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August 29, 2019
Jan 08
WHEN:
Jan 8th 1:30pm
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing
Global Efforts to Counter Anti-Semitism
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
1:30 – 3:00 PM
325 Russell Senate Office Building
Hearing Summary
Hearing Transcript
Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a hearing about how U.S. foreign policy and the international community can counter the growing threat of anti-Semitism around the world.
The global Jewish community is facing a rising tide of anti-Semitic hatred characterized by vandalism, Holocaust denial, violent attacks, hate speech, and the perpetuation of vicious stereotypes. Devastating attacks on synagogues, like the one in October in Halle, Germany on Yom Kippur, illustrate the risks Jews take by seeking to worship and live out their religious identity. Jews in some regions are even refraining from wearing kippahs, Star of David necklaces, and other identifying clothing in order to prevent targeted attacks against them.
Nations around the world have sought to respond to the threat by increasing security at synagogues and schools, strengthening education aimed at countering prejudice and Holocaust denial, and by supporting interfaith dialogue and understanding. The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief recently released a comprehensive report on anti-Semitic trends globally and offered policy recommendations to governments, and the European Union recently held a summit to develop strategies to address anti-Semitism. In the United States, Congress continues to work on these issues, most recently through bipartisan taskforces aimed at combatting anti-Semitism.
Witnesses will highlight recommendations to counter anti-Semitism and discuss how the international community can more effectively ensure that the global Jewish community can worship freely and without fear.
Opening Remarks
- Senator Jacky Rosen, D-NV, Co-Chair, Senate Taskforce for Combating Anti-Semitism
- Tony Perkins, Chair, USCIRF
- Gayle Manchin, Vice Chair, USCIRF Written remarks
- Gary Bauer, Commissioner, USCIRF Written remarks
- Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief Written testimony
- Elan Carr, Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, U.S. Department of State Written testimony
- Dr. Deborah Lipstadt, Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies, Tam Institute for Jewish Studies and the Department of Religion, Emory University Written testimony
- Sharon Nazarian, Senior Vice President of International Affairs, Anti-Defamation League Written testimony
- Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies and Professor of International Relations, American University Written testimony
- Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean and Director of the Global Social Action Agenda, Simon Wiesenthal Center Written testimony
August 28, 2019
Jul 24
WHEN:
Jul 24th 1:00pm
-
Jul 24th 1:00pm
Summer Seminar #2 — Anti-Semitism: The World's Oldest Hatred — New Again?
Wednesday, July 24
2168 Rayburn House Office Building
Speakers:
The Honorable Elan Carr, Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism
The Honorable Nita Lowey, Chair, Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism, and Member, U.S. House of Representatives
The Honorable Lee Zeldin, Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Rabbi David Saperstein, former Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom
Gary Bauer, Commissioner, USCIRF
Tad Stahnke, William and Sheila Konar Director of International Outreach, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Anti-Semitism Factsheet Anti-Semitism Around the World
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.