U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing

Protecting Houses of Worship and Holy Sites

Wednesday, October 23, 2019
3:00 – 4:30 PM
106 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Hearing Summary

Hearing Transcript

Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a hearing about the global targeting of houses of worship and holy sites around the world and how to protect them.

Houses of worship and other religious sites should be sanctuaries where worshippers feel safe to practice their faith. Tragically, as the 2019 incidents in New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Burkina Faso attest, attacks on houses of worship are increasingly occurring around the globe. These attacks aim to destroy the place of worship precisely for its religious significance, cause harm to a unique religious group, and instill fear in those that worship there.

Alongside these horrific attacks, places of worship are often harmed more subtly through the misuse of registration procedures to prevent their construction or renovation, the malicious surveillance of holy sites to intimidate worshippers, or acts of vandalism that aim to send a threatening message and harm property. Different types of buildings and properties that are significant to religious communities, such as cemeteries, monasteries, or community centers, also have been targeted. While violent attacks on such places are typically committed by non-state actors, less overt forms of harms and restrictions are often imposed by state authorities as well. This includes the failure of states to ensure the preservation of sacred places, places of worship, and cultural property that constitutes the cultural or spiritual heritage of people.

How can the international community better work together to stem the global violent targeting of houses of worship? Witnesses will highlight U.S. programs, intergovernmental initiatives, interfaith efforts, and other policy recommendations that aim to ensure that holy places remain safe havens and not sites of bloodshed.

Opening Remarks

• Tony Perkins, Chair, USCIRF
  Written Remarks
   
• Gayle Manchin, Vice Chair, USCIRF
  Written Remarks
   
• Nadine Maenza, Vice Chair, USCIRF
  Written Remarks

Panel I

• Honorable Sam Brownback, Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, U.S. Department of State
  Written Testimony
   

Panel II

• H.E. Miguel Moratinos, High Representative, U.N. Alliance of Civilizations
  Written Testimony
   

Panel III

• Hassan Abbas, Distinguished Professor of International Relations at Near East South Asia Strategic Studies Center, National Defense University
  Written Testimony
   
• Sharon Rosen, Global Director for Religious Engagement, Search for Common Ground
  Written Testimony

Bios

This hearing is open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the public, and the media. Members of the media can RSVP at [email protected]. The hearing will be livestreamed via the Commission website. For any questions please contact Jamie Staley at [email protected] or 202-786-0606.

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing

Religious Minorities’ Fight to Remain in Iraq

Thursday, September 26, 2019
2:30 – 4:00 PM
385 Russell Senate Office Building

Hearing Transcript

Hearing Summary

Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a hearing about the religious freedom situation in Iraq and the conditions that would enable religious minorities to return to and flourish in their communities.

Iraq has traditionally been home to one of the most religiously and ethnically diverse populations in the Middle East. While a majority Shi’a Muslim and minority Sunni Muslim population together account for 95-98% of the country, Iraq also once boasted a large Chaldean and Assyrian Christian population of around 1.5 million and around half a million Yazidis, in addition to an array of smaller ethno-religious communities such as Shabaks, Kaka’is, Sabean-Mandaeans, and others. However, systematic persecution and the ongoing violent conflict have caused those traditional demographics to undergo seismic shifts, displacing record numbers of people who are seeking to return to their historic homelands.

More than five years after ISIS’ genocidal rampage across northwest Iraq, circumstances for traumatized minorities remain dire. Tens of thousands of Yazidis linger in IDP camps, their villages in Sinjar still in ruin, while Iraqi Christians—of whom only an estimated 200,000 remain in the country—trickle back to towns in the Nineveh Plain while questioning whether Iraq still holds a place for them. The United States and other international partners have pledged tens of millions of dollars to help rehabilitate areas that ISIS left in ruin, and those funds have begun to make a difference—but there still remains substantial, long-term work to help those vulnerable populations return, rebuild, and remain.

Witnesses will highlight U.S. policies and programs in Iraq that support religious minorities, ongoing religious freedom-related challenges in the country such as anti-blasphemy laws and discrimination, and the factors on the ground affecting religious communities’ ability to return to their homes.

Opening Remarks

• Tony Perkins, Chair, USCIRF
  ​Written Remarks
   
• Gayle Manchin, Vice Chair, USCIRF
  Written Remarks
   
• Nadine Maenza, Vice Chair, USCIRF​
  Written Remarks
   

Panel I

• Hallam Ferguson, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Middle East Bureau, United States Agency for International Development
  Written Testimony
   

Panel II

• Pari Ibrahim, Executive Director, Free Yezidi Foundation
  Written Testimony
   
• Reine Hanna, Director, Assyrian Policy Institute
  Written Testimony
   
• Aaron Ashoff, Deputy Director for International Projects, Samaritan’s Purse
  Written Testimony
   
• Scott Portman, Director, Middle East and North Africa, Heartland Alliance International  

Bios

Submitted for the Record

• Victor Marx Written Statement
   
• Iraqi Christian Foundation Statement

This hearing is open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the public, and the media. Members of the media can RSVP at [email protected]. The hearing will be livestreamed via the Commission website. For any questions please contact Jamie Staley at [email protected] or 202-786-0606.

732 NORTH CAPITOL STREET, NW SUITE A714 | WASHINGTON, DC 20401 | (202) 523-3240

Tony Perkins, Chair · Gayle Manchin, Vice Chair · Nadine Maenza, Vice Chair 
Kristina Arriaga · Gary Bauer · Anurima Bhargava
Tenzin Dorjee · Andy Khawaja · Johnnie Moore
Erin D. Singshinsuk, Executive Director

www.uscirf.gov

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on threats to religious freedom abroad.

During the week of the 2019 Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, USCIRF participated through the following events:

Tuesday, July 16

The Mass Destruction and Desecration of Uyghur Mosques in China
Sponsored by Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP)
Speaking: Commissioner Tenzin Dorjee
4:00 - 5:00 pm
George Washington University*
Marvin Center

A Conversation with U.S. Lawmakers on Religious Persecution
Sponsored by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Congressional Caucus and Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC)
Speaking: Commissioner Tenzin Dorjee
6:00 - 7:30 pm
Capitol Visitor Center (HVC 201)
First Street SE
Washington, DC 20004

Will Religious Freedom Survive in Northeast Syria?
Sponsored by Family Research Council (FRC)
Speaking: Chair Tony Perkins
6:00 - 7:30 pm
Family Research Council
801 G Street NW
Washington, DC 20001

Wednesday, July 17

Best Practices in International Religious Freedom Advocacy (Breakout Session)
Speaking: Commissioner Kristina Arriaga
10:45 - 12:15 pm
State Department*

Deep Dive — Challenges to Religious Freedom in the Middle East and North Africa (Breakout Session)
Speaking: Director of Research & Policy Dwight Bashir
10:45 am - 12:15 pm
State Department*

Monitoring International Religious Freedom (Breakout Session)
Speaking: Chair Tony Perkins and Vice Chair Gayle Manchin; Q&A with all Commissioners
1:15 - 2:45 pm
State Department*

Journalism and International Religious Freedom (Breakout Session)
Speaking: Commissioner Johnnie Moore
1:15 - 2:45 pm
State Department*

Quantifying Religious Freedom: A 10-Year Global Analysis of Pew Research
Sponsored by Christianity Today and Institute for Global Engagement (IGE)
Speaking: Commissioner Kristina Arriaga
1:30 - 3:00 pm
George Washington University*
Marvin Center

Deep Dive — Challenges to Religious Freedom in East Asia and Pacific (Breakout Session)
Speaking: Deputy Director of Research & Policy Tina Mufford
1:45 - 3:15 pm
State Department*

Shining a Light on the Uyghur Crisis & Reflecting on Our Global Movement for Religious Freedom (Ministerial Reception)
Sponsored by IRF Roundtable
Speaking: Vice Chair Nadine Maenza
6:00 - 8:00 pm
United States Institute of Peace
2301 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20037

The Role of International Religious Freedom in U.S. Foreign Policy
Sponsored by the Loeb Institute for Religious Freedom, George Washington University
Speaking: Commissioners Anurima Bhargava and Johnnie Moore
The George Washington Textile Museum
701 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052
5:15 - 6:30 pm
 

Thursday, July 18

U.S. Government Grant Training (Hosted by USCIRF)
Opening Remarks: Vice Chair Gayle Manchin
9:00 - 11:00 am
Government Publishing Office
Harding Hall
732 N. Capitol Street, NW
Washington, DC 201401

The Impact of War on Religious Freedom
Speaking: Vice Chair Nadine Maenza and Commissioner Kristina Arriaga
9:00 am to 12:00 pm
Museum of the Bible
400 4th Street SW
Washington, DC 20024

Falun Gong Rally
Speaking: Vice Chair Gayle Manchin
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol

Christian Holy Sites and Holy Places in the Middle East
Sponsored by International Community of the Holy Sepulchre and Hudson Institute's Working Group on Christians and Religious Pluralism in the Middle East
Speaking: Commissioner Kristina Arriaga
12:00 - 2:00 pm
Washington School of International Affairs
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

For more information about the 2019 Ministerial, click here.

For more information about side events taking place during the Ministerial, click here.