USCIRF Welcomes the U.S. Government’s Issuance of a General License Including Northeast Syria

Washington, D.C. – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomes the United States Department of the Treasury’s release of a general license authorizing wider forms of private economic activity in areas of northeast and northwest Syria outside the control of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and liberated from the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS). Since 2020, USCIRF has called on the U.S. government to grant such a license—which allows certain activities in specified areas to avoid the restrictions of existing sanctions on Syria—for the northeast, an autonomous region of the country that is uniquely supportive of religious freedom.

“USCIRF commends the U.S. government for granting a general license to allow certain economic activities in non-regime held areas of Syria including those led by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria,” said USCIRF Chair Nadine Maenza. “Since 2020, USCIRF has urged this action to recognize and protect the religious and ethnic pluralism intentionally cultivated by the AANES and the Syrian Democratic Forces, who have allied with the United States and international partners to liberate the area from ISIS.”

The United States maintains a comprehensive sanctions program against the Syrian regime, an egregious violator of human rights including the right of freedom of religion or belief. The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, which went into effect on June 17, 2020, promotes accountability for the Assad regime’s abuses. In select cases, the Treasury Department issues general licenses to authorize private U.S. investment and other economic activities otherwise prohibited by U.S. sanctions against foreign governments.

“Northeastern Syria under the AANES has become a place in which diverse ethnic and religious groups, such as Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, and Yazidis, can cooperate on civic projects,” USCIRF Commissioner Sharon Kleinbaum said. “This general license will allow for critical economic development in a region—outside the Assad regime’s control—that uniquely fosters an environment in which religious freedom can flourish.”

On May 10, 2022, USCIRF held a hearing on Freedom of Religion or Belief in Syria, at which witnesses gave evidence supporting USCIRF’s recommendation since 2020 that the U.S. government grant a general license covering northeastern Syria. In its 2022 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended the U.S. Department of State designate Syria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).

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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 religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected]. 

USCIRF Calls on Iran to Remove Restrictions on Golrokh Iraee Following Release from Prison

Washington, D.C. – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today expressed relief that religious prisoner of conscience Golrokh Iraee has been released from prison in Iran. Iraee’s release is accompanied by a two-year restriction on travel and joining political groups.

“We are relieved Golrokh Iraee’s detention has ended, yet she and so many other Iranian women continue to endure blatant religious freedom violations for peacefully expressing their beliefs,” said USCIRF Commissioner Anurima Bhargava, who advocates for Iraee as part of USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience project. “We call on Iranian authorities to remove Ms. Iraee’s two-year ban on travel and participation in political groups and cease the persecution of Ms. Iraee and other women on supposed religious grounds.”

In 2015, a Tehran court sentenced Iraee for “insulting Islamic sanctities” over a short story she wrote criticizing the religiously grounded practice of stoning adulterous women to death. She was sentenced in absentia to an additional year in prison last April for “spreading propaganda against the state.” Iraee was held in inhumane conditions throughout her imprisonment. Prison guards assaulted her on several occasions, and she was often transferred to wards with those convicted of violent crimes. In April 2018, Iraee’s health deteriorated greatly after she went on hunger strike to protest prison conditions.

“Golrokh Iraee’s long-overdue release follows years of prison mistreatment, denial of due process, and being prevented from seeing her husband Arash Sadeghi, who is ill with cancer,” added Commissioner Bhargava. “The U.S. government should sanction and hold accountable the high-level Iranian officials responsible for Ms. Iraee’s mistreatment.”

In its 2022 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S State Department designate Iran as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for its ongoing, systematic, and egregious religious freedom violations. USCIRF published a country update highlighting Iran’s escalation of religious repression in 2021.

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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 religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].

USCIRF Calls for Panchen Lama’s Release

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is once again calling for the release of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, whom the Chinese government forcibly disappeared 27 years ago. On May 14, 1995, His Holiness the Dalai Lama chose the then six-year-old Gedhun to be the 11th Panchen Lama, the second highest position in Tibetan Buddhism. Three days later, the Chinese government abducted him, only to announce its own selection of the Panchen Lama months later.

“The international community will never forget Gedhum Choekyi Nyima, now one of the world’s longest-held prisoners of conscience.  We will continue to bring attention to his case until he is free, no matter how long it takes,” said USCIRF Chair Nadine Maenza who advocates for Gedhun as part of USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience (RPOC) Project. “We call on the Chinese government to show proof of Gedhun’s wellbeing and allow independent experts to visit him.”

Chinese authorities continue to target high-profile Tibetan Buddhist religious figures and supporters of the Dalai Lama. In 2021, monk Sherab Gyatso, a well-known religious philosopher and religious education advocate, was sentenced to 10 years in prison allegedly for “inciting separatism.” Reportedly, he is not receiving necessary medical care while in prison, following a pattern of state mistreatment of Tibetan prisoners that have resulted in many deaths.

“The U.S. government must continue to identify and sanction Chinese Communist Party officials responsible for severe religious freedom violations, as it did when it sanctioned Chen Quanguo, who developed the genocide playbook being used against Uyghurs in Xinjiang when he was the Communist Party Secretary of Tibet,” added USCIRF Vice Chair Nury Turkel. “USCIRF urges the U.S. government to ensure that the Tibetan Policy and Support Act is fully enforced and work with like-minded countries to hold accountable the Chinese government for its severe violations of religious freedom.”

In its 2022 Annual Report, USCIRF documented the Chinese government’s continued suppression of Tibetan Buddhism. In an effort to sinicize religion in Tibet, local authorities organized seminars to indoctrinate monks and nuns at Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, restricted Tibetans’ access to temples with heavy security presence, and destroyed sites and symbols of religious significance. Since 1999, USCIRF has recommend that the U.S. Department of State designate China as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of international religious freedom.  The U.S. State Department has designated China as a CPC since 1999.

U.S. Representative James McGovern also advocates on behalf of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima through the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission’s Defending Freedoms Project.

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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 religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].