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February 25, 2021
Feb 25, 2021
On February 1, 2021, the Burmese military declared the results of the November 2020 democratic elections to be invalid, enacted a one-year state of emergency, and detained State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Myint Swe along with other state officials. This coup d’état is especially concerning for religious and ethnic communities already facing violence in Burma.
The military has been accused by the international community of conducting a genocidal campaign against the Rohingya Muslim population by targeting them with killings, sexual violence, forced starvation, and arbitrary arrests, among other atrocities. This same military is now in control of the country. Ongoing violence against the Rohingya people in Rakhine state has led many to flee to neighboring Bangladesh and other Southeast Asian countries for refuge.
Naomi Kikoler with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) joins us today to discuss the implications of the military coup on religious minorities in Burma and what the United States and international community can do in response.
Featuring:
Dwight Bashir, Director of Outreach and Policy, USCIRF
Naomi Kikoler, Director of the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, USHMM
Read USCIRF's 2020 Factsheet on Rohingya Refugees
Watch USCIRF’s Aug. 2020 event on Rohingya
Read USCIRF’s response to the Feb. 2020 Coup D’état
February 04, 2021
Feb 4, 2021
As the Biden administration begins to formulate its broader human rights policy, USCIRF highlights several priority countries when it comes to international religious freedom. Condemning and preventing religious freedom violations around the globe continues to be a top priority for the United States. While some are critical of the role the U.S. government plays in championing religious freedom globally, there are also others who say, “If not the United States., then who?” In recent years, there have been an emergence of new multilateral entities dedicated to promoting and protecting religious freedom worldwide. Do these entities have the potential to foster a more effective approach to addressing religious freedom challenges around the world?
Knox Thames, an expert on global religious freedom issues who worked at the State Department under both the Obama and Trump administrations, joins Dwight Bashir to discuss the top religious freedom issues facing the Biden administration and offers recommendations for U.S. policy.
Featuring:
Dwight Bashir, Director of Outreach and Policy, USCIRF
Knox Thames, Senior Fellow, Institute for Global Engagement & Visiting Expert, U.S. Institute of Peace
April 21, 2021
Apr 21, 2021
USCIRF Releases 2021 Annual Report with Recommendations for U.S. Policy
No Longer Recommends Three Countries for Special Watch List
Washington, D.C. – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released its 2021 Annual Report documenting developments during 2020, including significant progress in countries such as Sudan. Meanwhile, other nations implemented laws and policies that further target religious communities, and in some cases amount to genocide and crimes against humanity. USCIRF’s 2021 Annual Report provides recommendations to enhance the U.S. government’s promotion of freedom of religion or belief abroad.
In its report, USCIRF also monitored public health measures put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and their impact on freedom of religion or belief. In many cases, these measures complied with international human rights standards, but in some countries, already marginalized religious communities faced official and societal stigmatization, harassment, and discrimination for allegedly causing or spreading the virus.
“This past year was challenging for most nations trying to balance public health concerns alongside the fundamental right to freedom of religion or belief. Though some governments took advantage of the restrictions to target specific religious communities, we were encouraged by the positive steps various countries took. For example, as a result of COVID-19 outbreaks, many prisoners of conscience were furloughed or released, such as in Eritrea,” USCIRF Chair Gayle Manchin said. “USCIRF will continue to monitor how countries respond to and recover from COVID-19, and whether the loosening of restrictions is fair to people of all faiths and nonbelievers.”
USCIRF’s independence and bipartisanship enables it to unflinchingly identify threats to religious freedom around the world. In the 2021 Annual Report, USCIRF recommends 14 countries to the State Department for designation as “countries of particular concern” (CPCs) because their governments engage in or tolerate “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations.” These include 10 that the State Department designated as CPCs in December 2020—Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan—as well as four others—India, Russia, Syria, and Vietnam. For the first time ever, the State Department designated Nigeria as a CPC in 2020, which USCIRF had been recommending since 2009.
The 2021 Annual Report also recommends 12 countries for placement on the State Department’s Special Watch List (SWL) based on their governments’ perpetration or toleration of severe violations. These include two that the State Department placed on that list in December 2020—Cuba and Nicaragua—as well as 10 others—Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. In 2021, USCIRF is not recommending SWL placement for Bahrain, the Central African Republic (CAR), and Sudan, which were among its SWL recommendations in its 2020 Annual Report. USCIRF has concluded that, although religious freedom concerns remain in all three countries, conditions last year did not meet the high threshold required to recommend SWL status.
The 2021 Annual Report further recommends to the State Department seven non-state actors for redesignation as “entities of particular concern” (EPCs) for systematic, ongoing, egregious violations. The State Department designated all seven of these groups as EPCs in December 2020—al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, the Houthis, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), and the Taliban.
“In 2020, the Trump administration continued to prioritize international religious freedom. Much progress was made, and our 2021 Annual Report makes recommendations about how Congress and the Executive Branch, now under President Biden, can further advance the U.S. commitment to freedom of religion abroad,” USCIRF Vice Chair Tony Perkins stated. “In order to maintain the crucial momentum of international religious freedom as a U.S. foreign policy priority, USCIRF strongly urges the Biden administration to take a unique action for each country designated as a CPC to provide accountability for religious freedom abuses and to implement the other recommendations contained in our report.”
In addition to chapters with key findings and U.S. policy recommendations for these 26 countries, the annual report describes and assesses U.S. international religious freedom policy overall. The report also highlights important global developments and trends related to religious freedom during 2020, including in countries that do not meet the criteria for CPC or SWL recommendations. These include: COVID-19 and religious freedom; attacks on houses of worship; political unrest leading to religious freedom violations; blasphemy laws; global antisemitism; and China’s international influence on religious freedom and human rights.
“USCIRF’s 2021 Annual Report documents both the deepening of religious divides, and intensified religious persecution and violence during the global pandemics; and the swift and significant progress that can and has been made, as in Sudan, to support and strengthen religious communities of all faiths,” USCIRF Vice Chair Anurima Bhargava added. “We urge the Biden administration and Congress to champion religious freedom and to center the safety and dignity of religious communities as foreign policy priorities. USCIRF recommends that the administration should immediately increase the annual ceiling for refugees; and definitively and publicly conclude that the atrocities committed against the Rohingya people by the Burmese military constitute genocide and take action accordingly; as the State Department recently determined regarding China’s genocide against Uyghur and other Turkic Muslims.”
The report includes two new sections, one highlighting key USCIRF recommendations that the U.S. government has implemented from USCIRF 2020 annual report, and the other addressing human rights violations perpetrated based on the coercive enforcement of interpretations of religion.
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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 Media@USCIRF.gov or Danielle Ashbahian at dashbahian@uscirf.gov or +1-202-702-2778.
August 25, 2020
Aug 25, 2020
USCIRF Urges Justice for the Rohingya People on Third Anniversary of Genocidal Campaign
Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today marked the third anniversary of the Burmese military’s violent and brutal campaign against the Rohingya people that continues to this day.
“Three years after the beginning of the genocidal campaign against the Rohingya people, the Burmese government has done almost nothing to hold the military accountable or make conditions safe for the Rohingya to return to their homes,” USCIRF Commissioner Nadine Maenza stated. “Refugee camps are not a long-term solution for the Rohingya people. The United States and the international community must reinvigorate and catalyze efforts to permit the Rohingya to return to their home in Burma as full citizens.”
On August 25, 2017, the Burmese military launched a genocidal campaign allegedly targeting insurgents in Rakhine State. The United Nations Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar has documented instances of Burmese military units involved in indiscriminate killings of civilians, mass rape, and arbitrary detentions. According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than 740,000 Rohingya refugees fled to camps in Bangladesh, while another 120,000 are displaced internally. In December 2019, the Treasury Department imposed financial sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act against four senior Burmese military generals, including Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, due to their command responsibility for atrocities in Rakhine State.
“USCIRF urges the State Department to hold the Burmese Government accountable and call its actions against the Rohingya what they are: genocide and crimes against humanity,” noted USCIRF Vice Chair Anurima Bhargava. "The United States and the international community must also take steps to curb the hate and violence being perpetuated against the Rohingya -- then and now -- through social media and technology."
In its 2020 Annual Report, USCIRF called upon the administration to use its authority under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and the International Religious Freedom Act to impose targeted sanctions on Burmese officials responsible for severe religious freedom violations against Rohingya Muslims. In March 2020, USCIRF released a factsheet about ongoing cases against the Burmese government globally.
USCIRF will hold a webinar about Rohingya refugees on August 27, 2020.
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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 media@uscirf.gov or Danielle Ashbahian at dashbahian@uscirf.gov.
March 27, 2020
Mar 27, 2020
USCIRF Alarmed by Worsening Conditions in Rakhine State Following International Court Ruling
Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) expressed its alarm over the deteriorating conditions and continued violence in Rakhine State following the January 23, 2020 provisional ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Among the provisional measures, the ICJ found that Burma must “refrain from acts of genocide against the Rohingya” and “ensure that the military and other groups subject to its control refrain from genocide or related acts.”
“Following the ICJ provisional ruling, we have been dismayed by the worsening conditions in Rakhine and neighboring Chin State,” USCIRF Vice Chair Nadine Maenza stated. “We are, in particular, alarmed by the internet blackout that began last month and the increase in military operations and attacks against civilians. The internet blackout is limiting civilians’ access to humanitarian aid or contact with family members and curtailing civil society’s ability to monitor and report on the on-going abuses of the Burmese military.”
Since a military crackdown began in August 2017, nearly one million Rohingya have been forced into refugee camps in Bangladesh with many Rohingya who remain in Rakhine confined to camps with severe limitations on their movement and access to education, healthcare, and work.
“Especially amidst the worsening Coronavirus outbreak, we urge the Burmese government to lift the internet restrictions and abide by the provisional ruling of the ICJ,” USCIRF Commissioner Anurima Bhargava added. “The international community must work with the Burmese government to ensure that the vulnerable civilian population in Rakhine and Chin States are protected.”
In its 2019 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended Burma for designation as a country of particular concern, in part for its ongoing violence against the Rohingya in Rakhine State.
For additional information on the ongoing international accountability processes for Burma’s actions against the Rohingya, see the March 2020 USCIRF Factsheet: The Path Towards Justice: Accountability for International Crimes Against the Rohingya of Burma. For more information on the context of the Burmese government’s persecution of the Rohingya, please see the proceedings of the March 4, 2020 USCIRF hearing on Citizenship Laws and Religious Freedom.
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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 media@uscirf.gov or Danielle Ashbahian at dashbahian@uscirf.gov.
March 12, 2020
Mar 12, 2020
USCIRF Releases New Factsheet on International Crimes Against the Rohingya of Burma
Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new factsheet on accountability for international crimes against the Rohingya of Burma:
Burma Factsheet - This factsheet provides an overview of the legal accountability processes for alleged international crimes – including genocide and crimes against humanity – committed against the Rohingya in Burma, implications of these actions, and possible outcomes. On January 23, 2020, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) announced provisional measures requiring that the Burmese government must “take all measures within its power” to ensure that the military and any irregular armed units “do not commit acts of genocide” against the Rohingya in Burma. This unanimous decision was the first international court ruling against Burma and a key recognition of the ongoing vulnerability of the Rohingya to genocidal violence by the Burmese government and non-state actors. The ICJ case is being conducted at the same time as a universal jurisdiction case in Argentina and an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into Burmese officials’ actions against the Rohingya.
In its 2019 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that Burma be re-designated as a “country of particular concern” due to its systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.
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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 Media@USCIRF.gov or call (202) 523-3240.
March 16, 2020
This factsheet provides an overview of the legal accountability processes for alleged international crimes – including genocide and crimes against humanity – committed against the Rohingya in Burma, implications of these actions, and possible outcomes. On January 23, 2020, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) announced provisional measures requiring that the Burmese government must “take all measures within its power” to ensure that the military and any irregular armed units “do not commit acts of genocide” against the Rohingya in Burma. This unanimous decision was the first international court ruling against Burma and a key recognition of the ongoing vulnerability of the Rohingya to genocidal violence by the Burmese government and non-state actors. The ICJ case is being conducted at the same time as a universal jurisdiction case in Argentina and an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into Burmese officials’ actions against the Rohingya.
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September 01, 2020
Aug 27
WHEN:
Aug 27th 1:00pm
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
USCIRF Conversation: An Update on Rohingya Refugees
Thursday, August 27, 2020
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Virtual Event
August 25th marks the third anniversary of the Burmese military campaign in Rakhine State that resulted in mass atrocities and displaced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims. Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a virtual event to discuss the current situation of Rohingya Muslims in Burma and in refugee camps in Bangladesh, as well as the pending international lawsuits against the Burmese government (see USCIRF’s factsheet).
USCIRF Vice Chair Anurima Bhargava and Commissioner Nadine Maenza will be joined by U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide Director Naomi Kikoler, USHMM Fellow Wai Wai Nu, and Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK President Tun Khin to discuss recommendations for U.S. policymakers to alleviate the plight of Rohingya refugees and hold Burmese military leaders accountable. This event will be moderated by USCIRF Supervisory Policy Analyst Dominic J. Nardi.
Panelists
- Anurima Bhargava, Vice Chair, USCIRF
- Nadine Maenza, Commissioner, USCIRF
- Naomi Kikoler, Director, USHMM Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide
- Wai Wai Nu, Executive Director, Women's Peace Network; Fellow, USHMM Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide
- Tun Khin, President, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK
- Dominic J. Nardi, Supervisory Policy Analyst, USCIRF
January 23, 2020
Jan 23, 2020
USCIRF Applauds International Court’s Ruling on Measures to Protect Rohingya in Burma
WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) applauds today’s ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague concerning the Rohingya in Burma’s Rakhine State. The ICJ ordered the Burmese government to “take all measures within its power” to ensure that the military and any irregular armed units “do not commit acts of genocide” against Rohingya in Rakhine State and to submit regular reports to the court demonstrating its compliance with the order.
“This ruling represents a significant step toward justice and preventing future violence against the Rohingya and other persecuted groups in Burma. USCIRF has long expressed its grave concerns about the Burmese military’s egregious religious freedom violations and genocidal violence committed against vulnerable minority communities. The international community must now work to ensure Burma’s compliance with the ICJ ruling,” said USCIRF Vice Chair Nadine Maenza.
“We commend the ruling of the International Court of Justice, recognizing the ongoing violence and displacement of the Rohingya from their homeland. After many years, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya remain trapped in refugee camps outside of their country and in detention camps within Burma. The Rohingya are vulnerable and subject to violence by both the military and non-state groups. The United States government and the broader international community need to increase their pressure on the Burmese government to implement the ICJ ruling and to end the violence and displacement of the Rohingya,” added USCIRF Commissioner Anurima Bhargava.
In its 2019 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the State Department continue to designate Burma as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act due to systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom. Among its policy recommendations, USCIRF highlighted the need for “a case before the International Court of Justice based on Burma’s violations of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.”
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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 Media@USCIRF.gov or Kellie Boyle at kboyle@uscirf.gov or +1-703-898-6554.