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December 6, 2012| By Katrina Lantos Swett and M. Zuhdi Jasser

The following op-ed appearned in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on December 6, 2012. 

Starting on Saturday evening, Dec. 8, Jews in Pittsburgh and across the world will be lighting Hanukkah menorahs, invoking a story that, while rooted in Jewish history, inspires all who treasure liberty.

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November 26, 2012| By Katrina Lantos Swett

The following op-ed appeared in the Boston Herald on November 22, 2012. 

Thanksgiving Day and the first feast of the Pilgrims remind us of their brave journey across the Atlantic in search of the freedom to honor their religious convictions according to their conscience.

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November 13, 2012| By Katrina Lantos Swett

The following op-ed appeared on Al.com (By Special to The Birmingham News) on November 10, 2012. 

We observe Veterans Day Monday and honor our fellow Americans who have bravely defended our freedoms and kept us safe and secure.

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October 29, 2012| By Katrina Lantos Swett

The following appeared in The Washington Post On Faith on October 27, 2012. 

Across the globe, religion and belief continue to matter deeply in the lives of people and their cultures. From worship to prayer, births to funerals, weddings to holy days, almsgiving to thanksgiving, religion is a central source of identity, meaning, and purpose for billions of human beings.

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10/25/2012| By Katrina Lantos Swett, Mary Ann Glendon and Robert P. George

The following op-ed appeared in Roll Call on October 25, 2012. 

In the aftermath of the recent controversy over the notorious anti-Muslim film and the reaction to it around the world, now may be the time to step back, view the big picture and consider how best to move forward. 

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October 19, 2012| By Katrina Lantos Swett

The following op-ed  appeared in Eurasia Review on October 18, 2012. 

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which I chair, monitors violations of freedom of religion or belief around the world. Earlier this month, I had the privilege of giving the official U.S. statement on USCIRF’s behalf at the religious freedom session of the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, Poland. Sharing that task with Suzan Johnson Cook, the U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, I highlighted two issues of concern: obstacles faced by places of worship and continued restrictions on religious rites.

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October 15, 2012| by Katrina Lantos Swett and Robert P. George 

The following op-ed appeared in Foreign Policy on October 15, 2012 at http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/10/15/why_a_constitution_is_a_bad_place_for_a_blasphemy_law?page=0,0.

A constitutional ban on blasphemy might sound like a good idea to some. But it can mean less freedom for everyone. 

Words matter -- and few matter more than those found in a country's constitution. They reflect its unique culture, heritage, and history. Since no two nations are alike, constitutions will differ. Yet because all people share a common humanity, constitutions also should exhibit certain bedrock similarities, including the protection of basic universal human rights. That there are such rights is affirmed in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which nearly every country has adopted.

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September 27, 2012| by Katrina Lantos Swett and M. Zuhdi Jasser 

The following appeared in The Washington Times on September 27, 2012 at http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/sep/27/no-human-rights-without-religious-freedom/.

Member states of the United Nations should ponder an alarming statistic: According to a just-released Pew Research Center study, 75 percent of people live in countries where a bedrock human right is endangered. Not all people enjoy the right to think as they please, believe or not believe as their conscience leads and live out their convictions openly and peacefully.

As members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, we can attest that a number of United Nations member countries often perpetrate or tolerate atrocious violations — including torture and murder — against the rights of their people to freedom of religion or belief.

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September 7, 2012| By: Katrina Lantos Swett

The following opinion appeared in Roll Call on September 6, 2012.

An unmarried Baha'i woman spent three years in Iran's notorious Evin Prison charged with being a spy for Israel and the United States. She was told: "To destroy you, we have to destroy your community, your meetings and your prayers." She hopes to live "as a free Baha'i in the U.S." and wants to be sure that "no one will look at me as someone who doesn't belong in society."

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September 6, 2012| By: Azizah al-Hibri and Robert P. George

The following appeared in the Indianapolis Star on September 5, 2012 at http://blogs.indystar.com/letters/2012/09/05/our-view-burmese-muslims-face-severe-persecution/.

Editor’s note: Indiana is home to the largest concentration of Burmese refugees in the United States. About 7,000 Burmese live in the state, mostly in Fort Wayne and Indianapolis.

For Muslim Americans and other concerned citizens in Indianapolis and elsewhere in the nation, news of still more violence against the largely Muslim Rohingya of Burma highlights the plight of one of the world’s most persecuted communities and the need for a global response. The latest bloodshed, coupled with two prior months of riots and murders, has left more than 700 dead and 80,000 homeless. This violence has been compounded by the behavior of the Burmese security forces who, according to major human rights organizations, have participated in killings and rapes as well as mass arrests against the Rohingya.

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August 14, 2012| By: Katrina Lantos Swett

The following op-ed appeared in The Detroit News on August 14, 2012 at http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120814/OPINION01/208140309/1008/Commentary-Stand-up-religious-minorities-Middle-East :

On July 19, on behalf of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), I spoke on Capitol Hill in Washington about the desperate plight of the Middle East's religious minorities, many of whose members have close friends and relatives in the Detroit metropolitan area.