but that has not been confirmed.

Seydin suffers from high blood pressure.

Publicly Available Information:

Additional Name(s): Mahmut Memet, Mehmud Muhemmet, مەخمۇت مەمەت, 马合木提·买买提

Gender: Male

Perpetrator: China

Ethnic Group: Uyghur

Religion or Belief: Muslim – Unspecified/Other

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Current Status: Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment

Reason for Persecution: Ethnoreligious Identity Religious Instruction & Teaching

Nature of Charges: Unknown

Mehmud Muhemmet

Extra Bio Info:

Mehmud Muhemmet was detained for his ethnoreligious identity and religious education. 

In late 2017, authorities detained Muhemmet, a farmer from Turpan, reportedly for "illegally' receiving a religious education from his father in 1987." Muhemmet's detention came amid mass detentions of largely Muslim ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

In early 2019, Muhemmet was released from detention. 

Publicly Available Information:
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