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July 22, 2014
Jul 22, 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) joins the U.S. State Department in condemning in the strongest terms the actions of the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). These actions include the recent ultimatum the group issued against Christians in Mosul demanding that they either convert, leave, pay a tax, or face death. The Christian community has lived in Mosul for more than 1,700 years, with an estimated 30,000 living there before the ISIL offensive.
“ISIL’s persecution of Mosul’s Christian communities, as well as the Shi’a and Yazidi communities and any Sunnis who reject ISIL’s extremist ideology, is deeply troubling and repugnant,” said USCIRF’s Chair Katrina Lantos Swett.
After ISIL overtook Mosul on June 10th, more than half a million people fled. Those who remained have experienced killings, rape, torture, and kidnappings. Women have been beaten when venturing outside their homes or viewed as dressing inappropriately, and Shi’a shrines and Christian churches have been destroyed.
“ISIL’s depravity has been evident from the beginning. Among the atrocities it has committed, ISIL murdered 12 dissenting Sunni clerics, kidnapped Christian priests and nuns, killed scores of civilians, destroyed ancient houses of worship, and marked non-Sunni houses and businesses for destruction. And now it has issued this shocking ultimatum,” said Lantos Swett.
“ISIL’s actions represent the total rejection of one of the most important, internationally recognized human rights – namely the right of freedom of religion, conscience and belief. It is vital that the United States and other like-minded governments act to defend this fundamental freedom against the onslaught of those who seek to impose their dark vision of total religious repression on the peaceful Christian, Yazidi, and Muslim communities of Iraq and Syria,” Lantos Swett added.
USCIRF also is concerned about the overall religious freedom situation throughout Iraq. USCIRF’s 2014 Annual Report detailed significant violations of religious freedom including the government’s increasing sectarian actions and failure to stem egregious and mounting violence which non-state actors have committed against Iraqi civilians, including attacks targeting religious pilgrims and worshippers, religious sites, leaders, and individuals for their actual or assumed religious identity.
For more information on religious freedom condition in Iraq see USCIRF’s 2014 Annual Report.
To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at media@uscirf.gov or 202-786-0613.
March 20, 2008
Mar 20, 2008
September 19, 2007
- Thank you for asking me to appear. I have been asked today to discuss primarily the effects of sectarian violence on religious freedom and human rights, with particular attention to the Shiite perspective and Shiite-on-Shiite violence in Baghdad and in southern Iraq.
- I note with interest that the September 2007 Defense Department report on Iraqi stability, which was published yesterday, says that "The security environment in southern Iraq took a notable turn for the worse in August." This assessment clearly tracks with much of the press reporting out of the Shiite areas of Iraq over the past few months. It is clear that intra-Shiite tensions are increasing, and that Shiite inhabitants of Iraq can no longer, as they have for the past several years, take security "for granted." High levels of violence in Iraq are no longer confined to Sunni areas or to areas where Sunnis and Shiites live closely together.
- It is likely that the drawdown of multi-national forces in southern Iraq is a contributing factor to the increased violence we are seeing. Britain has now reduced its force from 7,100 to about 5,200 in the Basra area, with plans to reduce to 5,000 by the end of the year. In August 2007, Britain abandoned its last base in the city itself, Basra palace, and is now concentrated at the local airport.
- The various Shiite factions appear to be engaging in, or at the very least preparing for, an all-out scramble for power. Broadly drawn, the fighting is between what I call the "insurgent" Shiites typified by the Mahdi Army (Jaysh al-Mahdi, JAM) of Moqtada Al Sadr, and the "incumbent" Shiites of the dominant political parties in southern Iraq, particularly the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI). The "incumbent" Shiites have professional party organizations and well developed political structures. ISCI was well positioned after the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003, and it participated in the provincial elections of January 2005. The less well organized Sadr faction did not compete aggressively in all the Shiite provinces of the south, and found itself in the minority on almost all the provincial councils of southern Iraq.
- In general, Sadr's lower class Shiite constituents want the benefits of the Iraqi state to accrue to them in the form of generous social welfare payments, subsidies, and government jobs. ISCI and its national ally, the Da'wa Party of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, tend to represent more affluent Shiites who want economic growth and free trade rather than government involvement in the economy.
- The "incumbent" Shiite parties are generally closer to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani than are the "insurgent" Shiite parties. This is because Sistani is generally mainstream and from the "quietist" school of Shiite Islam rather than the "vocal" school. Sistani is revered as the leading theologian by followers of both ISCI and the Sadr faction, but the Sadrists believe that Sistani's quietism does not necessarily serve their interests because he tends to support the status quo.
- ISCI controls a militia of an estimated 20,000 called the Badr Brigades, now renamed the Badr Organization. The Badr forces, thanks to the 2005-2006 tenure of ISCI senior official Bayan Jabr as Interior Minister, have essentially, by all accounts, taken over the Ministry of Interior and much of the police administrative apparatus. Badr loyalists dominate the 26,000 member National Police, which the congressionally-mandated "Jones Commission" on the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) said in September 2007 needs to be completely disbanded and reorganized because of its sectarianism.
- This balance of forces explains some of the recent fighting seen in several southern cities. For example, there has been nearly continuous fighting between the JAM and the Badr-dominated Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) in the city of Diwaniyah (Qadisiyah Province) and Nassiriyah (Dhi Qar Province). In August 2007, the provincial governors of Qadisiyah and another Shiite southern province, Muthanna - both ISCI members - were assassinated within a week of each other. According to the Defense Department report cited previously, both governors had been "pushing back" against JAM "expansion and control."
- An even starker example of the degree to which this infighting has spilled over into the public arena came on August 28, when fighting between the JAM and the ISF (purportedly mostly Badr fighters within the ISF) in the holy city of Karbala caused the death of more than 50 persons, mostly ISF and JAM fighters. However, the fighting interrupted a Shiite celebration (the birth of the 12th Imam) and many of the Shiite celebrants were ordered out of the city.
- There are few Sunnis in southern Iraq and therefore Sunni - Shiite conflict is not a major feature in the south. However, Shiite militias in the south have retaliated for alleged Sunni atrocities elsewhere in Iraq. For example, in June 2007, militants blew up two Sunni mosques in Basra, apparently in retaliation for the June 13, 2007 destruction of two remaining minarets at the Askariya Shrine in Samarra, which is in a mostly Sunni province north of Baghdad. Such actions have, by many accounts, caused the few Sunnis that were in Basra to flee for central Iraq, including Baghdad, where more Sunnis are concentrated.
- The city of Basra has complications even beyond those of Karbala, Diwaniyah, Nassiriyah, Amarah, and others. Basra is Iraq's main oil producing region and the point of export for about 80% of Iraq's total oil exports. In Basra, with power comes the ability to divert oil exports, smuggle them out, and pocket the proceeds. In Basra, there is yet another Shiite party that is competing for influence - the Fadilah, or Islamic Virtue, Party. Fadilah is led by Ayatollah Mohammad Yacoubi, who was an aide to Moqtada Al Sadr's father but then was pushed out of the Sadrist movement when Moqtada moved to take it over after his father's death in 1999. At the national level, Fadilah and the Sadr trend are usually aligned against the "incumbent" Shiite parties because both Sadr and Fadilah represent lower class constituents. Both have recently pulled out of the broad "United Iraqi Alliance" that is dominated by the incumbent Shiite factions. However, in Basra, Sadr and Fadilah are competitors because of the vast assets up for grabs there. Fadilah has 12 of the 40 Basra province seats; ISCI controls 21 seats, leaving Sadr with very little representation on the provincial council. In April 2007, the Sadrists conducted protests in Basra to try to persuade the provincial governor, Mohammad Waili, who is a Fadilah member, to resign, a campaign that is continuing.
- A Christian Science Monitor story of September 17 describes Basra as basically carved up among Shiite militias. The JAM is said to be very strong among the police force, and the Badr militia is said to have its loyalists heavily present in the Basra customs service that oversees trade between Iran and Iraq. Fadilah, which is very strong among the oil worker sector in Basra, controls the 15,000 person Facilities Protection Service (FPS) contingent that guards the oil infrastructure there. Another pro-Iranian militia is said to be operating in the city - Thar Allah, or God's Revenge, which grew out of a Shiite guerrilla group operating against Saddam Hussein from the marsh border areas.
- The internecine fighting among Shiite factions does not appear to characterize the situation in Baghdad. According to the September 2007 DoD "Measuring Stability" report, the Sadr faction-dominated district of Baghdad called "Sadr City" is "the most stable in terms of ethno-sectarian attacks." "However, this area continues to provide support for JAM operatives who use the area for planning, logistics, and other support activities and as a base from which to launch attacks on the International Zone and neighboring areas."
Hearing on Sectarian Violence in Iraq and the Refugee Crisis: Remarks by Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR)
March 20, 2008
Mar 20, 2008
September 19, 2007
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for inviting me to this meeting of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. I'm honored to testify before you today on the plight of refugees in Iraq.
Since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, violence has grown to an appalling level. The looting of Baghdad immediately after its liberation was a harbinger of the lawlessness which today grips much of the country.
In spite of this chaos, our men and women in uniform have done a superb job in Iraq. They have suffered many casualties, and have born their burden with admirable courage.
But if Americans have suffered, Iraqis have also had their share of tragedy. Iraqi civilians have born the brunt of incredibly brutal violence. Al-Qaeda in Iraq has committed a pantheon of atrocities, from murdering children to the recent atrocity against the Yazidi community.
In addition to Al-Qaeda, faceless sectarian death squads hunt the country. Americans may have grown numb to the daily reports of bodies dumped by the side of the road, or in rivers, or in alleys, but Iraqis haven't. For them, the nightmare is reality.
To escape this violence, millions of Iraqis have left their homes. The UN estimates that more than two million Iraqis have fled the country, and 2.2 million are internally displaced. Over half of those two and a quarter million have recently left since the Samarra mosque bombing in February 2006.
These refugees come from all walks of life, but especially from Iraq's most vulnerable groups. Human-rights organizations estimate that Christians, who constitute less than 3 percent of Iraq's population, make up at least 20 percent of the refugees. Sabaeans, a tiny sect within Iraq, make up 5 percent of refugees. These minorities are often targeted by Islamic extremists for murder, rape, or forced conversion. Unsurprisingly, many choose to leave.
The refugees do not only come from minority populations. Estimates indicate about 45 percent are Sunni, and 25 percent are Shia. Iraqis of every stripe are fearful for their lives. Tragically, the UN states that two to two-and-a-half hundred thousand of these Iraqis are school-age children.
These children and their families have left home for different reasons, but their reasons have a common thread. In a survey by the United Nations, sixty-three percent of Iraqis said they had left their neighborhoods because of direct threats to their lives. Twenty-five percent left because they had been forcibly removed from their homes. These threats are often based on religion.
Sectarian violence is today the leading cause of refugee displacement. The effect has been to segregate Shia Iraqis and Sunni Iraqis, both nationally and locally. In Baghdad, some Sunni neighborhoods are walled off to protect them from the attacks of their countrymen. In the south of Iraq, threats from Shia militias have forced Sunnis to move to the north and west. The Shias from these areas have likewise fled Sunni death squads and Al-Qaeda.
In a front-page article this past Monday, The New York Times described how the sectarian violence and ever-present fear of death have fundamentally changed Iraqis and their society. Mixed marriages have become rare. Many Iraqis leave; and those who stay behind in a mixed neighborhood live constantly on the edge of a knife.
Hatreds lasting a thousand years are difficult to reconcile. Our country, which is a mere 231 years old, has difficulty enough with our old disagreements. We have solved some and continue to wrestle with others.
Nobody, however, has helped us reconcile these conflicts. Americans resolve American problems; and today, Iraqis need to resolve Iraqi problems. US soldiers cannot solve sectarian hatreds.
By some reports, our current strategy, the "troop surge," is making things worse. The Iraqi Red Crescent estimates that as many as 100,000 Iraqis have been leaving their homes since February, at the beginning of the "surge." This is not the fault of our soldiers, but rather a natural fear of more violence.
Nevertheless, it seems like folly to me to use American troops to police Sunni and Shia Iraqis who hate each other. The refugees we see today, in a large part, are due to the Iraqis' inability to resolve this hatred. The mission US troops are on today seems misguided. We certainly need to fight al-Qaeda and train the Iraqi army. We do not need to be trying to force a political compromise that isn't there.
One of the tasks the United States needs to embrace more fully is the responsibility for the suffering of ordinary Iraqis. While we cannot necessarily treat the disease, we can help treat the symptoms.
America owes a debt to those Iraqis who have been affected by the war. We also owe a special debt to those Iraqis who have worked with American forces. To this end, I cosponsored S.1104, a Senate bill to increase the number of Iraqis and Afghans who could be admitted to the United States. That is one step.
A bigger step would be moving to alleviate the overall refugee issue. I have been working with Senator Kennedy to pass S.1651, a bill which would enable Iraqi refugees of special attention (like religious minorities) to be admitted to the United States. It would increase the visas we make available to Iraqis, as well as allow refugees to be directly processed in Iraq.
In a diplomatic cable dated September 7th, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker complained to the State Department about bottlenecks in the refugee process. Among other problems, the ambassador noted that refugees often faced up to a two year delay to enter the US, an unnecessarily long wait. He urged action. I heartily agree.
I know better than many Americans how difficult it is for religious minorities to thrive in this world. It is difficult in the United States. It is far harder in the Middle East. The condition of these minorities in Iraq is thus of special interest to me. If we owe a debt to Iraqis, I hope that this legislation plays a small part in repaying that debt.
Though America may bear overall responsibility, these refugees are not only a concern of the United States. Other countries, willing or not, are involved as well. Iraq's neighbors have perhaps the most pressing concerns about the refugee issues, because these nations often wind paying the bill. Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt have so far borne the brunt of the refugee crisis.
Jordan, which has a population of 6.1 million, hosts up to 750,000 Iraqi refugees. Lebanon, with a population of 3.9 million, hosts between 40,000 and 200,000 Iraqis. Syria, with a population of 19.3 million, supports an estimated 1.2 million refugees. Egypt carries a lesser but still significant burden.
Each of these countries faces significant structural pressures as a result of their decision to support these Iraqis. Jordan, for example, has an estimated 1.8 million Palestinian refugees in addition to the Iraqis. Jordan thus now has the largest refugee-per-capita ratio on earth.
Because of Amman's delicate political situation we must make every effort to ensure that the financial and social strain does not stress Jordanian society, and make similar efforts with the other states.
The final status of externally displaced Iraqis must also be resolved within a reasonable time frame. These refugees' suffering must not be prolonged as a political weapon by their host countries with which to attack enemies. America has a national moral commitment to resolving the Iraqi refugee issue as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, unconscionable delays have often prevented Iraqis from reaching safety.
The current refugee process requires potential refugees to leave Iraq before registering with United Nations refugee authorities. This journey is long, and especially hazardous.
Once Iraqis reach these authorities in Jordan, Syria, and elsewhere, a fresh purgatory awaits them. They must wait up to 6-8 months to be registered as refugees, and another 6-8 months to be designated as ready for resettlement. They are afterwards referred to the US and other final destination nations. These countries then have their own refugee processing systems, with their own delays.
Meanwhile, Iraqis usually lack access to basic social services. Given the large amount of children, the lack takes on an extra urgency. The NGO Human Rights First noted that America's funding for grossly inadequate. The United States gave $10 million to Jordan in the War on Terror Supplemental for Fiscal Year 2008.
In comparison, the United States gave Jordan $700 million in 2003 to offset the cost of the Iraq war. The United States is also spending $9 billion per month overall on the Iraq war overall.
Surely there is some additional funding available for the men, women, and children who are most affected by the violence in Iraq. It is America's moral duty.
We still have many questions to answer about solutions to the refugee crisis. Should we give economic aid to all countries which harbor refugees, such as Syria, or condition that aid on the treatment Iraqis receive? How can we expedite the relocation of Iraqi refugees? How can we prevent so many Iraqis from having to travel to other countries before they reach sanctuary in the United States and elsewhere? Should we focus our effort within international organizations, such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and UNICEF, or should we repay our debt bilaterally?
America historically has an honorable record in alleviating the plight of refugees from its wars. After the collapse of South Vietnam, for example, the United States absorbed an estimated 135,000 South Vietnamese refugees. In comparison, between 2003 and mid-2007, fewer than 800 Iraqis were admitted to the United States. Whether our effort is by ourselves, with allies, or with international organizations, more clearly needs to be done.
The plight of religious minorities is nowhere easy. It is most difficult in a war zone, in a region where they are already persecuted. The situation in Iraqis thus a humanitarian hazard of the first concern, particularly for those who bear overall responsibility.
Thank you for your time today. It has been an honor to testify before you.
March 20, 2008
Mar 20, 2008
September 19, 2007
And I welcome you to an appropriations committee hearing room in the Senate. It's nice to have an appropriation committee hearing room for a proceeding like this, an important proceeding. It doesn't cost the government any money.
But after that glowing introduction, I don't have very much to say; you've taken all my lines, but on a serious note I'm very delighted to be here and I thank the commission for what you are doing. We're about to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the International Religious Freedom Act, which Congressman Wolf and I had produced coordinately in the House and Senate. And it is very, very important work that you are undertaking. And I want to thank my longstanding friend Commissioner Leonard Leo for alerting me to the fact that you were here today and would be willing to hear a few comments from me.
The subject, which you are addressing, the sectarian violence in Iraq is one of overwhelming importance. Great humanitarian tragedy in that country today with the factionalism and with the battles among the Shi'ites and the Sunnis and the Kurds and with religious persecution the nth degree; they're not only persecuting, but they are annihilating as a form of genocide that they are undertaking there to the present time. And it is something which really requires a lot more attention from the United States. And the United States Congress, in a sense, has delegated a good bit of the important work to this commission; so, I'm glad to see you in session and hearing a very distinguished array of witnesses today.
The Judiciary Committee had a hearing in January on the subject of focused public attention and we need to get the White House more involved. We need to get the president more involved. When he speaks on the problems in Iraq, it would be helpful, I think, to note the refugee problem. And when you talk about mass migration, I was in the area in December and talking about the Mideast peace process with Syrian President Bashir Assad and he complains very strongly about the immigration problem there. Our figures listed at 700,000 who have gone from Iraq to Syria. He claims it's more like a million. And the United States has not been as open or forthcoming as the United States should be. I checked the statistics and found that since 2003, only 466 of these immigrants have been admitted to the United States, and last year, only 202 out of a quota of some 70,000.
So, our country should be doing a great deal more. And one of the items that is very, very problemsome, there are Iraqis who are cooperating with the United States on our efforts and once their identities are determined, they're at risk and they're being murdered and it is not a matter solely of humanitarian concern for those individuals, it is a matter of what we owe them. When they help us, we ought not to leave them at the peril of assassins, which is what is happening at the present time. So this is a matter which requires a great deal more concerted attention.
One item that I would suggest is that this distinguished commission get behind immigration reform in the United States, which should have a provision to deal with immigration from Iraq. As you know, we passed a bill in the Senate last year, the bill was passed in the House, but they could not be reached to reconciled; a little thing called politics came into play in the rotunda before there could be a conference report. Now this year, the Senate bill was defeated because of the contention of amnesty. And I have circulated a study bill which makes two changes.
As much as I dislike to have done so, I have eliminated citizenship and have only sought to eliminate the fugitive status of the immigrants so that the employers could not threaten to blackmail them into substandard living conditions and wages and so they would come out of the shadows and that we could register them, get them to pay their taxes, identify those who are criminals - you can't deport 12 to 20 million but you could deport the criminals. But I tell you just a little bit about the bill because I've talked to the majority leader Senator Leahy who chairs Judiciary and Senator Kennedy who's on the subcommittee, and we really need to bring the bill back. And that bill could deal with this issue to some extent in Iraq; can't be a total problem solver but it would take up and perhaps provide some suggestions and some recommendations.
Now those were my thoughts, distinguished commissioners. I again thank you for the work you're doing. When I say what is happening is the result of a legislation which Congressman Wolf and I pursued, I'm very pleased to have been a part of it. I thank you for putting me on the dais though I would've been pleased to have been at the witness table and I would submit myself to your questions, running the risk that you might have some probing questions for me as I do, on rare occasion, for witnesses.
March 20, 2008
Mar 20, 2008
September 19, 2007
Good afternoon. My name is Michael Cromartie, and I serve as chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. I'd like to welcome you today to our second of two hearings on the situation in Iraq. The first hearing, held in July, examined the serious threats faced by Iraq's non-Muslim religious communities, including ChaldoAssyrian Christians, Yazidis, Sabean Mandaeans, and Jews.
At today's hearing we will first examine the nature of the intra-Muslim conflict and the extent to which individual Muslims are being targeted for killings and other violence solely on account of their religious identity. Our second topic will be the refugee flows within and from Iraq, and the U.S. government's response to the refugee crisis.
This year, the Commission added Iraq to its Watch List of countries requiring close monitoring due to the nature and extent of violations of religious freedom engaged in or tolerated by the government. We made the decision to place Iraq on our Watch List because of the alarming and deteriorating religious freedom conditions for all Iraqis. Despite ongoing efforts to stabilize the country, successive Iraqi governments have not curbed the scope and severity of human rights abuses. Instead, sectarian violence between Arab Sunni and Shi'a factions has become an increasing problem.
Although the Sunni-dominated insurgency and foreign jihadi groups are responsible for a substantial proportion of the sectarian violence and associated human rights abuses, the Iraqi government also bears responsibility for actions it engages in and for tolerating abuses committed by Shi'a militias with ties to political factions in the governing coalition. One of the issues we hope to address at our hearing today is the steps the U.S. government should consider to address the security and religious freedom challenges posed by the intra-Muslim violence.
The confluence of sectarian violence, religious discrimination, and other serious human rights violations has driven millions of Iraqis from their homes to seek refuge in the Nineveh plains in Northern Iraq, and in predominantly Kurdish regions, as well as in countries outside of Iraq. For the past few years, the Commission has drawn attention to the growing refugee crisis and continues to emphasize the plight of those fleeing religious violence in Iraq.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 4.2 million Iraqis have been displaced since the war began. Of that total, 2.2. million have fled to neighboring countries, the majority to Syria, which until earlier this month maintained an open border policy for Iraqis. Among the most vulnerable are members of religious minorities, the ChaldoAssyrians, Sabean Mandaeans, and Yazidis, who make up a disproportionately large number of refugees from Iraq. As many as 2 million people have been displaced within Iraq. In March 2007, UNHCR announced that Iraqis top the list of asylum seekers in western industrialized countries and that the number of Iraqi asylum claims increased by 77 percent in 2006. UNHCR has registered 170,000 Iraqi refugees and is on schedule to refer 20,000 for third country resettlement this year. It has referred more than 10,000 to the United States, though since the beginning of this year, only 700-900 Iraqi refugees have been resettled here.
Clearly, the rising sectarian violence and the associated Iraqi refugee crisis require heightened attention and more effective action by the U.S. government. I would like to point out here that the Commission added Iraq to its Watch List with the understanding that it may designate Iraq as a country of particular concern, or CPC, for severe religious freedom violations next year if improvements are not made by the Iraqi government.
Before we hear from our witnesses, let me just say a word about the structure of the hearing. There will be several panels that will address two broad subjects. We will begin our discussion about sectarian and religion-based violence with two distinguished witnesses. When that panel has concluded, we will turn to the situation for refugees in and outside Iraq, beginning first with Assistant Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbray from the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. After her panel, we will hear from a final panel of refugee experts, including the Assistant High Commissioner for Operations from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, to gain further insight into the growing refugee problem. At some point during our hearing, we will also hear from Senators Gordon Smith, Arlen Specter, and Representative Steve Israel.
You all have the witnesses' biographies in front of you so I will not repeat them to you here. Given the number of panels we hope to hear from today, we ask that the witnesses on each panel keep to their allotted time of seven minutes in order to allow adequate time for follow-up questions. All of the witnesses have been asked submit longer statements, which, together with transcripts of the hearing, will be posted on the Commission's Website.
March 20, 2008
Mar 20, 2008
Wednesday, September 19, 1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 138
SUMMARY
The United States is taking measures to step up processing of Iraqi refugees, a senior State Department official told a hearing of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, but Members of Congress and a prominent international refugee organization said the U.S. government should be doing much more to respond to the refugee crisis and to address the sectarian violence that is one of its main engines.
The hearing on Sept. 19 was the second of two the Commission has held on Iraq. The first focused on the particular plight of Iraq's smallest religious minorities, while the second examined the nature and role of sectarian violence in Iraq and the much-criticized U.S. response to the greatest refugee crisis the world has seen in decades.
"The confluence of sectarian violence, religious discrimination, and other serious human rights violations has driven millions of Iraqis from their homes to seek refuge in the Nineveh plains in Northern Iraq, and in predominantly Kurdish regions, as well as in countries outside of Iraq," Commission Chair Michael Cromartie said. "For the past few years, the Commission has drawn attention to the growing refugee crisis and continues to emphasize the plight of those fleeing religious violence in Iraq."
Assistant Secretary of State Ellen R. Sauerbrey told the hearing that the United States had provided nearly $200 million this year to international organizations and non-governmental organizations to help Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Of about 10,000 Iraqis the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has referred to the United States, Washington has so far admitted 990 refugees during Fiscal Year 2007, Sauerbrey said. She predicted that the admission of Iraqis in the next fiscal year "will be substantially higher," with resettlement figures nearing 1,000 per month. Sauerbrey also said that at the same time as the hearing, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was announcing the appointment of a high-level advisor on Iraqi refugees. (Secretary Rice said that Ambassador James Foley would serve as the Senior Coordinator for Iraqi Refugee Issues.)
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) called the issue of sectarian violence in Iraq "one of overwhelming importance," and said that it required far more attention from the U.S. government. He suggested that the United States do "a great deal more" to open up to Iraqi refugees, and that President George W. Bush should become more involved in addressing what he described as a "great humanitarian tragedy." "When he speaks on the problems in Iraq, it would be helpful, I think, to note the refugee problem," Specter told the Commissioners. Specter noted the magnitude of the refugee problem, saying that Iraq's neighbors were shouldering a great burden while the United States "has not been as open or forthcoming as the United States should be."
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) also called for more action. "One of the tasks the United States needs to embrace more fully is the responsibility for the suffering of ordinary Iraqis," Smith said. "While we cannot necessarily treat the disease, we can help treat the symptoms." He highlighted S.1651, a bill he is co-sponsoring with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), which would allow especially vulnerable Iraqi refugees, such as members of religious minority communities, to be admitted to the United States and to be processed inside Iraq. "America historically has an honorable record in alleviating the plight of refugees from its wars," Smith noted. "Whether our effort is by ourselves, with allies, with the international organizations, more clearly needs to be done."
Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) said there was bipartisan support in Congress for addressing the plight of Iraqi refugees. "Our debate on the floor of the House has been a polarizing debate, but one of the areas where we can agree on, that we have agreed on, is addressing the refugee crisis in Iraq," Israel said. He voiced appreciation for the Commission's recommendation to expand access to the U.S. Refugee Program for all Iraqis and to extend the P-2 category-which allows certain groups of refugees direct access to the U.S. processing program without the need for referral by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)-to members of Iraq's religious minority communities, and said he and his colleagues were eager to work legislatively to implement the Commission's recommendations.
With some 2,000 refugees being displaced every day, the international community has not faced such a magnitude of displacement in the Middle East since 1948, said Judy Cheng-Hopkins, the UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Operations. About 2.2 million people are displaced within Iraq, and another 2 million have taken refuge in neighboring countries or elsewhere outside Iraq; some 165,000 of these have registered requests with UNHCR for third-country resettlement. Cheng-Hopkins noted that Iraqi refugees now comprise about 10 percent of the populations of Jordan and Syria, and that one in four residents of the Syrian capital, Damascus, is an Iraqi who has fled his or her homeland. Joining Jordan and other countries in the region, beginning on October 15, Syria will implement entry visa requirements that will virtually shut off the escape routes for Iraqi refugees, she said. Inside Iraq, 11 of 18 governorates have already closed their borders to IDPs. In spite of the desperate needs, UNHCR has received funding pledges for only 33 percent of its current $129 million appeal supporting refugee education programs.
Dana Graber Ladek, the Iraq Displacement Specialist with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), discussed the IOM's assessment of the situation of more than 100,000 families that have been displaced within Iraq. As many as 88 percent of them have been forced to flee their homes because they were targeted due to their religious identity. In spite of the refugees' and IDPs' pressing need for basic food, shelter, and social services, IOM has so far received only 20 percent of the funds appealed for this year.
Dr. Kenneth Katzman, a specialist in Middle East affairs for the Congressional Research Service, drew the Commissioners' attention to increasing tension and conflict among Shi'as, with political factions and their associated militias openly competing for power in Baghdad and Southern Iraq. In Basra, Iraq's main oil-producing region, three Shi'a parties are now competing for control of the oil production and distribution infrastructure. Shi'a militias are enforcing growing Islamization in the South, including violent threats against non-conforming Muslims, and University professors deemed to be too secular. Speaking on intra-Muslim sectarian violence, Dr. Katzman acknowledged that the Iraqi Interior Ministry was thoroughly penetrated by members of the Badr Organization, and had been involved in targeted operations against Sunni civilians. Despite those past violations, however, the new Interior Minister has been working to reduce the influence of Shi'a militias within the Iraqi national police force, thanks largely to pressure from the U.S. government.
Dr. Judith Yaphe, a specialist in Middle Eastern political analysis at the National Defense University's Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), said that the disfunctionality of Iraq's government-stemming in part from a constitution intentionally written to ensure a weak central government-made it unable to achieve meaningful political reconciliation. "Until you have coherence in government and functioning systems, things won't improve," she said. Dr. Yaphe also acknowledged the penetration of Iraqi ministries by Shi'a militias, noting that this phenomenon was consistent with the Iraqi government's fractured structure and Prime Minister al-Malaki's weakness relative to the other Shi'a political factions within his coalition government. Yaphe concluded by describing the current cycle of sectarian violence as "a complicated set of civil wars and power struggles" implicating both ethnic and religious identity. "Iraqis are under constant siege from poverty, unemployment, a dysfunctional government, corrupt political leaders, and vicious militias determined to enforce their peculiar combination of sectarian purity and material aggrandizement," she observed.
After the first hearing, the Commission wrote a letter to Secretary Rice recommending heightened U.S. attention to the severe threat facing the smallest religious minorities in Iraq. The Commission's other recommendations on Iraq can be found in the 2007 Annual Report .
September 19, 2007
Sep 19, 2007
Dirksen Senate Office Building
September 19, 2007
Summary
Agenda
Opening Remarks - Michael Cromartie, Commission Chair
Remarks - Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Remarks - Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR)
Remarks - Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY)
Panel
- Dr. Kenneth Katzman, Specialist in Middle East Affairs, Congressional Research Service Prepared Testimony
- Dr. Judith Yaphe, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for National Strategic Studies Prepared Testimony
- Hon. Ellen R. Sauerbrey, Assistant Secretary of State Prepared Testimony
- Ms. Judy Cheng-Hopkins,, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Operations Prepared Testimony
- Dana Graber Ladek, Iraq Displacement Specialist, International Organization for Migration Prepared Testimony
September 19, 2007
Sep 19, 2007
Dirksen Senate Office Building
September 19, 2007
Summary
Agenda
Opening Remarks - Michael Cromartie, Commission Chair
Remarks - Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Remarks - Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR)
Remarks - Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY)
Panel
- Dr. Kenneth Katzman, Specialist in Middle East Affairs, Congressional Research Service Prepared Testimony
- Dr. Judith Yaphe, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for National Strategic Studies Prepared Testimony
- Hon. Ellen R. Sauerbrey, Assistant Secretary of State Prepared Testimony
- Ms. Judy Cheng-Hopkins,, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Operations Prepared Testimony
- Dana Graber Ladek, Iraq Displacement Specialist, International Organization for Migration Prepared Testimony
June 08, 2015
Jun 8, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJune 8, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) solemnly marks the one year anniversary of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) takeover of Mosul, and the hundreds of thousands of people who were killed, displaced, or forced to seek refuge in neighboring countries. These former residents of Mosul are among the more than two million Iraqis who fled their homes due to ISIL’s offensive.
“One year ago, the world watched in horror as ISIL captured the city of Mosul and targeted its population, including its ancient and diverse religious communities,” said USCIRF Chair Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett. “While more than half a million people fled Mosul, those who remained have experienced killings, rape, torture, and kidnappings. Throughout northern Iraq, ISIL has killed and displaced hundreds of thousands, murdered dissenting Sunni clerics, kidnapped Christian priests and nuns, abducted Yazidi women and girls as sex slaves, and destroyed Sunni houses and businesses, Shi’a shrines and Christian churches. ISIL’s unspeakable crimes and takeover of northern Iraq could well mark the end of that nation’s formerly religiously diverse makeup.”
USCIRF urges the United States to redouble its efforts to help protect and assist the region’s most vulnerable religious and ethnic minorities. Furthermore, USCIRF calls on the U.S. government to raise its annual refugee resettlement ceiling from 70,000 to at least 100,000. USCIRF also recommends that the U.S. government call for or support referral by the U.N. Security Council to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate ISIL violations in Iraq against religious and ethnic minorities, following the models used in Sudan and Libya, or encourage the Iraqi government to accept ICC jurisdiction to investigate.
“The United States and the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL must together ensure that the most vulnerable communities are protected, and that the Iraqi government and Kurdistan Regional Government security forces, where appropriate, are assisted to provide security for these communities,” said Lantos Swett.
In its 2015 Annual Report, USCIRF recommends that Iraq be designated a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) for its particularly severe violations of religious freedoms. For more information on religious freedom condition in Iraq, see USCIRF’s 2015 Annual Report.
To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at media@uscirf.gov or 202-786-0613.
August 03, 2015
Aug 3, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) this week solemnly marks the one-year anniversary of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant's (ISIL) attacks in the Sinjar and Tal Afar districts of northern Iraq’s Ninewa Province and their horrific outcomes. During these attacks, ISIL targeted Yazidis and other religious communities: more than 500 Yazidi men were slaughtered; hundreds more men, women, and children were captured; women and girls were sold into slavery; and at least 200,000 civilians, most of them Yazidis, were forced to flee for their lives. For months, Yazidis trapped on Mount Sinjar faced imminent death either at the hands of ISIL or through starvation.
“ISIL has unleashed untold misery and suffering on defenseless religious and ethnic communities, while destroying treasured religious and historical sites in both Iraq and Syria,” said USCIRF Chairman Robert P. George. “Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, and others are all at risk. Due to ISIL’s reign of terror, millions of people from Iraq and Syria have been forced to flee and now are refugees or internally displaced.”
In response to these depredations, USCIRF recommended in its 2015 Annual Report that the U.S. government call for or support a referral by the UN Security Council to the International Criminal Court to investigate ISIL violations in Iraq and Syria against religious and ethnic minorities. USCIRF’s report also found that the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria and the Iraqi government under former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, by exacerbating sectarian tensions that long have existed in these countries, fueled the conditions that allowed ISIL to rise, spread, and ultimately control significant areas of northern and central Iraq and Syria.
“The humanitarian crisis that now engulfs Syria, Iraq, and the neighboring countries that are hosting millions of refugees demands a more robust, multifaceted and strategic response,” said George. “The duration of the conflict and the millions of refugees in neighboring countries are causing sectarian tensions and increasing the risk of violence and instability.”
USCIRF’s 2015 Annual Report provides several recommendations to the U.S. government relevant to the global displacement crisis, including: raising the annual U.S. refugee resettlement ceiling from 70,000 to at least 100,000; allocating sufficient resources to the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies to process applications and conduct security background checks expeditiously; and provide refugee host countries more aid to assist them in managing the burdens on their countries.
For more information, see the introductory chapter in USCIRF’s 2015 Annual Report as well as the Iraq and Syria chapters.
To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at media@uscirf.gov or 202-786-0613.