USCIRF Calls Attention to Pastor Raymond Koh on 5th Anniversary of Disappearance

Washington, DC – The U.S Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) called for answers on the disappearance of Pastor Raymond Koh, who was abducted five years ago on February 13, 2017 in Malaysia.

“The government of Malaysia’s silence about Pastor Koh is deafening. In June 2019, it set up a task force to investigate his and other disappearances. Yet, it has consistently refused to make this report public,” said USCIRF Commissioner Jim Carr who advocates in support of Pastor Koh through USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project (RPOC). “Meanwhile, the government has been hostile to the Pastor’s wife as she tirelessly seeks information about her husband and the truth behind his disappearance and other minority faith leaders.”

Pastor Koh is a Christian pastor who, prior to his disappearance, ran an NGO focused on people living with HIV/AIDs, recovering addicts, and single mothers and children. Local Islamic authorities had investigated his organization over allegations that the group was working to convert Muslims to Christianity.

The National Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) announced in April 2019 that Pastor Koh was a victim of enforced disappearance by the Special Branch, an intelligence unit affiliated with the Malaysian police force responsible for internal security and intelligence gathering. In response to this investigation, the Malaysian government set up a task force in June 2019 to investigate the disappearances of Pastor Koh and others.

In February 2021, Pastor Koh’s wife provided remarks during USCIRF’s virtual event highlighting the RPOC Project where she pleaded for any information on her husband’s whereabouts.

“USCIRF urges the U.S. government to press the Malaysian government on Pastor Koh’s disappearance and encourage it to protect freedom of religion or belief and the basic rights of members of vulnerable religious communities like Pastor Koh. The country of Malaysia is better than this,” Commissioner Carr added.

In its 2021 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State place Malaysia on its Special Watch List due to its systematic and ongoing violations of religious freedom. USCIRF’s recent Malaysia Country Update and Spotlight podcast examined ongoing religious freedom issues that have occurred in the lead up to the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO)’s return to power in August 2021 and considered the potential implications of the change in power for religious freedom in the country.

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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].

Several Western governments joined the U.S. in diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics amid the outcry over China’s human rights and religious freedom abuses. Nevertheless, the lack of international solidarity on this issue is apparent. The International Olympics Committee (IOC) has been noticeably muted on the issue. Several U.S. companies like Coca-Cola, Airbnb, Visa, and Procter & Gamble that are major sponsors of the Winter Games have refused to acknowledge the atrocities against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang.

In today’s conversation, we explore the disconnect between the severity of China’s human rights and religious freedom abuses, and the international action to address them. We are joined by USCIRF Vice Chair Nury Turkel and Naomi Kikoler, Director of the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.