FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2019
 

USCIRF Statement on State Department’s Creation of “Commission on Unalienable Rights”
 

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) applauds today’s announcement by Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo that the U.S. Department of State has created the Commission on Unalienable Rights, a new commission to provide the Secretary of State advice and recommendations concerning international human rights matters.

“USCIRF is very pleased that the State Department is continuing to make human rights an integral part of U.S. foreign policy and relations. We applaud the creation of this Commission as another way of ensuring that the protection of these fundamental rights – the most foundational of which is freedom of religion or belief – is a core element of strategic policy discussions,” said Chair Tony Perkins. 

USCIRF stands ready to work with this new Commission in providing advice and recommendations to guide U.S. diplomatic and foreign policy decisions and actions with respect to international religious freedom.

“To the degree that this new Commission within the State Department can help further communicate from Washington to the Department’s farthest outposts the importance and urgency of religious freedom concerns as a fundamental human right, we believe this will lead to higher impact negotiations on behalf of the more than 70% of the world’s population that is currently suffering persecution or abuse,” stated Vice Chair Gayle Manchin.

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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 threats to 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] or Kellie Boyle at [email protected] or +1-703-898-6554.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 2, 2019

USCIRF Chair Tony Perkins to Advocate for Release of Imprisoned Uighur Muslim Dilshat Perhat Ataman
 

WASHINGTON, DC – Tony Perkins, chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), announced today his adoption of Dilshat Perhat Ataman through USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project. Mr. Ataman ran a popular Uighur-language website when he was arrested, at the age of 27, by Chinese authorities in July 2009 as part of the wave of arrests and disappearances made in response to riots in Xinjiang. Although he was released from prison in 2014 after serving a five-year sentence, he was detained again in June 2018. He has not been formally charged with any crimes related to his detention.

“Dilshat Perhat Ataman is one of potentially millions of Uighur and other Muslims unjustly held in Chinese internment camps,” Perkins said. “This ongoing assault on religious freedom and basic human rights by the Chinese government must end.”

USCIRF Commissioner Tenzin Dorjee adopted and advocates on behalf of Gulmira Imin, also a Uighur Muslim. Ms. Imin, a website administrator and activist, was critical of Chinese government policies. She was arrested 10 years ago this month, and in 2010 she was sentenced to life imprisonment. “Through our Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project, USCIRF continues to sound the alarm about the abusive treatment of Uighur and other Muslims perpetrated by the Chinese government,” Dorjee said.

In its 2019 Annual Report, in addition to other recommendations, USCIRF called on the U.S. government to impose Global Magnitsky sanctions on Chinese officials and agencies who have perpetrated or tolerated severe religious freedom violations, particularly Chen Quanguo, the Communist Party Secretary of Xinjiang.
 

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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 threats to 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] or Kellie Boyle at [email protected] or +1-703-898-6554.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE             
July 1, 2019

USCIRF Calls on Houthi Court in Yemen to Overturn Death Sentence for Religious Prisoner of Conscience Hamid bin Haydara

WASHINGTON, DC – Andy Khawaja, Commissioner on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), today called on the Houthi appellate court to overturn the death sentence, to drop all charges, and to release religious prisoner of conscience Hamid bin Haydara at tomorrow’s hearing. A member of Yemen’s Baha’i community, Mr. Haydara was sentenced to death in January 2018 on charges that include apostasy.

“Mr. Haydara’s case is an egregious violation of justice based on the Houthis’ intolerance of Baha’is and other religious minorities in Yemen,” said Khawaja, who advocates on behalf of Mr. Haydara as part of USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project. “He has been deprived of his liberty and dignity simply because he had been seeking to live according to his beliefs.”

On December 3, 2013, Houthi authorities arrested and detained Mr. Haydara, holding him without charges in a prison for more than a year. In January 2015, he was charged falsely with spying for Israel, teaching literacy classes deemed incompatible with Islam and attempting to convert Muslims. A judge sentenced Mr. Haydara to death on January 2, 2018. He is one of six prominent Yemeni Baha’i leaders currently detained on spurious charges.

In its 2019 Annual Report, USCIRF, for the first time, recommended designating the Houthis in Yemen an “entity of particular concern,” or EPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act, based on the group’s egregious violations of religious freedom in 2018. The State Department designated the Houthis an EPC in November 2018.

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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 threats to 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] or Kellie Boyle at [email protected] or +1-703-898-6554.