| USCIRF

Jan 25, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2019

USCIRF Vice Chair Gayle Manchin Calls for Immediate Release of Iranian Prisoner of Conscience Mohammad Ali Taheri

WASHINGTON, DC – Gayle Manchin, Vice Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), expressed renewed concern today about the status of prisoner of conscience Mohammad Ali Taheri. In his latest open letter, sent on January 13 from the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, Mr. Taheri describes injustice and mistreatment at the hands of Iran’s judicial system and announces that he intends to renounce his Iranian citizenship. Mr. Taheri has also reportedly received death threats from individuals linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“Mohammad Ali Taheri is a peaceful spiritual leader who has been denied freedom because of his religious beliefs,” said Vice Chair Manchin, who adopted Mr. Taheri as part of USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project in 2018. “Iran must take all necessary steps to free Mr. Taheri and ensure his safety and that of all religious prisoners in Iran.”

Mohammad Ali Taheri is the founder of the Erfan Halgheh spiritual movement. In 2011 he was arrested and tried for “touching the wrists of female patients” and “blasphemy,” among other charges. On October 30, 2011, he was sentenced to 74 lashes, a fine, and imprisonment. In 2015, Mr. Taheri was sentenced to death for “corruption on earth.” In 2015 and 2017, Mr. Taheri was handed a death sentence, both times for “corruption on earth.” Iran’s Supreme Court overturned both decisions and referred the case back to the 15^th branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Court. In March 2018, the court sentenced Mr. Taheri to a five-year sentence on the same charge.

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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.

Jan 24, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 24, 2019

USCIRF Welcomes Release of Jailed Jakarta Governor; Denounces Indonesia’s Blasphemy Law

WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today welcomed the early release from prison of former governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama – also known as “Ahok” – after serving almost two years following a blasphemy conviction. USCIRF denounced the conviction and sentencing of Mr. Basuki in May 2017, which took place despite prosecutors’ recommendation that the blasphemy charges be dropped.

USCIRF Chair Tenzin Dorjee said, “Although we welcome Mr. Basuki’s early release, we’re troubled by the fact that Indonesia’s blasphemy law remains on the books and continues to be enforced in other cases. This law violates international human rights standards and until it is repealed, hardline and intolerant groups can continue to target religious minorities, such as Ahmadiyya and Shi’a Muslims, as well as Christians, simply for exercising their fundamental freedoms of speech and religion.”

In each of its annual reports since 2004 USCIRF has placed Indonesia on its Tier 2 list for engaging in or tolerating religious freedom violations that meet at least one of the elements of the “systematic, ongoing, egregious” standard used to designate a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act.

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Jan 3, 2019

WASHINGTON, DC – Andy Khawaja, Commissioner on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), today announced his adoption of Hamid Kamal Mohammad bin Haydara, a Yemeni member of the Baha’i faith sentenced to death on charges that include attempting to convert Muslims, as part of USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project.

“I call on Houthi authorities to immediately release Hamid bin Haydara, to grant him access to medical care, and to end the persecution of Baha’i men and women in Yemen,” said Khawaja. “The Houthi disbandment of the Baha’i community in Yemen and detention of several Baha’i Yemenis on spurious charges is an intolerable attack on religious freedom.”

In 2013, authorities linked to the Houthi-run National Security Bureau arrested and detained Haydara initially without charges. Haydara virtually disappeared until September 2, 2014, when his wife, Ilham Zara’i, was finally permitted to visit him.

He was held in a prison in the middle of a conflict zone, with limited his access to adequate healthcare, until January 8, 2015, when the official charges finally came. These included allegations of being a spy for Israel, attempting to make certain locations within Yemen a homeland for the followers of the Baha’i Faith, offering literacy classes that followed a curriculum deemed incompatible with Islam, and attempting to convert Muslims to the Baha’i Faith. After a 3-year delay in sentencing, on January 2, 2018, a judge condemned Haydara to death. He remains imprisoned and the Houthi Court of Appeals has scheduled the next hearing for Haydara on January 29, 2019.

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