USCIRF Welcomes Tajikistan’s Release of Shamil Khakimov and Calls for U.S. Policy Action

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomes the release of imprisoned Jehovah’s Witness Shamil Khakimov four years after his arbitrary arrest and imprisonment. On February 26, 2019, Tajik authorities arrested Khakimov following widespread raids on the homes of Jehovah’s Witnesses who were meeting together for worship. Khakimov’s incarceration was characterized by systematic medical neglect by the Tajik government, despite multiple statements from the United Nations Human Rights Committee on its obligation under international law to provide adequate medical care to Khakimov.

“The government of Tajikistan stole four years of life and freedom from a peaceful, elderly man who only sought to express and live his religion according to his conscience,” said USCIRF Chair Nury Turkel. “Time and again the government denied Khakimov access to vital medical care when he was sick, blocked him from attending the funeral of his only son, and kept him in prison even when the ‘crime’ he was charged with was decriminalized and downgraded to an administrative offense.”

The U.S. Department of State has designated Tajikistan as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) since 2016, but the government’s violations of religious freedom continue to reach new levels of severity. In recent months, the government has closed religious schools and bookshops, raided the homes of Ismaili Shi’a Muslims to disband private prayer meetings and fine participants, and has continued to enforce laws that ban any public expression of religion and that prohibit children from attending worship services or receiving religious education.

“The government of Tajikistan’s religious freedom violations have become so egregious that the world is beginning to take notice,” said USCIRF Commissioner David Curry. “USCIRF urges the U.S. government to take actions toward Tajikistan consistent with its issuing of the CPC designation, including conditioning U.S. security assistance to Tajikistan with religious freedom reforms, and imposing targeted sanctions on Tajik government officials responsible for severe violations of religious freedom.”

USCIRF continues to call for the release of all other prisoners of conscience detained in Tajikistan because of their freedom of religion or belief, such as Muzaffar Davlatmirov and Shohida Mamadjonova. In its 2023 Annual Report, USCIRF again recommended that the U.S. government designate Tajikistan as a CPC for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. USCIRF has also called on the State Department to remove the national security waiver, which negates any punitive consequences resulting from the designation. USCIRF’s Spotlight Podcast discusses religious freedom conditions facing the country’s Muslim population.  

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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].

USCIRF Welcomes the Release of State Department’s 2022 International Religious Freedom Report

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) commends the State Department on the release of its 2022 International Religious Freedom Report.

 “Across the world, millions experience discrimination, harassment, imprisonment, violence, and other gross human rights violations for peacefully exercising their freedom of religion or belief. The International Religious Freedom Report is an invaluable tool in the fight to hold violators accountable and improve global religious freedom conditions,” said USCIRF Chair Nury Turkel. “We thank all who work tirelessly to document these conditions. With this report, the State Department shows the entire world that the United States is committed to the fundamental value of religious freedom.”

Pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), the State Department is required to prepare this annual report on religious freedom conditions in every country. IRFA further mandates that within 180 days from the release of the report, the State Department announce the countries that will be designated as countries of particular concern (CPC) or placed on its Special Watch List (SWL), and the nonstate actors that will be designated as entities of concern (EPC).

“The administration and Congress must now use this body of evidence to pressure governments to protect religious freedom and penalize with tangible consequences those that blatantly continue to commit egregious violations. National interest waivers for CPCs give them little incentive to improve religious freedom conditions,” said USCIRF Vice Chair Abraham Cooper. “We urge the State Department to prioritize religious freedom policy in all bilateral relations and develop strategies to address religious freedom violations, including in countries not designated.”

The State Department’s annual International Religious Freedom Report covers nearly 200 countries, 28 of which are analyzed in USCIRF’s 2023 Annual Report on the world’s worst offenders against freedom of religion or belief. In that report, USCIRF recommended that in 2023, the State Department designate 17 countries as CPCs, place 11 countries on its SWL, and designate 7 violent non-state groups as EPCs.

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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] .

USCIRF Commemorates Leah Sharibu’s 20th Birthday and Calls for Her Rescue

Washington, D.C. – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today noted the twentieth birthday of Christian student Leah Sharibu. Ms. Sharibu was abducted six years ago from her school by Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) and has been held captive for half a decade for refusing to convert to Islam. USCIRF is extremely disappointed that the Nigerian government continues to fail Ms. Sharibu and the thousands of women and girls abducted by ISWAP or Boko Haram by not making their rescue a priority.

“Leah Sharibu tragically has spent the majority of her adolescence in captivity for holding true to her religious beliefs,” lamented Commissioner Frederick A. Davie. “Nigerian authorities have made little progress securing her release. This is unacceptable, and the U.S. government should do everything in its power to press the Nigerian government to act.”

ISWAP and Boko Haram represent two of the most egregious violators of religious freedom rights in Nigeria. In the face of extreme violence, Nigerian security forces have routinely failed to address allegations of bias and inaction. The government has also failed to sufficiently address drivers of violence and extremism, including against religious communities, in its country, despite significant U.S. financial support. Nigerian authorities even hold several individuals incarcerated for expressing their own religious beliefs and worldviews.  

“Leah Sharibu is just one of thousands of Christians and members of other faith communities who have been targeted because of their religion or belief and subjected to horrific violence in Nigeria,” said Commissioner Frank Wolf. “The U.S. government must take these threats more seriously and hold the Nigerian government accountable for tolerating such unspeakable violations committed by ISWAP, Boko Haram, and others. The State Department must designate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) and appoint a Special Envoy to the region.”

In its 2023 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. government designate Nigeria a CPC for engaging in and tolerating ongoing, systematic, and egregious violations of religious freedom and redesignate ISWAP and Boko Haram as Entities of Particular Concern (EPCs). USCIRF has also recently published reports on blasphemy laws and violence impacting religious freedom in Nigeria, and held a hearing on religious freedom and U.S. policy in Nigeria in 2022.

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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].