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June 19, 2020
Jun 19, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2020
USCIRF Condemns Turkish Military Operations in Northern Iraq
Calls on Turkish President to Cease Air Strikes and Violence Targeting Civilian Areas
Washington, DC – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) condemned Turkey’s latest round of air strikes and ground operations (“Operation Claw-Eagle” and “Operation Claw-Tiger”) near civilian areas in northern Iraq, calling on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to order an immediate end to these actions.
USCIRF Chair Gayle Manchin said, “USCIRF calls on Turkey to immediately cease its brutal airstrikes in Sinjar, Iraq and to withdraw any ground troops—who represent a dangerous escalation of violence in an already-fragile area. These actions are particularly threatening to hundreds of traumatized Yazidi families attempting to return to Sinjar and to other civilians in northern Iraq—none of whom deserve to be placed in harm’s way by a NATO ally.”
The Turkish government claims that these actions, representing the most recent in a series of similar operations in the Sinjar area since 2017, are ostensibly targeting Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions. However, these indiscriminate operations have taken place just days after 200 families arrived in Sinjar after six years in a refugee camp in Dohuk, Iraq. It also was in close proximity to towns and camps in which displaced Yazidi families have taken refuge since the 2014 genocide by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
“Turkey’s operations in Iraq and northeastern Syria make it clear that regional ambitions—not domestic security—are driving its actions today, and it cannot be allowed to do so with impunity,” USCIRF Vice Chair Tony Perkins stated. “We call upon the administration to utilize all diplomatic and economic leverage to protect vulnerable religious minorities in northern Iraq—as well as neighboring northeastern Syria—from Turkey’s indiscriminate military operations.”
Since 1984, Turkey has waged an intermittent war against the PKK, an organization of Kurdish separatists that the U.S. has designated as a terrorist group. The Turkish military has frequently targeted purported PKK positions—or those of groups directly or indirectly tied to the PKK—in neighboring Iraq and Syria. In this massive campaign, Turkey has claimed to strike over 500 militants in areas where there is no indication of attacks planned or occurring against Turkey. Once again, Turkey is showing their disregard for vulnerable religious and ethnic minorities who live in, or have been displaced to, those same areas.
In its 2020 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended the State Department include Turkey on its Special Watch List “for engaging in or tolerating severe 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 threats to 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.
August 28, 2020
Jul 25
WHEN:
Jul 25th 5:00pm
-
Jul 25th 7:00pm
During the week of the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) hosted the following events:
20th Anniversary of IRFA Reception
United States Institute of Peace (USIP)
2301 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20037
Wednesday, July 25 from 5:00-7:00 pm
U.S. Government Grant Workshop
Government Publishing Office
732 North Capitol Street, N.W.
Harding Hall
Washington, DC, 20401
Thursday, July 26 from 2:00-5:00pm
August 28, 2020
Jul 16
WHEN:
Jul 16th 4:00pm
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Jul 18th 2:00pm
During the week of the 2019 Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, USCIRF participated through the following events:
Tuesday, July 16
The Mass Destruction and Desecration of Uyghur Mosques in China
Sponsored by Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP)
Speaking: Commissioner Tenzin Dorjee
4:00 - 5:00 pm
George Washington University*
Marvin Center
A Conversation with U.S. Lawmakers on Religious Persecution
Sponsored by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Congressional Caucus and Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC)
Speaking: Commissioner Tenzin Dorjee
6:00 - 7:30 pm
Capitol Visitor Center (HVC 201)
First Street SE
Washington, DC 20004
Will Religious Freedom Survive in Northeast Syria?
Sponsored by Family Research Council (FRC)
Speaking: Chair Tony Perkins
6:00 - 7:30 pm
Family Research Council
801 G Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
Wednesday, July 17
Best Practices in International Religious Freedom Advocacy (Breakout Session)
Speaking: Commissioner Kristina Arriaga
10:45 - 12:15 pm
State Department*
Deep Dive — Challenges to Religious Freedom in the Middle East and North Africa (Breakout Session)
Speaking: Director of Research & Policy Dwight Bashir
10:45 am - 12:15 pm
State Department*
Monitoring International Religious Freedom (Breakout Session)
Speaking: Chair Tony Perkins and Vice Chair Gayle Manchin; Q&A with all Commissioners
1:15 - 2:45 pm
State Department*
Journalism and International Religious Freedom (Breakout Session)
Speaking: Commissioner Johnnie Moore
1:15 - 2:45 pm
State Department*
Quantifying Religious Freedom: A 10-Year Global Analysis of Pew Research
Sponsored by Christianity Today and Institute for Global Engagement (IGE)
Speaking: Commissioner Kristina Arriaga
1:30 - 3:00 pm
George Washington University*
Marvin Center
Deep Dive — Challenges to Religious Freedom in East Asia and Pacific (Breakout Session)
Speaking: Deputy Director of Research & Policy Tina Mufford
1:45 - 3:15 pm
State Department*
Shining a Light on the Uyghur Crisis & Reflecting on Our Global Movement for Religious Freedom (Ministerial Reception)
Sponsored by IRF Roundtable
Speaking: Vice Chair Nadine Maenza
6:00 - 8:00 pm
United States Institute of Peace
2301 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20037
The Role of International Religious Freedom in U.S. Foreign Policy
Sponsored by the Loeb Institute for Religious Freedom, George Washington University
Speaking: Commissioners Anurima Bhargava and Johnnie Moore
The George Washington Textile Museum
701 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052
5:15 - 6:30 pm
Thursday, July 18
U.S. Government Grant Training (Hosted by USCIRF)
Opening Remarks: Vice Chair Gayle Manchin
9:00 - 11:00 am
Government Publishing Office
Harding Hall
732 N. Capitol Street, NW
Washington, DC 201401
The Impact of War on Religious Freedom
Speaking: Vice Chair Nadine Maenza and Commissioner Kristina Arriaga
9:00 am to 12:00 pm
Museum of the Bible
400 4th Street SW
Washington, DC 20024
Falun Gong Rally
Speaking: Vice Chair Gayle Manchin
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol
Christian Holy Sites and Holy Places in the Middle East
Sponsored by International Community of the Holy Sepulchre and Hudson Institute's Working Group on Christians and Religious Pluralism in the Middle East
Speaking: Commissioner Kristina Arriaga
12:00 - 2:00 pm
Washington School of International Affairs
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052
For more information about the 2019 Ministerial, click here.
For more information about side events taking place during the Ministerial, click here.
August 28, 2020
Sep 26
WHEN:
Sep 26th 2:30pm
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing
Religious Minorities’ Fight to Remain in Iraq
Thursday, September 26, 2019
2:30 – 4:00 PM
385 Russell Senate Office Building
Hearing Summary
Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a hearing about the religious freedom situation in Iraq and the conditions that would enable religious minorities to return to and flourish in their communities.
Iraq has traditionally been home to one of the most religiously and ethnically diverse populations in the Middle East. While a majority Shi’a Muslim and minority Sunni Muslim population together account for 95-98% of the country, Iraq also once boasted a large Chaldean and Assyrian Christian population of around 1.5 million and around half a million Yazidis, in addition to an array of smaller ethno-religious communities such as Shabaks, Kaka’is, Sabean-Mandaeans, and others. However, systematic persecution and the ongoing violent conflict have caused those traditional demographics to undergo seismic shifts, displacing record numbers of people who are seeking to return to their historic homelands.
More than five years after ISIS’ genocidal rampage across northwest Iraq, circumstances for traumatized minorities remain dire. Tens of thousands of Yazidis linger in IDP camps, their villages in Sinjar still in ruin, while Iraqi Christians—of whom only an estimated 200,000 remain in the country—trickle back to towns in the Nineveh Plain while questioning whether Iraq still holds a place for them. The United States and other international partners have pledged tens of millions of dollars to help rehabilitate areas that ISIS left in ruin, and those funds have begun to make a difference—but there still remains substantial, long-term work to help those vulnerable populations return, rebuild, and remain.
Witnesses will highlight U.S. policies and programs in Iraq that support religious minorities, ongoing religious freedom-related challenges in the country such as anti-blasphemy laws and discrimination, and the factors on the ground affecting religious communities’ ability to return to their homes.
Opening Remarks
- Tony Perkins, Chair, USCIRF Written Remarks
- Gayle Manchin, Vice Chair, USCIRF Written Remarks
- Nadine Maenza, Vice Chair, USCIRF Written Remarks
- Hallam Ferguson, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Middle East Bureau, United States Agency for International Development Written Testimony
- Pari Ibrahim, Executive Director, Free Yezidi Foundation Written Testimony
- Reine Hanna, Director, Assyrian Policy Institute Written Testimony
- Aaron Ashoff, Deputy Director for International Projects, Samaritan’s Purse Written Testimony
- Scott Portman, Director, Middle East and North Africa, Heartland Alliance International
August 28, 2020
Oct 23
WHEN:
Oct 23rd 3:00pm
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing
Protecting Houses of Worship and Holy Sites
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
3:00 – 4:30 PM
106 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Hearing Summary
Hearing Transcript
Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a hearing about the global targeting of houses of worship and holy sites around the world and how to protect them.
Houses of worship and other religious sites should be sanctuaries where worshippers feel safe to practice their faith. Tragically, as the 2019 incidents in New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Burkina Faso attest, attacks on houses of worship are increasingly occurring around the globe. These attacks aim to destroy the place of worship precisely for its religious significance, cause harm to a unique religious group, and instill fear in those that worship there.
Alongside these horrific attacks, places of worship are often harmed more subtly through the misuse of registration procedures to prevent their construction or renovation, the malicious surveillance of holy sites to intimidate worshippers, or acts of vandalism that aim to send a threatening message and harm property. Different types of buildings and properties that are significant to religious communities, such as cemeteries, monasteries, or community centers, also have been targeted. While violent attacks on such places are typically committed by non-state actors, less overt forms of harms and restrictions are often imposed by state authorities as well. This includes the failure of states to ensure the preservation of sacred places, places of worship, and cultural property that constitutes the cultural or spiritual heritage of people.
How can the international community better work together to stem the global violent targeting of houses of worship? Witnesses will highlight U.S. programs, intergovernmental initiatives, interfaith efforts, and other policy recommendations that aim to ensure that holy places remain safe havens and not sites of bloodshed.
Opening Remarks
- Tony Perkins, Chair, USCIRF Written Remarks
- Gayle Manchin, Vice Chair, USCIRF Written Remarks
- Nadine Maenza, Vice Chair, USCIRF Written Remarks
- Honorable Sam Brownback, Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, U.S. Department of State Written Testimony
- H.E. Miguel Moratinos, High Representative, U.N. Alliance of Civilizations Written Testimony
- Hassan Abbas, Distinguished Professor of International Relations at Near East South Asia Strategic Studies Center, National Defense University Written Testimony
- Sharon Rosen, Global Director for Religious Engagement, Search for Common Ground Written Testimony
February 11, 2020
Feb 11
WHEN:
Feb 11th 10:30am
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Briefing
Freedom of Religion or Belief and Security:
New Policy Guidance from the OSCE
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Senate Visitors Center (SVC) 203-02
Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a briefing on the nexus of freedom of religion or belief and security, including findings from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights’ (ODIHR) recent publication, Freedom of Religion or Belief and Security: Policy Guidance.
In the OSCE region, freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) is violated by some governments who use the pretext of national security to justify repression. For example, in Russia’s Tatarstan region, cameras are installed in mosques to transmit videos of worshippers during their prayers to state security services. In Uzbekistan, thousands of religious prisoners remain incarcerated for “extremism” or the possession of “extremist” religious literature. In Azerbaijan, authorities continue to deny legal registration to Baptists and Jehovah’s Witnesses residing outside the capital. Although these actions aim to improve security, failure to balance security with freedom of religion or belief can actually undermine it.
Freedom of Religion or Belief: Policy Guidance clarifies the interrelationship between FoRB and security as mutually reinforcing objectives, in line with the OSCE’s comprehensive framework for peace and security. The document includes guiding principles, practical guidance, and recommendations to address pertinent issues at the intersection of the freedom of religion and security, including the registration of religious communities, religious literature deemed “extremist”, the monitoring of places of worship, and restrictions on conversion.
Panelists will present the policy guidance document, discuss its findings and recommendations, further explore the intersection of security and FoRB, and consider tools and strategies for governments and other relevant stakeholders to advance both objectives simultaneously. There will be an interactive question and answer period with audience members after the panelist presentations.
Remarks
- Tony Perkins, Chair, USCIRF Written Remarks
- Gayle Manchin, Vice Chair, USCIRF Written Remarks
- Kishan Manocha, Senior Advisor on Freedom of Religion or Belief, OSCE/ODIHR
- Douglas Padgett, U.S. Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom
- Elizabeth Clark, Professor of Law, Brigham Young University School of Law
August 31, 2020
Aug 05
WHEN:
Aug 5th 10:30am
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
USCIRF Update with USAID: The President’s Executive Order on International Religious Freedom
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM ET
Virtual Event
Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a virtual event about President Trump’s recent Executive Order to advance international religious freedom across the federal government and its implementation at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
This discussion will highlight key aspects of this Executive Order, USAID’s current plans underway to implement it, and the impact it will have on USAID’s programming in the future. USCIRF Chair Gayle Manchin and Vice Chair Tony Perkins will discuss these issues with USAID Acting Administrator John Barsa. USCIRF Director of Outreach and Policy Dwight Bashir will moderate the discussion, which will be followed by questions and answers from attendees.
Panelists
- Gayle Manchin, Chair, USCIRF Written Remarks
- Tony Perkins, Vice Chair, USCIRF Written Remarks
- John Barsa, Acting Administrator, USAID Written Remarks
- Dwight Bashir, Director of Outreach and Policy, USCIRF
August 28, 2020
Nov 06
WHEN:
Nov 6th 2:00pm
Host: Gayle Manchin, Vice Chair
Subject Experts: Zack Udin and Kirsten Lavery
For more information, please contact Henry Young at hyoung@uscirf.gov.
August 28, 2020
Sep 10
WHEN:
Sep 10th 11:00am
Host: Anurima Bhargava, Commissioner
Country Expert: Kurt Werthmuller, Policy Analyst
For more information, please contact Henry Young at hyoung@uscirf.gov.
July 20, 2020
Jul 20, 2020
This op-ed was originally published by The Washington Examiner, on July 20, 2020.
By USCIRF Chair Gayle Manchin and USCIRF Vice Chair Tony Perkins
In Iraq, the 50th Brigade of the Popular Mobilization Forces has been involved in extortion, illegal arrests, kidnappings, and detention of individuals without warrants, often targeting Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities returning to the Nineveh Plains and Sinjar. Rayan al-Kildani, the ruthless leader of this militia who operates under the guidance of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was videotaped brutally cutting off the ear of a detainee.
In Burma, over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled northern Rakhine state to Bangladesh after Myanmar launched a brutal crackdown in August 2017 that included mass killings, gang rape, and wide spread arson. The United Nations has called for the Burmese Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing to be prosecuted for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes for leading the military to commit such horrendous crimes.
Besides both being responsible for abhorrent bloodshed, a commonality between al-Kildani and Hlaing is that they were both sanctioned under the 2016 Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and the related 2017 executive order, E.O. 13818.
The Global Magnitsky Act allows financial sanctions and visa restrictions to be imposed on a designated individual for corruption or human rights abuses. As of December 2019, 198 individuals had been sanctioned under Global Magnitsky, but only 16 – less than 10% – of these sanctions have directly related to religious freedom abuses.
Alongside Global Magnitsky, the U.S. government has used other tools to impose consequences on violators of religious freedom.
The State Department increasingly uses Section 7031(c) of the annual appropriations law, which requires the secretary of state to make foreign officials and their immediate family members ineligible for U.S. entry if there is credible evidence that such individuals have been involved in “a gross violation of human rights.” Over 100 of these designations were announced publicly last year, although, only a small number were related to religious freedom. Notable designations for gross violations of human rights connected to the freedom of religion or belief included the former director of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) for alleged torture and two Russian officials for their involvement in the arrest and torture of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), where we serve as chair and vice chair, respectively, details in its 2020 Annual Report religious freedom conditions globally and provides recommendations to the president, secretary of state, and Congress. We note the imposition of sanctions and visa restrictions in response to attacks on religious freedom and commend the U.S. government for its strong action in those cases. However, the number of sanctions imposed in 2019 are few in comparison to the scale of serious religious violations that occurred globally. Our report alone cites 29 countries where governments or societal actors severely violate religious freedom.
President Trump has stated that “protecting religious freedom is one of [his] highest priorities.” To match this commitment, we urge the U.S. government to more vigorously use the targeted accountability tools available to punish individuals and agencies directly responsible for the severe religious freedom violations detailed in our report.
In our report, we note contexts where asset freezes and visa bans on individual officials, agencies, and military units can stem continued religious persecution, including in India, Iran, Nicaragua, Pakistan, and Russia.
We also name specific individuals that should held accountable, such as Caridad Diego, the head of Cuba’s Office of Religious Affairs who has personally led her office’s campaign of harassment against religious life on the island, as well as Chen Quanguo, China’s Xinjiang Communist Party Secretary who created the blueprint for the dystopian surveillance state that has led to 1.8 million Uighur and other Muslims being placed in concertation camps.
The Administration has a wide range of tools to impose consequences for human rights violators. This is why we call on Congress to evaluate the policy tools available for targeted human rights-related sanctions and consider giving the State Department authority to impose individual visa bans for gross human rights violations through new legislation. Congress should also define the authority’s relationship to Global Magnitsky sanctions to aid the Administration in implementing the most appropriate and impactful tool among a menu of options. These options help ensure that each targeted sanction imposes a consequential punishment on the individual violator, who may personally benefit from their access to the U.S. financial system or send their children to school in the United States.
We hope that in 2020 others will join al-Kildani and Hlaing on the list of individuals and entities sanctioned for severe religious freedom violations. The imposition of a more aggressive targeted sanctions regime would go a long way in deterring religious freedom violators, bringing accountability to the perpetrators, and ultimately creating a world where all are free to practice their faith.