Sep 28, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 27, 2017
USCIRF Releases New Report:
A Right for All: Freedom of Religion or Belief in ASEAN
Chairman Mark calls on ASEAN to work to “uphold international human rights standards”
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released A Right for All: Freedom of Religion or Belief in ASEAN, a report documenting the state of this freedom in the 10 Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The study examines ASEAN’s and the Member States’ approaches to this fundamental right, praising the fact that “ASEAN has achieved some level of cooperation across such diversity” and noting where improvement is needed.
“ASEAN has demonstrated a clear willingness to become an economic, political, and cultural force in the region and the world,” said USCIRF Chairman Daniel Mark. He added, however, that “ASEAN and the Member States have a responsibility to uphold international human rights standards, including by protecting freedom of religion or belief and related human rights.”
The report’s author, Tina Mufford, USCIRF Senior Analyst for East Asia, found that ASEAN’s approach to human rights has been shaped by two competing interests: Member States’ desire to integrate as a bloc and their historical commitment to independence and non-interference in each other’s affairs. Citing ASEAN’s 50th anniversary and 40 years of U.S. engagement, Ms. Mufford said that the United States is uniquely positioned to press Member States to uphold international human rights standards. “Doing so,” she said, “would send a strong and clear signal about U.S. priorities in the region.”
Each ASEAN nation faces crosscutting challenges that transcend borders, such as refugees, terrorism, and ultra-nationalism. Common religious freedom violations include the detention of prisoners of conscience and the use of blasphemy laws and other similar measures.
“USCIRF calls upon ASEAN to protect the religious freedom of all,” said Chairman Mark. “Burma’s Rohingya crisis is a prime example of where ASEAN should step up to its international commitments and work with its Member States to prevent ongoing violations and help protect and aid this vulnerable population.” Read USCIRF’s recent press release about the Rohingya crisis here.
The full report may be found here. Follow USCIRF’s posting about this report on Twitter (@USCIRF) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/USCIRF/).
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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission, the first of its kind in the world. USCIRF reviews the facts and circumstances of religious freedom violations abroad and makes policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the Congressional leadership of both political parties. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or John D. Lawrence, Director of Communications ([email protected]/ +1-202-786-0611).
Sep 20, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 20, 2017
IRAN: Mahvash Sabet, Religious Prisoner of Conscience, Released
USCIRF Vice Chairwoman Arriaga cites Sabet’s “courage in the face of persecution and dedication to her faith”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomes the release of Iranian religious prisoner of conscience Mahvash Sabet, one of the seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders known as the “Yaran.” In 2008, all seven were arrested and sentenced to prison on false charges of espionage and “spreading propaganda against the regime.” Ms. Sabet has been released after serving her 10-year sentence under these false charges.
“Mahvash Sabet has been unjustly imprisoned under terrible conditions simply for daring to practice her religion and educate her fellow Baha’is. Mahvash’s courage in the face of persecution and her dedication to her faith are truly inspiring,” said USCIRF Vice Chairwoman Kristina Arriaga, who has advocated in support of Ms. Sabet and her fellow prisoner Fariba Kamalabadi. “While we welcome Mahvash’s release, the release of other imprisoned Baha’i leaders and all Iranian prisoners of conscience jailed for their religion or belief must swiftly follow.”
Vice Chairwoman Arriaga took up Ms. Sabet’s case as part of USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project. Upon learning of this advocacy, Ms. Sabet’s family sent Vice Chairwoman Arriaga a piece of artwork that Ms. Sabet had made in prison (pictured above). Through the Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project, Commissioners work for the release of individuals who have been imprisoned for their religious identity, beliefs, practices, or advocacy and highlight the laws and policies that led to the imprisonment.
Since 1999, USCIRF has recommended, and the State Department has designated, Iran as a “country of particular concern” for the government’s systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations. Since President Hassan Rouhani’s election in 2013 and reelection in May 2017, the number of individuals from religious minority communities who are in prison because of their beliefs has increased. These prisoners demonstrate the Iranian government’s callous disregard for the international human rights agreements that Iran has ratified.
USCIRF Chairman Daniel Mark stated, “The United States must continue to speak publicly and unequivocally against these religious freedom violations. In addition, the U.S. government should hold accountable Iranian government agencies and officials who perpetrate severe religious freedom violations by using all available tools against such perpetrators, including freezing their assets and denying them visas."
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission, the first of its kind in the world. USCIRF reviews the facts and circumstances of religious freedom violations abroad and makes policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the Congressional leadership of both political parties. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or John D. Lawrence, Director of Communications ([email protected]/ +1-202-786-0611).
Sep 28
Sep 28th 3:00pm
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Sep 28th 4:30pm
Saudi Arabia: Failed Promises--Hate Speech and Intolerance Still a Problem
Staff Briefing
Thursday, September 28, 2017
3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
122 Cannon House Office Building
RSVPs are not required
Join Human Rights Watch (HRW) experts and USCIRF's Director of Policy and Research, Dwight Bashir, for a staff briefing on Saudi textbooks and intolerance and hate speech, including insights from the upcoming HRW report They Are Not Our Brothers: Hate Speech by Saudi Officials. This report will be available soon at www.HRW.org.
The Saudi government has promised to reform its curriculum and textbooks and recently has promoted the kingdom as a more open and tolerant country. Yet intolerant passages remain in textbooks and Saudi state clerics and institutions incite hate and discriminate against religious minorities. The Shi’a community in particular faces discrimination, with authorities interrogating, arresting, and imprisoning dissident Shi’a clerics and activists, despite some improved conditions for public worship in the Eastern Province. Saudi courts prosecute and imprison individuals for dissent, apostasy, and blasphemy, and use a law on blasphemy and another targeting the promotion of atheism against human rights defenders.
Since 2004, the U.S. Department of State has designated Saudi Arabia as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, under the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations. However, rather than sanctioning Saudi Arabia under IRFA, the State Department has waived any sanctions citing the “important national interest of the United States.”
Please join us for an exciting panel that will discuss the critical issue of Saudi government’s continued support of hate speech and incitement – including in its public education curriculum and textbooks – the consequences of such support, and actions the U.S. government can take to address this ongoing and serious problem.
Speakers include:
Dwight Bashir is the Director of Policy and Research at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. For more than 20 years, he has worked in the areas of international human rights, freedom of religion or belief, and conflict resolution. While at USCIRF, Mr. Bashir has led or participated in numerous fact-finding missions internationally and has traveled widely throughout the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.
Adam Coogle is a senior researcher in Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division. He is also the author of the recent Human Rights Watch report, “‘They Are Not Our Brothers’: Hate Speech by Saudi Officials.”
Hala Aldosari is a scholar of health and gender and a human rights activist from Saudi Arabia. She serves as an advisory board member for Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division, as well as the Gulf Center for Human Rights. She is currently a fellow at Harvard University researching social determinants of women's health in Saudi Arabia.