U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing

Citizenship Laws and Religious Freedom

Wednesday, March 4, 2020
2:30 – 4:00 PM
325 Russell Senate Office Building

Hearing Summary
Hearing Transcript

Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a hearing about how citizenship laws are leveraged to deny religious minorities the legal protections of citizenship, making them vulnerable to exploitation, discrimination, and mass atrocities.

The recognition of an individual’s citizenship is the bedrock for all accompanying political and civil rights, “the right to have rights.” In recognition of the importance of citizenship, the 1961 United Nations Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness argues that an individual may not be deprived of one’s nationality on “racial, ethnic, religious, or political grounds” or if this “would render him stateless.”

With widespread protests in recent months in India in response to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and a proposed National Register of Citizens, however, citizenship laws as a tool to target religious minorities is receiving much needed international attention. This phenomenon has a long-standing precedent with such measures as the 1982 Citizenship Law in Burma stripping the Rohingya of their rights as citizens. Without citizenship rights, minority communities are left to face further persecution and violence by both governments and non-state actors. In particular, government efforts to strip religious minorities of their citizenship can be a key predictor of mass atrocities.

Witnesses will discuss how citizenship laws are used to target religious minorities, particularly in Burma and India, and will highlight the importance of the atrocity prevention framework for understanding the potential consequences of these laws.

Opening Remarks

• Tony Perkins, Chair, USCIRF
  Written Remarks
• Gayle Manchin, Vice Chair, USCIRF
  Written Remarks
• Anurima Bhargava, Commissioner, USCIRF
  Written Remarks

Panel I

• Naomi Kikoler, Director, Simon Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
  Written Testimony
• Dr. Azeem Ibrahim, Director, Displacement and Migration, Center for Global Policy
  Written Testimony
• Aman Wadud, Human Rights Lawyer, Assam, India
  Written Testimony
• Dr. Ashutosh Varshney, Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences and Director of the Center for Contemporary Asia, Brown University
  Written Testimony

Bios

Submitted for the Record

• Elizabeth Seshadri Statement
• Collective of Indian Scholars Statement
• Hindu American Foundation
• Hindus for Human Rights Statement
• Justice for All Statement
• Shiromani Akali Dal Amritsar America Statement
• Sindhi Foundation Statement
• South Asian American Civil and Human Rights Lawyers Statement
• South Asian Organizations' Joint Statement
• South Asian Scholar's Statement

Additional Photos

This hearing is open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the public, and the media. Members of the media should 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.

Tony Perkins, Chair · Gayle Manchin, Vice Chair · Nadine Maenza, Vice Chair
Gary Bauer · James Carr · Anurima Bhargava
Tenzin Dorjee · Sharon Kleinbaum · 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.

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Briefing

Silencing Religious Freedom in Africa: The Impact of Speech Restrictions

Tuesday, December 10, 2019
9:30 – 10:30 AM
421 Cannon House Office building

Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a briefing on its latest report, Apostasy, Blasphemy, and Hate Speech Laws in Africa: Implications for Freedom of Religion or Belief, and a discussion with expert panelists about restrictions on civic space in Africa and ways U.S. policy can help address these concerns.

Across the continent, more than half the countries have laws limiting speech that do, or could, also restrict freedom of religion or belief. There are numerous ways to protect religious freedom without limiting free expression, but often governments resort to harsh measures that marginalize and repress. From the arbitrary or misapplication of hate speech laws in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, to the death sentence for blasphemy imposed on a blogger in Mauritania, to the blanket criminalization of proselytizing by non-Muslims in Algeria, speech restrictions often violate international standards and are subject to government abuse. Vague laws with severe criminal penalties also often target minority religious communities.

Panelists will discuss tools and strategies for governments and civil society to counter hate speech, discrimination, and violence based on religious identity in Africa, and will offer recommendations for U.S. government action.

Panelists:
Panelist Bio's

• Kirsten Lavery, International Legal Specialist, USCIRF
  Written Statement
• Ferdaouis Bagga, Policy Analyst, USCIRF
  Written Statement
• Mike Jobbins, Associate Vice President, Global Affairs and Partnerships, Search for Common Ground
  Written Statement
• Dunia Tegegn, Almami Cyllah Africa Fellow, Amnesty International USA

Moderator:

• Tony Perkins, Chair, USCIRF
  Written Remarks

This briefing is open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the public, and the media. Members of the media can RSVP at [email protected]. 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 
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.

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.