Jul 22, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 22, 2013 | By USCIRF
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- USCIRF urges President Obama to raise concerns about religious freedom violations in Vietnam when he meets at the White House with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang on July 25. Raising these concerns as the U.S.-Vietnamese bilateral relationship is improving will underscore America's support for this fundamental right.
"Because religious freedom conditions remain very poor in Vietnam, we respectfully urge President Obama to raise concerns about religious freedom and related human rights when he meets with President Truong Tan Sang,” said USCIRF Chair Katrina Lantos Swett. "The progress that took place over the past decade was achieved when American and international attention made improvements in religious freedom a core part of the bilateral agenda. These linkages did not, and will not, threaten our relationship: In fact, the Vietnamese government's support for religious freedom can only strengthen the relationship between our two countries.”
As documented in USCIRF's 2013 Annual Report, the government of Vietnam continues to expand control over all religious activities, severely restrict independent religious practice, and repress individuals and religious groups it views as challenging its authority. The Vietnamese government uses a specialized religious police force and vague national security laws to suppress independent Buddhist, Protestant, Hoa Hao, and Cao Dai activities, and seeks to stop the growth of ethnic minority Protestantism and Catholicism via discrimination, violence and forced renunciations of their faith. The government also continues to harass, threaten, intimidate, detain, and sentence lawyers and disbar human rights defenders who have assisted religious communities or religious freedom advocates in cases against the state.
"Vietnam must do more to respect religious freedom. The state visit provides a unique opportunity for President Obama to press for change,” continued Dr. Swett. "Opening more space for independent religious activity and freeing jailed lawyers who defend the rights of individuals and communities is a must.”
In December 2012, lawyer and human rights defender Le Quoc Quan, who has assisted Catholics in seeking return of church properties, was again arrested. Mr. Quan currently is detained incommunicado in Hoa Lo Prison with no access to his lawyer and family. Dr. Cu Huy Ha Vu, who in 2010 represented the residents of the village of Con Dau against a government land grab of their village and cemetery, was charged with propaganda against the state. He now is serving a seven-year sentence based on other activism and is in poor health.
Given these systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations, USCIRF continues to recommend that Vietnam be designated as a "country of particular concern (CPC), placing it among the world's worst violators of religious freedom. The Commission has recommended CPC status for Vietnam since 2001. The State Department did so in 2004 and 2005, but removed the designation in 2006 because of progress toward fulfilling a binding agreement.
Jul 11, 2013
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July 10, 2013| By USCIRF
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) urges an end to all violence and restrictions on religious activity in China's Xinjiang Uighur [Muslim] Autonomous Region (XUAR).
Religious freedom conditions in the XUAR have deteriorated significantly since the ethnic violence of July 2009. The Chinese government has instituted sweeping security measures that include efforts to weaken religious adherence and stop "illegal religious gatherings”and "illegal religious activities.” Restrictions on Uighur Muslim religious activities have caused deep resentment of Beijing's oversight of the XUAR.
"Launched in the name of stability and security, Beijing's campaigns of repression against Uighur Muslims include the targeting of peaceful private gatherings for religious study and devotion,” said Katrina Lantos Swett, USCIRF Chair. "These abuses predictably have led to neither stability nor security, but rather instability and insecurity. Through its campaign of repression, the Chinese government has egregiously abused internationally recognized human rights, including the right of freedom of religion or belief. We urge the government to lift these restrictions, especially with the start of Ramadan.”
In its 2013 Annual Report , USCIRF chronicled religious freedom abuses that have resulted from Beijing's policies in the XUAR. Professors, university students, and government employees have been prohibited from observing Ramadan and engaging in daily religious activities such as reciting prayers, distributing religious materials, and wearing head coverings. Minors under the age of 18 continue to be denied access to some mosques and religious education.
During the past year, Chinese police and security forces have initiated raids against "illegal religious schools” in the city of Hotan during which over 60 people were arrested, 17 children injured, and one child died while in police custody. In the city of Kashgar, Uighur men were sentenced to between seven to 10 years on charges that included "harboring extremist religious thoughts” and holding "underground religious meetings.” In addition, over 30 people were killed during clashes between Uighur youth and police in Lukchun township (Turpan Prefecture) and Hotan. As many as 18 Uighurs recently were given sentences from 15 days to 6 years for engaging in various "illegal religious activities.”
"China's reliance on repression fuels resentment and increases the likelihood of the very extremism that China claims it seeks to quell. For the sake of security as well as religious freedom, China's government should lift its restrictions on all peaceful religious activities," said Lantos Swett.
Jul 9, 2013
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July 9, 2013 | By USCIRF
Washington, D.C. -Today, July 9, 2013, marks the second anniversary of South Sudan's independence from Sudan. It is a day of celebration for millions of Southerners who fought for human rights and religious freedom in Sudan's 20 year civil war. However, July 9 also is a reminder that for two years an estimated 500,000 Southerners in Sudan have been stateless and living a precarious existence.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is deeply concerned that the failure to resolve the status of stateless Southerners who are living in the north risks further undermining religious freedom in Sudan. With the independence of South Sudan, senior Sudanese government officials have called for a more comprehensive and rigid application of Sharia law in Sudan, where southerners who are Christian have been subject to a range of religious freedom violations. In particular, there have been credible reports of the destruction of churches, refusal to permit construction of new churches and other forms of intimidation and harassment. USCIRF strongly believes that that the independence of South Sudan must not be used as a justification for the denial of religious diversity and freedom in Sudan, or as a justification to delay progress on a resolution of the status of southerners in Sudan.
"It is a potential recipe for disaster that after more than two years of discussions, half a million Southerners in Sudan remain stateless and vulnerable to severe religious freedom violations. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) calls on the U.S. government and its allies to increase their efforts to help Sudan and South Sudan resolve the status of their nationals residing in the other's territory,” said USCIRF Chair Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett. "Southerners in Sudan are at a particularly grave risk. Furthermore, failure to finalize negotiations has left them vulnerable to expulsion.”
Since January 2011, the two countries have engaged in a series of negotiations over the citizenship and legal status of Southern Sudanese in Sudan and Sudanese in South Sudan. While South Sudan has offered citizenship to Sudanese residents, the Government of Sudan (GoS) has not reciprocated.
In September 2012, the two countries each agreed to establish a Joint High Level Committee that would negotiate the status and treatment of their nationals. Future negotiations were to focus on providing freedom of residence, movement, economic activity, and property. However, no progress has been made.
"It is imperative that the Joint High Level Committee not only fully resolves specific areas of concern from prior agreements, but also ensures that the final agreement includes an explicit protection from statelessness and respect for universal human rights, including religious freedom,” said Chair Lantos Swett.
Since South Sudan's independence, the GoS frequently has violated the rights of Southerners. In addition, South Sudanese humanitarian workers employed at Christian organizations were arrested, accused of illegal Christian proselytization, and deported to South Sudan in 2012 and 2013. The GoS also has fired all Southerners employed in government and stripped Sudanese citizenship from those who could access South Sudanese citizenship, and called on them to return to South Sudan.
Southerners living in Sudan were internally displaced from the North-South civil war. Some have chosen to remain in Sudan for reasons including that they grew up in Sudan, are married to a Sudanese individual, or have integrated into the country economically or in other ways. Others remained because South Sudan currently is unable to absorb returnees and provide them with services such as education or health care.