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July 09, 2019
On June 27, 2019, Vice Chair Nadine Maenza testified at a Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing on violations of the right to freedom of religion of Christian communities around the world.Written Testimony
Hearing Webpage
July 24, 2014
USCIRF Vice Chair Dr. Zuhdi Jasser testified on July 23 before the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations of the House Foreign Affairs Committee at a hearing entitled “The Troubling Case of Meriam Ibrahim.”From the testimony:
“Meriam’s conviction, sentencing, detention and re-detention, and inability to leave Sudan all are travesties of religious freedom and human rights in Sudan. The laws which she was accused of breaking violated Sudan’s own constitutional and international commitments to religious freedom and human rights. USCIRF calls on the Sudanese government to immediately allow Meriam and her family to leave Sudan and all charges against her be dropped.”
Click here to view the full written testimony.
**Please note that shortly after the hearing, it was announced that Meriam Ibrahim and her family arrived safely in Italy. As USCIRF previously stated, “Meriam’s conviction, sentencing, detention and arrest are a travesty for religious freedom and human rights in Sudan. The laws which she was accused of breaking violate Sudan’s own constitutional and international commitments to religious freedom and human rights.”
For more information on religious freedom condition in Sudan see USCIRF’s 2014 Annual Report.
To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at media@uscirf.gov or 202-786-0613.
June 22, 2017
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom sent the following letter to Secretary Tillerson on May 30, 2017. Click here to read a PDF version of the letter.
The Honorable Rex Tillerson
Secretary of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Secretary Tillerson:
On behalf of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), I urge you to maintain existing sanctions on the Sudanese government due to its continued religious freedom violations. Since 1999, USCIRF has recommended, and the State Department has designated, Sudan as a country of particular concern (CPC) for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations.
The U.S. government imposed sanctions on Sudan in 1997 and 2006, in part, due to the Sudanese government’s gross human rights violations, including “the denial of religious freedom,” which remain in place today. However, on January 13, 2017, then President Barack Obama signed Executive Order (EO) 13761 indicating progress by the Sudanese government in lessening military hostilities, increasing access to humanitarian assistance, and cooperating with the United States on regional conflicts and counterterrorism. EO 13761 directs lifting the existing investment and trade sanctions by July 12, 2017 if the Secretary of State determines, in consultation with other relevant agencies, that the Sudanese government “has sustained the positive actions” described above. This determination does not require an evaluation of progress, or lack thereof, on human rights or religious freedom.
Since South Sudan’s secession in 2011, USCIRF has documented a deterioration of religious freedom conditions year after year. During this period, the Sudanese government has arrested nearly 200 Christians, including 14 religious leaders. Of these detentions, three pastors were prosecuted on spurious capital charges, including waging war against the state and espionage. Sudanese authorities also have demolished or partially demolished approximately 20 churches and church buildings; expropriated or threatened to expropriate at least 10 others; and have stated that they would no longer issue permits for new church construction. USCIRF also has documented the Sudanese government’s strict enforcement of Shari’ah law on Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The 1991 Criminal Code permits death sentences for apostasy; death or lashing for adultery; cross-amputations for theft; prison sentences, lashings or fines for blasphemy; and lashings for undefined “offences of honor, reputation and public morality.” For more information, USCIRF’s recently released 2017 annual report chapter on Sudan can be found here: http://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/Sudan.2017.pdf.
While U.S. policy toward Sudan certainly should recognize positive developments on a range of issues, it also should take steps to address severe violations of religious freedom and other human rights.
We respectfully urge you to consider these concerns as part of your determination in lifting the current sanctions imposed on Sudan by the U.S. government.
Sincerely,
Rev. Thomas J. Reese, S.J.
Chair
August 20, 2013
January 15, 2015
May 06, 2013
FOR YOUR INFORMATIONMay 6, 2013
Beyond Boko Haram: Nigeria's History of Violence
By: Tiffany Lynch for the Council on Foreign Relations - Posted on May 6
For almost two years, stories about violence in Nigeria have focused almost exclusively on Boko Haram's attacks on churches and Christians; police stations and other government buildings; schools and politicians; and Muslim critics. Forgotten is Nigeria"s longer and more deadly history of religiously-related violence. Too much of the analysis of Boko Haram fails to take into account how Nigeria's history of Muslim-Christian violence directly contributes to the Boko Haram phenomenon.
Since 1999, more than fourteen thousand Nigerians in the Middle Belt and north have been killed, hundreds of thousands displaced, and thousands of churches, mosques, and other property destroyed in Muslim and Christian communal violence. However, lack of political will and jurisdictional disputes to prosecute perpetrators of the violence means that almost universally, those and responsible for violence remain free. In more than a decade, fewer than 200 individuals have been prosecuted for their involvement in sectarian violence, despite available video and photographic evidence. Rather than prosecute, federal and state officials have repeatedly formed commissions of inquiry to review the causes of the violence and make recommendations to prevent further violence. But these recommendations are rarely implemented.
This failure to prosecute has created a climate of impunity with dangerous consequences. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), where I serve as senior policy analyst, has drawn attention to this in our recently released Annual Report on Nigeria . USCIRF found that a lack of consequences for violence gives a green light for future depredations. An incident sparking Muslim-Christian violence can trigger retaliatory ricochet riots in other areas.
Pour the gasoline of Boko Haram attacks onto this already burning fire and the consequences of religiously-related violence become even more dangerous. Boko Haram is using this culture of impunity as a recruitment tool -- young Muslim men, angered by the government's failure to address violence, respond to the call of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau call to attack Christians in "retaliation.” They are joining Boko Haram to attacks churches and individual Christians. In fact, many of Boko Haram's most deadly and prominent church service attacks in 2012 occurred in cities with problematic Muslim-Christian relations and histories of sectarian violence: Bauchi, Jos, and Kaduna.
Policy recommendations to tackle Boko Haram have focused on addressing political and economic marginalization in the north and ending abuses by security forces. Yet, the U.S. and Nigerian governments should focus on ending impunity and addressing Nigeria"s problem of Muslim-Christian violence. Boko Haram is feeding off of and fueling Nigeria"s history of religious related violence, adding momentum to an already vicious cycle. The United States needs to press its ally to do more, so this cycle is interrupted and perpetrators are brought to justice.
Tiffany Lynch is a Senior Policy Analyst at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. The views expressed are her own and may or may not reflect the views of the Commission.
To reach USCIRF please send an email to media@uscirf.gov or contact the Commission at (202) 786-0613.
December 06, 2019
The full report may be found here.
For 20 years, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has monitored and evaluated religious freedom conditions in Nigeria. This year also marks 20 years since Nigeria’s return to democracy and the adoption of the 1999 Constitution, which outlines the federal system of government and the hybrid application of religious, customary, and civil laws. The Constitution provides that states shall have High Courts, and may also have Shari’ah and Customary courts of appeal where required. During the same time period, 12 northern Nigerian states have also re-integrated Islamic criminal law in various ways. While the Shari’ah laws are based on long-standing practices, receive widespread support from Muslims, and apply only to Muslims, state enforcement of religious laws presents serious challenges to fully respecting freedom of religion or belief.
June 22, 2018
November 15, 2013
November 19, 2013
The Sudanese government’s imposition of Shari’ah countrywide in 1983, including on the predominantly animist and Christian South, significantly contributed to the onset of Sudan’s 20 year North-South civil war. Today, concerns about Shari’ah being central to a future constitution and the law remain.To learn more about the role of shari'ah in Sudan's constitution and law, see USCIRF's Sudan Policy Brief here .