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May 30, 2013| By Katrina Lantos Swett

Editor’s note: Katrina Lantos Swett is the chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. The views expressed reflect those of USCIRF and not CNN.

With Iran’s presidential election looming next month, ongoing uncertainty about the status of its nuclear program, and questions about the degree of its involvement in Syria’s civil war, it’s easy to forget the domestic repression some groups face under its theocratic regime. But as Baha’i communities across the globe mark a disturbing anniversary in Iran, the birthplace of their faith, they are determined that the rest of the world should also know about the hardship and discrimination they are faced with every single day.

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May 26, 2013 | by Katrina Lantos Swett

The following op-ed was published in the Patriot-News on May 26, 2013. 

As we prepare to observe Memorial Day this Monday, we reflect on how Americans in every generation have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our liberties and keep us safe and secure.  Indeed, those who have given their lives for our country often did so while combating the most lethal enemies of freedom. From Nazis in Europe to al Qaeda around the world, America’s foes often have been the world’s most tyrannical violators of fundamental human rights.

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May 20, 2013| By Commissioners William Shaw and M. Zuhdi Jasser, and former Commissioner Azizah al-Hibri

When President Obama meets with President Thein Sein of Myanmar (Burma) today, he should emphasize Washington’s commitment to Myanmar’s progress, while stressing the importance of preventing discrimination and violence against ethnic minority Muslims and Christians.

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May 14, 2013 | By Katrina Lantos Swett

The following was published in the Washington Post, On Faith on May 14, 2013. 

Fifteen years ago, on May 14, 1998, U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of a landmark effort to promote a pivotal human right abroad.  In October of that year, the Senate also acted and President Clinton signed the International Religious Freedom Act, or IRFA, into law.  Among other provisions, IRFA created the Office of International Religious Freedom in the State Department and the independent, bipartisan Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), of which I am chair.

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May 1, 2013 | by Katrina Lantos Swett

The following op-ed was published in the Boston Herald on May 1, 2013.

Tomorrow marks the second anniversary of the violent demise of Osama bin Laden. His death provided a measure of justice, yet recent events offer a chilling reminder of how the fanatical ideology and methodology he embodied remains. The question is how to counter this violent religious extremism.

Here is one answer: Support religious freedom abroad.

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April 18, 2013 | By Elliott Abrams and Azizah al-Hibri

Xi Jinping needs to hear that religious freedom is the only way to stop self-immolations.

The following op-ed appeared in the Wall Street Journal on April 18, 2013. 

When Kal Kyi, a 30-year-old mother of four, set herself on fire in March to protest Chinese repression of Tibet, she joined a grim and growing fellowship of despair. Over the past four years, 112 Tibetans have immolated themselves in protest against Chinese oppression.

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April 1, 2013 | By USCIRF Chair Katrina Lantos Swett 

Even as we prepare to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, European society's dark past of bigotry haunts our present

The following op-ed appeared in The Guardian on March 31, 2013. 

As fellow Americans prepare to join their Jewish friends and neighbors in solemn commemoration of Yom Ha Shoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, on 8 April, for many, the question that haunts us is this: has Europe fully transcended its past? If the past decade is any indicator, it has not. Despite much soul-searching following America's liberation of that continent, European antisemitism persists.

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March 21, 2013 | By Katrina Lantos Swett

The following appeared in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs on March 21, 2013.

In December 2012, Egypt approved a new constitution by referendum.

How does it measure up to international standards for constitutional freedom of religion and related rights? The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which I chair, analyzed an English translation from Egypt Independent, a multimedia news website which published a draft identical to the constitution’s final version.

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March 18, 2013| By: Katrina Lantos Swett and M. Zuhdi Jasser

The following op-ed appeared in Roll Call on March 15, 2013.

While the world remains riveted to Egypt’s challenges and Syria’s travails, much is also at stake in Bahrain, a strategically vital Gulf nation that is home to the Middle East’s largest U.S. naval base.

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March 11, 2013 | By M. Zuhdi Jasser

The following appeared in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs on March 11, 2013. 

From Somalian anarchy to Eritrean and Sudanese tyranny and civil strife, the Horn of Africa has long been a turbulent region. A notable exception has been the nation of Ethiopia.

That might be changing.

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February 14, 2013 | by Katrina Lantos Swett and Catherine Cosman

The following op-ed appeared in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs on Wednesday, February 13, 2013.  

"Russia is now a police state."

We heard those words from civil society activists in late September during our Moscow visit on behalf of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). The words captured their view of Russia today, especially given last year’s targeting of fundamental freedoms, largely in response to protests against Vladimir Putin’s return to Russia’s presidency.