Displaying results 1 - 28 of 28

Washington Post On Faith -- Honor U.S. values and interests: Back religious freedom abroad
May 14, 2013 FOR YOUR INFORMATIONMay 14, 2013 | By Katrina Lantos Swett The following was published in the Washington Post, On Faith on May 14, 2013. Fifteen years ago, on May 14, 1998, U.S. House of Representatives voted in…
Eurasia Review -- July 4 and the Ahmadiyya - OpEd
Jul 8, 2013 FOR YOUR INFORMATIONJuly 8, 2013 | By Katrina Lantos Swett The following appeared in Eurasia Review on July 4th, 2013. Last Saturday, on June 29, I was honored to speak in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to the Ahmadiyya…
Foreign Policy -- Pakistan's Religious Minority Problem
Aug 12, 2013 For Your Information August 12, 2013 | By Robert P. George The following op-ed appeared in Foreign Policy on August 9, 2013: On Sunday, August 11, Pakistan will celebrate National Minorities Day, giving recently-…
Washington Post -- The U.S.'s Lagging Commitment to Religious Freedom
Aug 22, 2013 FOR YOUR INFORMATIONAugust 21, 2013 | By Robert P. George and Katrina Lantos Swett The following op-ed appeared in The Washington Post on August 21, 2013. Although religious freedom is a pivotal human right,…
CNN World -- Fight Terrorism with Religious Freedom
Sep 11, 2013 FOR YOUR INFORMATIONSeptember 11, 2013 | By Robert P. George The following op-ed appeared in CNN World on September 11, 2013. Editor's note: Robert P. George is chairman of the U.S. Commission on International…
The Christian Science Monitor -- As UN meets, apply pressure against blasphemy laws
Sep 25, 2013 FOR YOUR INFORMATION September 20, 2013 | By Robert P. George The following op-ed appeared in the Christian Science Monitor on September 20, 2013. As the UN General Assembly begins its new session,…
The Christian Science Monitor -- JFK's call for religious freedom can transform places like Pakistan
Nov 8, 2013 FOR YOUR INFORMATIONNovember 7, 2013 | By Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett The following op-ed appeared in the Christian Science Monitor on November 7, 2013. As the nation marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of…
The Providence Journal -- Thanksgiving and Hanukkah spell re-dedication to religious freedom
Dec 3, 2013 FOR YOUR INFORMATIONDecember 2, 2013 | By Robert P. George The following op-ed appeared in the Providence Journal on November 30, 2013. Washington - As the nation celebrates Thanksgiving, Jewish Americans are also…
The Hill -- Congress can defend freedoms abroad
Jan 28, 2014 FOR YOUR INFORMATION January 27, 2014 | By  Robert P. George    The following op-ed appeared in  The Hill  on January 27, 2014. I testified before the Congressional Tom Lantos Human…
The National Interest -- Pakistan MUST Protect Religious Freedom
Jun 3, 2015 FOR YOUR INFORMATIONJune 3, 2015 | Katrina Lantos Swett and Mary Ann Glendon The following op-ed appeared in The National Interest on June 3, 2015 A court in Afghanistan recently sentenced eleven police officers…
Foreign Policy -- The (Non)Free Exercise of Religion
Aug 11, 2015 FOR YOUR INFORMATIONAugust 11, 2015 | Katrina Lantos Swett and Mary Ann Glendon The following op-ed appeared in Foreign Policy on August 10, 2015 As their nation celebrates National Minorities Day on Tuesday, August…
The Philadelphia Inquirer -- Threats to religious freedom
Sep 28, 2015 FOR YOUR INFORMATION September 28, 2015 | Daniel I. Mark and Katrina Lantos Swett The following op-ed appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer on September 27, 2015 Washington hosted two dramatically…
Newsweek Pakistan -- The Fight for Equal Rights: Can Global Religious Freedom Help Support Women's Rights?
Oct 14, 2016 FOR YOUR INFORMATION October 14, 2016 | Kristina Arriaga and Sandra Jolley  The following op-ed appeard in Newsweek Pakistan on October 14, 2016   “I raise my voice… not so I can shout, but so that…
Philadelphia Inquirer -- Commentary: Release every religious prisoner of conscience
Oct 27, 2016 FOR YOUR INFORMATION October 27, 2016 | By Thomas J. Reese, S.J. and Daniel Mark The following op-ed appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on October 27, 2016    Abdul Shakoor is a member of the…
The Hill: The List No One Wants to Be On
Nov 16, 2017 The following originally op-ed appeared in The Hill on November 16, 2017   By former USCIRF Commissioners Daniel Mark and Sandra Jolley   People love lists. And when those lists are in the news,…
Religion News Service: Stop the 'Weaponization' of Religion in Pakistani Politics
Jul 24, 2018 This op-ed originally appeared in Religion News Service on July 24, 2018. By Gayle Manchin and Johnnie Moore (RNS) - This week, as hundreds of religious leaders, nonprofit heads and government officials…
Washington Examiner: Washington Must Expand the List of Sanctioned Religious Freedom Violators
Jul 20, 2020 This op-ed was originally published by The Washington Examiner, on July 20, 2020. By USCIRF Chair Gayle Manchin and USCIRF Vice Chair Tony Perkins In Iraq, the 50th Brigade of the Popular Mobilization Forces has…
Vulnerable Religious Communities in Pakistan
Nov 20, 2020     The State Department has designated Pakistan as a Country of Particular Concern since 2018, but it has not taken any action as a consequence of that designation and has continued to violate…
Global Blasphemy Laws
Dec 7, 2020       There are 84 countries across the globe with criminal blasphemy laws on the books as of 2020. While only a handful of countries enforce these laws, there are still 84 countries in which a…
Governments Using Shari’a to Impose Death Sentences on LGBTI Persons
Mar 26, 2021 In some countries around the world, religion-based laws are used by governments to impose capital punishment against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) persons. All of the 10 countries…
Enforcing Blasphemy Laws Have Dire Consequences
May 27, 2021 Blasphemy laws criminalize expression that insults or offends religious doctrines. Such laws are often used to restrict freedom of religion or belief. As of 2020, 84 countries still had blasphemy laws. The severity…
The Impact of Majoritarianism on Religious Minorities in South Asia
Aug 19, 2021 We have seen a significant deterioration in religious freedom conditions in South Asia in recent years. Blasphemy cases, forced conversions, attacks on houses of worship, hate speech, and violence targeting…
Ahmadiyya Muslims Face Persecution, Discrimination, and Hostility
Oct 22, 2021 The Ahmadiyya Muslim community was founded in 1889 in Punjab, India and today has an estimated tens of millions of members globally. Because of the differences between Ahmadiyya beliefs and beliefs in Sunni and Shi…
Pakistan’s Laws Enable Islamist Extremism
Dec 21, 2021 The continued systematic enforcement of blasphemy and anti-Ahmadiyya laws have resulted in the discrimination and persecution of religious minority communities. In 2021 alone, there have been several examples of…
The Hill: A glimmer of hope in bringing accountability to religious freedom violators abroad
Apr 25, 2022 This op-ed was originally published by The Hill on April 25, 2022. By USCIRF Chair Nadine Maenza and Vice Chair Nury Turkel As the world is trying to resume some semblance of normalcy, it is abundantly clear that…
Deteriorating Religious Freedom Conditions in South Asia
Jul 22, 2022 Several major political events occurred in South Asia over the last year. The Taliban, whom USCIRF has recommended for years as an “Entity of Particular Concern” (EPC), took control of Afghanistan in August 2021.…
Religion News Service: Repression of women points to worsening religious freedom trends abroad
May 3, 2023 This op-ed was originally published by Religion News Service on May 3, 2023. By USCIRF Chair Nury Turkel & Vice Chair Abraham Cooper Denying religious freedom and women’s rights go hand-in-hand. Over the…
Religion News Service: Kashmir's houses of worship need protection
Jun 20, 2025 This op-ed was originally published by Religion News Service on June 20, 2025.By USCIRF Chair Vicky Hartzler and Commissioner Stephen SchneckWords fail to express the sorrow felt for those who suddenly lost their lives in the Air India plane…