May 09
May 9th 10:30am
USCIRF Chair Nury Turkel testified at the House Committee on Ways and Means Field Hearing on Trade in America: Securing Supply Chains and Protecting the American Worker – Staten Island
View the recording here.
Mar 23
Mar 23rd 7:00pm
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Mar 23rd 10:00pm
USCIRF Chair Nury Turkel testified at the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP): The Chinese Communist Party's Ongoing Uyghur Genocide
View the recording here.
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Nicaragua
Religion or Belief: Christian – Catholic
Date of Detainment: December/26/2023
Date of Release: January/14/2024
Current Status: Released
Religious Leader: Yes
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment
Reason for Persecution: Religious Activity Religious Figure & Religious Leadership Role
Nature of Charges: Unknown
Pablo Villafranca
Extra Bio Info:
Pablo Villafranca was detained for his religious activity and his religious leadership role.
On December 26, 2023, Nicaraguan authorities detained Villafranca, a priest at the Parish of Our Lord of Veracruz, in the morning and released him in the afternoon. However, police re-arrested Villafranca a few hours after his release. Villafranca was known to pray for the wrongfully imprisoned Bishop Rolando Álvarez. His arrest and re-arrest also come amid a crackdown on the Catholic Church in Nicaragua.
On January 14, 2024, Villafranca was released from prison and exiled to the Vatican.