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March 15, 2013| By USCIRF

USCIRF Chair, Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett testified on March 15, 2013 before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission at a hearing on The Worsening Plight of Religious Minorities in Iran.

Click here to view the full written testimony. 

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March 14, 2013| By USCIRF

WASHINGTON D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today called for Saudi Arabia to release Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani and Dr. Abdullah bin Hamad, leading Saudi human rights activists, from prison immediately and unconditionally.

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March 13, 2013 | By USCIRF

WASHINGTON D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) yesterday met with family members of Baha’is unjustly imprisoned in Iran.  These family members seek to highlight the status of their family members and friends who have been persecuted and imprisoned solely for adhering to their faith.   

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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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MARCH 1, 2013| By USCIRF

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) marked the 2^nd anniversary of the murder of Shahbaz Bhatti with a renewed call for the Pakistani government to both bring his killers to justice and stem the rising tide of violent religious extremism that victimizes all Pakistanis.   Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Minority Affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian in the cabinet, was gunned down in Islamabad on March 2, 2011.  Despite the Pakistani Taliban claiming responsibility for the killing the attackers remain at large and the investigation seemingly has ended.   

Read more...

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FEBRUARY 28, 2013| By USCIRF

The following article appeared in The Economist on February 28, 2013.

For Katrina Lantos Swett, who chairs one of the two American agencies that are mandated to monitor religious freedom, life is full of pleasant and unpleasant surprises. On a trip to the Middle East a few weeks ago, she had a brusque encounter with a senior member of Egypt’s new administration who adheres to the zealous Salafi reading of Islam. As the daughter of two holocaust survivors, Ms Swett told him of her personal horror over recently unearthed statements by Egypt’s new President Mohamed Morsi, who in 2010 urged Egyptians to “nurse their children and grandchildren” on hatred for Jews and Zionists. 

Click here to read the article.