USCIRF Criticizes Treatment of Iranian Christians Seeking US Asylum

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a press release last week calling attention to some 100 Iranian Christians who have been waiting in Vienna for over a year seeking  asylum in the United States under the special provisions of the Lautenberg Amendment.  That law gives higher priority for refugee status to Iranian religious minorities, including Christians, Zoroastrians and Baha’is. USCIRF says that recent reports indicate these individuals have been denied asylum and could be returned to Iran where they may face discrimination or persecution.

Brownback Confirmed As Religious Freedom Ambassador-at-Large

Yesterday the U.S. Senate confirmed Kansas Governor Sam Brownback as Ambassador-at-Large for Religious Freedom. A 49-49 tie vote on the confirmation was broken by Vice President Pence who voted in favor of the nomination. (Senate Vote Summary).  As reported by the Washington Post:

The vote highlighted how polarizing a figure Brownback has become during what has been a divisive tenure as governor of Kansas....  Brownback had faced opposition from LGBT groups over a decision he made as Kansas governor to scuttle an executive order that barred discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity....

Under Trump, the State Department folded its Office of Religion and Global Affairs into the Office of International Religious Freedom that Brownback will now lead. The restructuring gives him a larger profile.

USCIRF issued a press release welcoming the confirmation.

State Department Names "Countries of Particular Concern"

The State Department announced yesterday that it has redesignated ten countries as Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act. CPC's are nations guilty of the most egregious violations of religious liberty. The countries are: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.  The Sate Department also placed Pakistan on a Special Watch List-- a new category created by 2016 amendments to the International Religious Freedom Act. This category is for countries with severe violations of religious freedom.  Last April, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom had recommended six additional countries be added as CPC's. (See prior posting.)  In a Release yesterday praising the State Department's action, USCIRF urged the Department to also exercise its authority to designate non-governmental groups as "Entities of Particular Concern."

USCIRF Praises US Sanctions Against Burmese General

In a Dec. 21 press release, the U.S. Treasury Department announced the first sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.  this week, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a press release focusing particularly on sanctions imposed on a Burmese army general for his abuses directed at Rohingya Muslims. USCIRF said in part:

USCIRF has long called for targeted sanctions against violators of religious freedom....  Tools that could be used include the Global Magnitsky Act, the Treasury Department’s “specially designated nationals” (SDN) list, and other provisions under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).

Specific to Burma, USCIRF praises the inclusion of General Maung Maung Soe in the list of sanctioned individuals.  As the former head of the Burmese Army’s Western Command, he oversaw military operations in Rakhine State and myriad human rights abuses that resulted in more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing the country since 2016.

USCIRF Issues New Report On Iraq

With the defeat ISIS in Iraq, last week the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a Policy Update on Iraq (full text). The Report's recommendations included the following:

Iraq’s progress and stability hinge on full respect for the rule of law and compliance with international human rights standards, including freedom of religion or belief. USCIRF continues to advocate for a peaceful home for all of Iraq’s citizens, particularly its religious minority communities that are at risk of extinction in their ancestral homeland. 

USCIRF urges the U.S. government to:

•  Designate Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as an “entity of particular concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act, as amended by the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2016;
• Encourage both the government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to cease conflict, protect the rights of all Iraqis, and resolve land disputes....

USCIRF Says State Department Is Late In Designating "Countries of Particular Concern"

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a press release on Tuesday criticizing the State Department for failing to meet the statutory deadline for designating "countries of particular concern".  The International Religious Freedom Act (22 USC 6442 as amended in 2016) requires the President to designate countries of particular concern-- those that are the most egregious violators of religious freedom-- within 90 days of the issuance of the State Department's Annual Report on International Religious Freedom.  The State Department issued this year's Annual Report on Aug. 15. (See prior posting.)

USCIRF Issues Report On Religious Freedom In Southeast Asia

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom last week issued (press release) a new report titled A Right for All: Freedom of Religion or Belief in ASEAN. The report surveys religious freedom in each of the ten nations that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.  The 35-page report concludes in general:

ASEAN and the individual Member States have an inconsistent record protecting and promoting human rights, and even more so with respect to freedom of religion or belief.

Former USCIRF Commissioner Cromartie Dies

A press release yesterday from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom reported that former USCIRF Commissioner Michael Cromartie died on Aug. 28. The release said in part:

Mr. Cromartie was a prolific writer who edited more than a dozen books on religion and politics.  He also served as a primary source for the media as reporters sought to understand the intersection of politics and religion.  He has been described as being part of a wave of evangelical Christians who believed that their faith required an active engagement in both politics and public life.

The New York Times (Sept. 1) carried his Obituary.

USCIRF Issues New Report on Blasphemy Laws Around the World

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom this week released a report titled Respecting Rights? Measuring the World’s Blasphemy Laws. The report Overview describes the content:

This report examines and compares the content of laws prohibiting blasphemy (“blasphemy laws”) worldwide through the lens of international and human rights law principles.... This study seeks to evaluate the language and content of blasphemy laws to understand what aspects of these laws adhere to—or deviate from—international and human rights law principles.

Particularly useful to researchers is the Compendium of Laws set out as an Annex to the Report which reproduces the actual language of blasphemy provisions in the more than 70 nations that have such provisions.

USCIRF Issues Report On Women's Rights and Religious Freedom

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom yesterday issued a new report titled Women and Religious Freedom: Synergies and Opportunities.  Here is the "Overview" section of the 14-page report:

Observing the synergies between FORB [Freedom of Religion or Belief] and women’s equality has not been made particularly straightforward by the architecture of international human rights law. The human rights sources that address FORB and women’s rights to equality are distinct, and emerged from the lobbying of separate constituencies.

This textually distinct basis is compounded by the thrust of the research and advocacy in women’s rights, which strongly highlights that violations to women’s rights are carried out in the name of religion, or at least that violations to women’s rights are excused or postponed due to the intransigence of religious tradition and culture, whether perpetuated by state or non-state actors or a combination thereof. This serves to exacerbate the (mis)perception of a necessary and inevitable clash between women’s rights to equality and FORB.

The juxtaposition of these two allegedly conflicting rights is conceptually untenable and counterproductive.  It violates the universality of human rights in and of itself, since unless there is a holistic approach to human rights, its “indivisibility” and “interdependence” is denied. Furthermore, it fails to provide full redress to all, since it forces female claimants to “choose” to advance their right to either equality or FORB.

The purpose of this paper is to seek to identify synergies as well as complexities between FORB and the right to women’s equality through the analysis of various international human rights law documents impacting this topic.

USCIRF Elects New Chair and Vice-Chairs

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom yesterday elected Commissioner Daniel Mark as its new Chairman. (Press release). Mark is assistant professor of political science at Villanova University.  He succeeds Rev. Thomas J. Reese, S.J. whose term as chair has expired, but who remains on the Commission.  The Commission elected Sandra Jolley and Kristina Arriaga as new vice-chairs.

New USCIRF Report On Minority Religions In Kurdistan

Last week the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom released a 77-page report: Kurdistan Region of Iraq: New USCIRF Report on Religious Minorities in the KRI.  Here an excerpt from the Report's Executive Summary:

In recent years the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) has been a haven for minorities fleeing the turmoil and sectarian violence in the south of Iraq. The KRI offers religious freedoms that are comparatively robust as compared to those of its regional neighbors. Even so, troubling issues related to discrimination and even violence targeting ethnic and religious minorities exist, exacerbated by the KRI’s strained resources and security situation. Such issues must not be disregarded just because of the security situation in Iraq, or because of the KRI’s successes as compared with the wider region.

Zogby's Dissent In the USCIRF Annual Report

As previously reported, last week the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued its 2017 Annual Report.  It turns out that buried in the Report-- i.e. not listed in the Table of Contents-- were a "dissenting statement" by Vice Chair James Zogby (pg. 17 of Report), a joint "additional statement" by 7 of the Commissioners (pg. 20 of Report), an "additional statement" by Vice Chair Daniel Mark (pg. 21 of Report), and an "additional statement" by Commissioner John Ruskay (pg. 21 of Report).  Commissioner Zogby's dissent-- which has two parts-- has generated the most interest.  The media (JTA, Mondoweiss, and a Huffington Post column by Zogby himself) focused on Zogby's complaint that a narrow majority of Commissioners refuse to examine the issue of religious freedom in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Equally interesting, however, is Zogby's broader critique of the manner in which USCIRF operates. He says in part:

I believe that part of the reason why we have not been able to contribute to improving the situation of vulnerable faith communities is because of how we have interpreted our mandate. Instead of serving as a bipartisan group of experts making informed recommendations to the Administration and Congress—as was envisioned by IRFA—we have acted more like a Congressionally-funded NGO that issues a variety of materials “naming and shaming” countries that violate religious freedom.

I believe that instead of using our limited resources to produce opinion pieces, press releases, and a lengthy and duplicative annual report, and acting as a “critic” of the Executive Branch, USCIRF should consider new and constructive approaches to its work in order to more effectively promote international religious freedom. Instead of simply making do with “naming and shaming” the many countries that violate religious freedom, we should develop a more focused approach that involves making an in-depth study of a few targeted countries so that we might be in a position to provide the Administration and Congress with creative problem-solving ideas where improvements in religious freedom can be made....

In too many instances, we have failed to distinguish between actual violations of religious freedom and sectarian, regional, or tribal struggles for political power. Too often, in the past, some have engaged in reductionist analysis—seeing everything as a nail, because the only tool we wield is a hammer. In failing to understand the complexity and non-religious underpinnings of conflicts, like those in Nigeria, Iraq, or the Central African Republic, our analysis and recommendations sometimes miss the mark. Religious conflict is not the cause of tension in these countries and, therefore, religious freedom is not the solution to their problems.

Some have expanded this reductionism to extreme and even absurd lengths, claiming that if, as they maintain, religious freedom is “the first freedom,” then all else flows from it. They correctly observe a correlation between religious freedom and prosperity and democracy in some countries, but then mistakenly attribute the latter to the former. In fact, a more convincing case can be made that prosperity and democracy are the prerequisites for religious freedom. In other instances, they have attempted to make the case that religious extremism only originates in countries that violate religious freedom. This patently false conclusion ignores the reality of home-grown extremist religious movements in Western Europe or the United States. 

USCIRF Issues 2017 Annual Report

Yesterday the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom released its 2017 Annual Report (full text).  The report reviews religious freedom concerns in numerous countries and includes recommendations to the State Department for designation under the International Religious Freedom Act of 16 countries as "countries of particular concern"-- i.e. the most egregious violators of religious freedom.  Those countries are: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan-- all already designated by the State Department-- as well as Central African Republic, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Syria, and Vietnam.  The Report explains:

USCIRF’s 2017 CPC recommendations include, for the first time, the recommendation that Russia be designated as a CPC. Based on improvements in religious freedom conditions in Egypt and Iraq, USCIRF does not recommend those two countries for CPC designation in 2017, as it had for Egypt since 2011 and for Iraq since 2008.

The addition of Russia stems in part from its use of its anti-extremism law to restrict religious liberty, most recently of Jehovah's Witnesses. The report also places 12 countries on its Tier 2 list of nations where serious religious freedom concerns exist.  This year's Report begins with this grim introduction:

The state of affairs for international religious freedom is worsening in both the depth and breadth of violations. The blatant assaults have become so frightening—attempted genocide, the slaughter of innocents, and wholesale destruction of places of worship—that less egregious abuses go unnoticed or at least unappreciated. Many observers have become numb to violations of the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.

USCIRF Appoints Singshinsuk As Executive Director

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom announced yesterday that  Erin D. Singshinsuk, who has served since September as the Commission's Acting Executive Director has now been named Executive Director. According to the press release:

Ms. Singshinsuk has over 25 years of experience managing and working directly in support of federal commissions.  She has been affiliated with numerous organizations with an international focus, including the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) where she served as the Vice President for Management and the Chief Financial Officer.

USCIRF Gets Acting Executive Director

Last week, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom announced the appointment of Erin D. Singshinsuk as its Acting Executive Director while it searches for a person to fill that position on a permanent basis. The new appointee has been affiliated with several organizations having an international focus including the U.S. Institute for Peace where she served as the Vice President for Management and CFO.  Singshinsuk replaces Jackie Wolcott, the previous executive director, who was appointed to be a member of the Commission in March. (See prior posting.)

Journalist Appointed To USCIRF

In a press release yesterday, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom announced that Clifford D. May has been appointed to the Commission by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. A journalist, May is the founder and President of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

USCIRF Releases Report On U.S. Treatment of Asylum Seekers

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom yesterday released a report titled Barriers to Protection: The Treatment of Asylum Seekers in Expedited Removal.  The report is a follow-up to one issued in 2005, and says:

The research revealed that, although DHS had taken some measures in response to the 2005 study, there were continuing and new concerns about the processing and detention of asylum seekers in Expedited Removal, and most of USCIRF’s 2005 recommendations had not been implemented.

The Report focuses on refugee processing generally, and not specifically on those who claim refugee status based on religious persecution.  However the Report gives this example of problems faced by those claiming religious persecution:

A [Border Patrol] supervisor ... expressed skepticism about Chinese claims of religious persecution, telling USCIRF that Chinese individuals often say they are Christian but cannot even name the church they attend; when USCIRF informed him that many Chinese Christians worship in homes, not churches, he seemed surprised.

USCIRF Elects Reese As Chair

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom announced last week that it has elected Rev. Thomas J. Reese, S.J., as Chair of the Commission.  Dr. Daniel Mark and Dr. James J. Zogby were elected as Vice-Chairs.

Ryan Appoints 2 USCIRF Members

In a press release yesterday, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom announced that on May 13, House Speaker Paul Ryan reappointed Villanova University faculty member Dr. Daniel Mark for a second 2-year term on the Commission.  Ryan also appointed Kristina Arriaga de Bucholz, executive director of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, to a 2-year term replacing Dr. Robert George whose term has expired. Appointments to the 9-member Commission are made by the President and by Congressional leaders of each party.