March 1, 2012 | by USCIRF

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) renews its call for justice for Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's slain Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs, and a longtime religious freedom advocate who was assassinated a year ago today by the Pakistani Taliban.

"Shahbaz Bhatti was murdered on March 2, 2011 for daring to oppose Pakistan's blasphemy law and defending the rights of Pakistan's religious minorities,” said Leonard Leo , USCIRF chair. "Despite Bhatti's being a cabinet member, the Pakistani government has done virtually little to investigate the crime and bring the perpetrators to justice. The United States and the international community must press Pakistan on this case, so that every Pakistani knows that people who commit violence will be held to account and that individuals can stand for religious freedom without risking their lives.”

The only Christian in Pakistan's federal cabinet, Bhatti was assassinated outside his mother's home in Islamabad. Tehrik-i-Taliban, commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility. Bhatti had received multiple death threats, including those from Tehrik-i-Taliban, because of his advocacy against the blasphemy law. The investigation into his murder has made little progress, with initial efforts focused on the Christian community and financial disputes with Bhatti's family. The government did not issue an arrest warrant until December 2011 for Pakistanis residing in the Persian Gulf. No one currently is in custody: all of those arrested for suspected involvement have been released.

"Statements reportedly made by some government officials that Bhatti's assassins were not the Pakistani Taliban are preposterous. The Pakistani Taliban explicitly took credit for assassinating Shahbaz who was killed for his religious freedom advocacy. Pakistan's government must end this charade and bring the real killers to justice,” said Leo.

"The culture of violence that grips Pakistan threatens both Muslims and members of minority religious communities, and the very foundation of that society. Pakistan's government must find the resolve to bring the killers to justice and repudiate the culture of impunity that has plagued Pakistan,” said Leo. "Failure to do so reinforces USCIRF's recommendation that Pakistan be designated a ‘country of particular concern" for its egregious violations of religious freedom.”

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact Paul Liben at [email protected] or (703) 870-6041.

February 16, 2012 | by Felice D. Gaer and Richard D. Land

The following article appeared in the Des Moines Register yesterday. 

When Vice President Xi Jinping, China"s future president, visited the White House this week, President Obama should have pressed him to reveal the whereabouts of China"s famed human rights and religious freedom attorney and other dissidents who have disappeared while in Chinese custody.

Gao vanished three years ago this month. His "crime” was defending Falun Gong practitioners and arrested Christians, while peacefully promoting democracy. Gao suffered horrendous torture which his captors reportedly videotaped and showed to other detained dissidents. Due to protests from abroad, China allowed Gao to resurface in April 2010, but he has not been heard from since.

Gao"s story is not unusual. China has a troubled human rights record which has worsened over the past year. Haunted by the fate of its counterparts in Eastern Europe and Russia, China"s Communist Party allegedly fears that peaceful advocates for fundamental rights, especially religious freedom, will weaken Beijing"s control. China has forcibly "disappeared” advocates like Gao, and it jailed its Nobel Prize laurate Liu Xiaobo and vilified the Dalai Lama as a terrorist.

Religious freedom advocates are no strangers to Chinese prisons. Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, Falun Gong, and many Catholics and Protestants face prison terms and other sanctions, including destruction of property, torture and control over key doctrines and selecting leaders. China deems them a threat because it doesn"t control their conscience.

This reality is a continued roadblock in U.S.-China relations and for religious freedom advocacy. The visit of China"s future president offers a chance to remove this barrier. During Xi Jinping"s stops in Washington, Iowa and Los Angeles, Americans should call for the release of Gao Zhisheng and others who languish in prison or have been "disappeared” for their religious beliefs.

Among the others who have "disappeared” are Bishops Su Zhimin and Shi Enxiang, leaders of the underground Catholic Church. Both had spent decades in prison for their faith and later vanished, without notice or trial, more than a decade ago.

Another example is Gendun Choekyi Nyima, who had been designated in 1995 as the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibetan Buddhism. Since the Dalai Lama had chosen him, China "disappeared” the 6-year-old boy and installed another as the Panchen Lama. Gendun Choekyi Nyima is now 22 and authorities still won"t reveal where he is.

Gao Zhisheng, Bishops Su Zhimin and Shi Enxiang, and Gendun Choekyi Nyima are but four individuals forcibly "disappeared” due to their religious activity or religious freedom advocacy. They are a compelling representation in the panopoly of China"s human rights abuses.

In 2008, the United Nations Committee against Torture called on China to "adopt all necessary easures to prohibit and prevent enforced disappearances, to shed light on the fate of missing persons, including Gendun Choekyi Nyima, and prosecute and punish perpetrators, as this practice constitutes per se, a violation of the Convention [against Torture],” which China has ratified.

Chinese leaders claim they arrest dissidents to keep China stable and secure. But especially in a vast and diverse nation like China, it is impossible to create lasting stability by trampling on freedom of thought, religion and conscience. Only by honoring such freedoms can China build harmony from its diversity. By citing the "disappeared,” President Obama can stress that for China to reap the benefits of full engagement with the United States and the world community, it should give such individuals their unconditional rights to freedom.

Perhaps Xi Jinping can be persuaded to break from China"s past and let freedom flourish if he is shown how it is in China"s best interests. From President Obama on down, he must hear that no relationship with any country can be truly productive without a mutual respect for the rights of humanity, including the bedrock right to freedom of religion or belief.

Felice D. Gaer and Richard D. Land serve as commissioners on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact Paul Liben at [email protected] or (703) 870-6041.

February 14, 2012 | by USCIRF

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) expressed grave concern today for Hamza Kashgari, a 23-year-old blogger in Saudi Arabia who could face apostasy charges that carry the death penalty.

Earlier this month, Kashgari allegedly posted comments on his Twitter account that some in the Saudi religious establishment and public consider blasphemous. After receiving numerous death threats, Kashgari fled the Kingdom last Thursday for Malaysia. Malaysian authorities arrested him and this past Sunday deported him back to Saudi Arabia, where Saudi authorities immediately detained him. A committee of senior Saudi clerics appointed by Saudi King Abdullah reportedly declared Kashgari to be an apostate. According to reports, King Abdullah previously had called for Kashgari"s arrest and a trial.

"Mr. Kashgari should not be charged with any crime. Laws against apostasy and blasphemy violate the internationally-guaranteed individual rights to freedom of religion and expression and, as evidenced by this case, exacerbate religious intolerance, discrimination, and violence and lead to grave human rights abuses,” said USCIRF chair Leonard Leo .

In an unrelated case, King Abdullah last week pardoned Hadi Al-Mutif, an Ismaili Muslim man who had been one of the longest held religious prisoners in the world.

"Hadi Al-Mutif had been in prison since 1994 on apostasy charges for an offhanded remark he made as a teenager. For years, USCIRF had pushed for Al-Mutif"s release with high-level Saudi officials. While USCIRF welcomes his release, Hadi suffered tremendously during his 18 years in prison, alleging physical and emotional abuse, in addition to his poor physical and mental health. We wish him a full recovery and reintegration into society,” said Leo.

"The Saudi government should release Hamza Kashgari and other prisoners of conscience held on blasphemy and other charges on the basis of religion or belief,” said Leo.

Since 2004, the U.S. State Department has designated Saudi Arabia a "country of particular concern,” or CPC, for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, a designation that USCIRF has recommended since 2000.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact Paul Liben at [email protected] or (703) 870-6041.