Oct 3, 2023

USCIRF Reiterates Concerns on Religious Freedom in India, Calls for Release of Religious Prisoners of Conscience

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) held a hearing on “Advancing Religious Freedom within the U.S. - India Bilateral Relationship,” which highlighted the Indian government’s legal framework and enforcement of discriminatory policies against religious minorities. Witnesses gave testimony exploring policy options for the United States to work with India to combat religious freedom violations and other related human rights in the country.

"Religious freedom conditions in India have notably declined in recent years,” said USCIRF Chair Abraham Cooper. “Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Dalits, and Adivasis are experiencing increased levels of attacks and acts of intimidation. Authorities have continued to suppress minority voices and those advocating on their behalf. These trends, and their implication for U.S. foreign policy, should not be ignored.”

USCIRF’s Frank. R Wolf Freedom of Religion or Belief Victims List, a public database of individuals known to have been detained on the basis of the peaceful exercise of their freedom of religion or belief, includes 37 individuals across multiple faiths imprisoned in India.

During the hearing, we brought attention to Meeran Haider and Rupesh Singh, both of whom are detained for protesting religious freedom conditions. Haider was targeted for leading peaceful protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and was charged with offenses under the UAPA. Singh is a freelance journalist known for his reporting on state violence and discrimination against Adivasis. He has been detained since July 2022, also under the UAPA,” said USCIRF Vice Chair Frederick A. Davie. “USCIRF calls on the Indian government to evaluate these cases and to release all prisoners of conscience and those detained for peacefully expressing their religion or belief.”

Since 2020, USCIRF has recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. This past June, USCIRF urged President Joseph R. Biden to address concerning issues of religious freedom and other related human rights in India during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit. USCIRF also highlighted the violence against the tribal Christians in Manipur in a Spotlight Podcast episode and published an issue update on India’s state-level anti-conversion laws, providing further context on India’s use of these laws to target religious minorities.

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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].

Oct 3, 2023

This op-ed was originally published by The Hill on October 2, 2023.

By USCIRF Vice Chair Frederick A. Davie and Commissioner Frank Wolf

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) engages in nefarious transnational repression activities such as relentlessly pursuing, harassing, and intimidating diaspora religious communities and others with ties to China. In response, the U.S. government has taken significant and consequential actions by prosecuting individuals who engage in these illegal activities on behalf of the Chinese government. For example, in May 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted Wang Shunjun and four of China’s Ministry of State Security agents for transnational repression activities targeting Uyghurs and Tibetans in the United States. However, the CCP’s malign political influence campaigns in the United States, too, warrant our attention and tangible policy response.  

China’s lobbying efforts in the U.S. Congress represent a particularly insidious form of influence, aimed at shaping federal policymaking for the furtherance of the CCP’s interests and goals. China’s state-owned and private companies with ties to its government hire American lobbyists to represent the CCP’s interest on Capitol Hill—including former members of Congress and other U.S. government officials, from both Democratic and Republican parties. For example, former members of Congress lobbied on behalf of Chinese government owned surveillance company Hikvision, which the U.S. government has sanctioned for its complicity in human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang concentration camps.  

Indeed, realizing the severity of this challenge, members of Congress from both parties have begun to come together to introduce legislation that would address this alarming trend. In 2023, a bipartisan group of senators and members of Congress reintroduced the Disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act (H.R.1190) to close existing loopholes in the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (FARA) and the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA). It requires registered lobbyists to disclose their foreign sources of influence, which includes “any foreign countries or political parties that are involved in the direction, planning, supervision, or control of the lobbyist’s activities.” 

More stringent disclosure requirements alone may not deter American lobbyists—including former members of Congress—from representing the interests of their CCP clients while, of course, getting handily paid for such work. The Stop Helping Adversaries Manipulate Everything Act (also known as the Shame Act; H.R.9140), introduced in 2022, would further ban registered agents or lobbyists of foreign adversaries from receiving compensation for their services

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is gravely concerned about the CCP’s political interference through lobbying in the U.S. Congress. Such malign activity undermines religious freedom and broader human rights, and it threatens our nation’s security and sovereignty. USCIRF held a hearing in December 2022 to shine a light on this issue and to explore possible solutions. We believe it is in our nation’s core interest to increase transparency on foreign lobbying and to ultimately and specifically ban lobbying by agents acting on behalf of foreign adversaries, like the CCP.  

As USCIRF commissioners, we urge members of Congress from both sides of the aisle to consolidate relevant legislation and to push forward all possible and consequential legislation to curb the CCP’s political influencing operations on Capitol Hill and beyond. 

Oct 3, 2023

USCIRF Releases Report on Religious Freedom in Kyrgyzstan

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new report:

Kyrgyzstan Country Update - This report provides an overview of the religious freedom landscape in Kyrgyzstan by outlining the laws and trends that impact religious communities’ ability to freely practice their beliefs. The government unduly restricts religious activities through various laws, policies, and actions that violate international human rights standards and has recently taken additional steps to further reduce religious freedom. The report summarizes Kyrgyzstan’s 2008 religion law and discusses its law on extremism, under which religious groups have been banned as “extremist” organizations and alleged members of these organizations targeted for their peaceful religious activities. The report also outlines issues pertinent to certain Christian groups, individuals prosecuted for their online religious activities, and the Jewish community in Bishkek.

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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].