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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
February 20, 2018
On February 15, 2018, Vice Chair Kristina Arriaga testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission at a hearing on religious prisoners of conscience.In her testimony, Vice Chair Arriaga discussed USCIRF's Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project.
Written Testimony
Oral Statement
Video Recording of the Hearing
August 20, 2013
September 17, 2018
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom sent the following letter to President Donald Trump on September 14, 2018.
President Donald Trump
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
I write to you on behalf of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to express our concern regarding the upcoming visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the United States later this month and his participation in an investment conference in New York City hosted by a Turkish organization, the Turkey-U.S. Business Council, which is not part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. That President Erdoğan will be on American soil to solicit business investments among American companies is troubling given his personal and public support for the continued, unlawful detainment in Turkey of American Pastor Andrew Brunson.
We respectfully urge any U.S. officials and entities participating in the conference to reconsider the merits of conducting business with Turkey under the current conditions. The lack of rule of law and deteriorating human rights in Turkey, as exemplified by the case of American Pastor Andrew Brunson, is a serious cause for concern and not conducive to a positive business climate at this time.
USCIRF has been a leading voice advocating for Pastor Brunson’s release. In October 2017, two USCIRF Commissioners were Pastor Brunson’s first visitors in Kırıklar Prison outside of family, legal counsel, and U.S. Embassy officials. Our vice chair, Kristina Arriaga, advocates for Pastor Brunson as part of USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project. Although Pastor Brunson was moved to house arrest on July 25, 2018 due to health concerns, a move that USCIRF welcomed, we remain concerned for Pastor Brunson’s safety and security, and similarly for his family. The high-profile nature of Pastor Brunson’s case and regular, inflammatory public commentary by Turkish officials, including President Erdoğan, have created a precarious and potentially volatile environment that could put the safety of Pastor Brunson and his family at heightened risk.
USCIRF commends your personal efforts, as well as the efforts of your administration including those of Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to secure Pastor Brunson’s release. We ask that you and any U.S. officials that may interact with President Erdoğan or his representatives continue to raise the case of Pastor Brunson in all aspects of the U.S.-Turkey relationship and urge U.S. entities to reconsider pursuing business opportunities with Turkey at this time.
Sincerely,
Tenzin Dorjee
Chair
Kristina Arriaga
Vice Chair
Gayle Manchin
Vice Chair
Gary L. Bauer
Commissioner
Andy Khawaja
Commissioner
Nadine Maenza
Commissioner
Johnnie Moore
Commissioner
Tony Perkins
Commissioner
cc: The Honorable Michael R. Pompeo Secretary of State
The Honorable Mitch McConnell Senate Majority Leader
The Honorable Charles E. Schumer Senate Minority Leader
The Honorable Paul D. Ryan Speaker of the House
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Democratic Leader
Thomas J. Donohue President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
To view a PDF version of the letter, click here.
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 03, 2013
...that particularly severe religious freedom violations are increasingly perpetrated by non-state actors in failing or failed states?One of the greatest emerging threats to freedom of religion or belief comes not from the actions of governments but from non-state actors. Non-state actors vary greatly and include individuals, mobs, vigilante groups, anti-government insurgents, militant organizations, and U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and/or are members of the al-Qaeda terrorist network. They differ significantly in ideology, purpose, end goals, and level of international and domestic recognition, and generally are motivated by a violent religious ideology to impose their religious beliefs on local populations and harshly punish those who do not abide by their religious edicts.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, violent religious extremist groups operate in failed and poorly governed states to both impose their extremist ideologies on vulnerable populations and challenge central authorities. From 2008 to 2012, al-Shabaab, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization allied with al-Qaeda, controlled central and southern Somalia, a failed state for more than 20 years. A March 2012 coup d’état led to a breakdown of government in northern Mali, leaving it vulnerable to religious extremist groups operating in the region including: al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Ansar al-Din (Defenders of the Faith), and the Movement for the Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA). Both al-Shabaab and the three terrorist groups in Mali implemented hudood punishments on those accused of crimes or deviation from accepted behaviors, and desecrated historic Sufi shrines in their war against the Sufi interpretation of Islam. Boko Haram operates throughout northern Nigeria and has targeted churches, individual Christians, government institutions and leaders, and schools in what it states are efforts to “cleanse” Nigeria of “morally corrupt” influences and implement “pure” Shari’ah law to resolve the ills facing northern Nigerian Muslims.
Violence from non-state actors often also arises in countries where the government exhibits hostility towards particular religious communities, either religious minorities or dissenting members of the religious majority. When discriminatory government laws or policies signal that certain groups are disfavored, non-state actors feel empowered to carry out violent attacks with little fear of reprisal. This is the case in Pakistan where mobs attack those deemed in violation of the country’s blasphemy laws. As they fight the Karzai government in Afghanistan, the Taliban continues to commit gross religious freedom violations. In 2012, the Taliban executed 11 women for their advocacy work; in August they beheaded 15 men and two women for dancing at a party and bombed a mosque in Nangahar province killing 19; and in October, a Taliban suicide bombing killed at least 42 at a mosque during Eid.
In countries where these organizations operate, central and local government authorities often lack the capacity to stop the groups and need international assistance. To date, governments largely have responded to these groups with military action, with little attention to addressing political, societal, or economic policies that drive conflict and allow such groups to gain a foothold in society. Ultimately, when violent non-state actors remain unchallenged, or are not successfully challenged, they pose not only a threat to human rights, but also to the stability of the government in the country and regional security.
April 15, 2013
...that two years later there still have been no prosecutions stemming from Nigeria’s presidential post-election violence that killed more than 800?In April 2011, immediately following the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan, more than 800 people were killed and 65,000 displaced in three days of rioting in Nigeria’s northern states. Protests by supporters of the main opposition candidate, Muhammadu Buhari -- a northern Muslim who lost the presidential election, quickly turned to violence against Christians who were thought to be sympathetic to President Jonathan, a Christian. While political issues sparked the violence, its consequences were severe violations of religious freedom, including individuals killed because of their religious identity and churches and mosques attacked. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) reported that at least 187 people were killed, 243 people injured, and more than 430 churches burned or destroyed. Some of the worst post-election violence between Muslims and Christians occurred in Kaduna State. Human Rights Watch reports that more than 500 were killed in Kaduna State, the vast majority of whom were Muslims.
Despite the number of deaths, no prosecutions were undertaken at the federal or state level against the perpetrators of violence. Federal-state jurisdictional disputes and a lack of political will continue to pose a challenge to address the violence, its underlying causes and lack of prosecutions. The inaction of the Nigerian government at all levels fosters a climate of impunity and signals that future violence will go unpunished.
Since 1999, sectarian and inter-communal violence in Nigeria has resulted in more than 14,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands displaced, with thousands of churches, mosques, businesses, vehicles, private homes, and other structures destroyed. Almost universally, individuals identified as perpetrators have not been prosecuted. Of the more than 14,000 sectarian deaths, USCIRF has confirmed that fewer than 200 individuals have been prosecuted for their involvement in sectarian violence, despite the fact that video and photographic evidence of sectarian conflicts that identify perpetrators are on the internet.
In response to religion-related violence, federal and state officials have formed more than a dozen commissions of inquiry to review the causes of the violence and make recommendations to prevent further violence. However, commission recommendations rarely are implemented, and these commissions often fault the government for failing to implement the recommendations put forth by previous commissions.
August 06, 2013
....that Boko Haram has attacked more than 40 churches since 2012?
Boko Haram, a Hausa-language name meaning “western education is a sin,” is an Islamic sect that sees the federal and northern state governments, as well as political and religious elites, as morally corrupt. Boko Haram rejects the west and the secular state and seeks the universal implementation of “pure” sharia law to resolve the ills facing northern Nigerian Muslims. While sharia already is applied in the 12 northern Nigeria states, the organization believes that politicians have corrupted it for their own gain.
Boko Haram targets include churches, individual Christians, persons engaged in “unIslamic” activities, Muslim critics, northern elders, schools, police stations, government buildings, newspapers, and banks. International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda stated in November 2012 that there is a “reasonable basis” to believe that Boko Haram has committed crimes against humanity in Nigeria.
Boko Haram has attacked churches on Christmas Eve or Christmas day three years in a row from 2010 to 2012, initiating these attacksin northern cities with a history of sectarian violence in an effort to further destabilize Nigeria. It also has killed individual Christians and in January 2012 called on Christians to leave northern Nigeria. Boko Haram attacked a Christian area of Kano on July 30, killing 45 and damaging churches, and prior to that date, had burned down several churches after the Nigerian government on May 14 declared a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states. In addition to its bombings and burnings at, and shootings of, churches, Boko Haram has attacked beer parlors, poker players, and soccer viewing centers.
Rather than containing Boko Haram, the government’s excessive use of force has exacerbated the problem. Hundreds of Muslims were jailed without charge for being suspected Boko Haram members, with trial dates yet to be determined. The Nigerian government attempted three times in 2012 to enter into peace negotiations with the group, which failed when Boko Haram continued to undertake acts of violence.
Boko Haram started in 2002 in Yobe and Borno states and is based in Maiduguri. Despite the extrajudicial killing of its former leader and the arrests in 2009 of hundreds of followers (many of whom were released during prison breaks), Boko Haram has grown in numbers in the past two years with the addition of scores of economically and politically marginalized northerners. For more information, please see USCIRF’s 2013 Annual Report chapter on Nigeria .