Mar 14, 2023
USCIRF Releases New Report on India’s State-Level Anti-Conversion Laws
Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new report:
India’s State-Level Anti-Conversion Laws – This issue update examines the common features of India’s 12 state-level anti-conversion laws and explains how those features are inconsistent with international human rights law. Common features of these laws include prohibitions on conversions, notifying the government of one’s intent to convert, and burden-shifting provisions that presume an individual accused of violating an anti-conversion law is guilty. Each of these features violates rights protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The report concludes that repealing India’s state-level anti-conversion laws is necessary to comply with international human rights law and to help prevent the country’s poor religious freedom conditions from further deteriorating.
In its 2022 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate India as a country of particular concern (CPC) for its particularly severe violations of religious freedom. USCIRF also published a 2022 country update on religious freedom conditions in India and a Spotlight Podcast episode on anti-conversion laws and growing intolerance in India.
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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion or belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].
Mar 13, 2023
USCIRF Welcomes Additional Humanitarian Assistance for the Rohingya Refugee Crisis
Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomes the launch of the 2023 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis in Bangladesh. This new funding includes nearly $24 million for programs specifically in Bangladesh, providing life-sustaining support to nearly 980,000 predominantly Muslim Rohingya refugees—many of them survivors of religiously based genocide, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing—as well as support to nearly 540,000 host community members in Bangladesh.
“USCIRF continues to stand in solidarity with the Rohingya people, both those still within Burma and those who have been forced to flee,” said USCIRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck. “We also do not forget the work that the Bangladeshi people and government have done to ensure the survival of the approximately one million Rohingyas for whom Cox’s Bazar represents crucial refuge and shelter.”
In November 2022, Commissioner Schneck led a USCIRF delegation to visit Cox’s Bazar and assess the conditions for Rohingya refugees in the camps. USCIRF released a policy update in December in partial response to updates from that visit. While the Bangladeshi government has provided vital help, such as allowing a Burmese curriculum for Rohingya children as well as skills and livelihood training for youth and adults, it has exacerbated the safety and security situation of the camps by restricting building materials and minimizing permitted economic activity. Recently, a massive fire destroyed thousands of primarily bamboo-made structures, killing dozens of people, and criminal groups reportedly murdered at least 40 refugees in the camps last year. According to USCIRF’s analysis, deteriorating security—both due to natural disasters and criminal activity—will not improve until the Rohingya refugee community receives full and basic rights to freedom of movement, livelihood, and access to education.
“With this announcement, the United States renews its commitment to one of the world’s most overlooked victims of religious freedom violations: the Rohingya people,” stated USCIRF Commissioner Frank Wolf. “We must continue to work with our international partners, including those in the Bangladeshi government, to find creative ways to maintain funding and effectively utilize aid for Rohingya refugees to promote security in the camps. These efforts must include the ability to build in the camps with more sustainable and fire-proof sources, such as concrete, and to provide more economic and education opportunities."
In its 2022 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended the U.S. Department of State redesignate Burma as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). In 2022, USCIRF also published a Burma Policy Update on the repercussions of the 2021 Burma coup, elaborating on religious freedom conditions in Burma and providing recommendations to the U.S. government. USCIRF recently hosted a hearing on the situation in Burma following two years of rule by the military junta, and the impact of that crisis on religious freedom conditions.
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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion or belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].
Mar 9, 2023
This op-ed was originally published by The Hill on March 8, 2023.
By USCIRF Commissioners Mohamed Magid and Frank R. Wolf
At the start of the new year, armed gunmen in northern Nigeria invaded the home of Father Isaac Achi, a Catholic priest in Niger State, setting his residence ablaze and burning him to death. The attackers also shot and injured his colleague, Father Collins, as he tried to escape. Days later, when the state’s minority Christian community marched angrily to protest security force inaction at the local police station, authorities called in reinforcements and responded with force.
This is just the latest example of Nigerian security forces failing to ensure security for religious minorities and other vulnerable communities. Yet, the U.S. government refuses to publicly criticize the Nigerian government’s atrocious religious freedom record and broader disrespect for human rights.
Nigeria ranks as one of the countries with the highest risk for atrocities, according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Early Warning Project. In a country with such high religiosity, this atrocity risk has significant impacts on religious communities. In the north, Christian minorities face violence and harassment. In the south, violent actors target Muslim minorities based on religion and ethnicity. In the center of the country, intercommunal violence often falls along sectarian lines and aggravates religious tensions, leading to thousands of civilian deaths. As symbols of social and political power, religious leaders in particular are targeted with violence and abduction, impacting communities’ abilities to worship and threatening their sense of safety.
While many of the perpetrators of violence are nonstate actors, the Nigerian government’s response to growing atrocities has been insufficient if not outright counterproductive. The government says capacity constraints restrict its ability to respond, yet security forces are frequently able to mobilize forces and political will when their own members are under threat.
Nigeria’s government is also using repressive tactics that disenfranchise vulnerable people rather than addressing the root causes of violence. Courts have increasingly imprisoned individuals with minority beliefs on charges of blasphemy rather than prosecuting those calling for violence against them. Human rights organizations highlight frequent abuses and denial of rights to those accused of terrorist activity. For more than a decade, the Nigerian military reportedly conducted a forced abortion campaign against pregnant women who had been rescued from extremist Muslim insurgents, while also targeting and murdering the children of these fighters.
The Nigerian government’s approach to addressing drivers of religious freedom violations is headed in the wrong direction. Our USCIRF colleagues — Vice Chair Abraham Cooper, appointed by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Commissioner Frederick A. Davie, appointed by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) — have travelled to Nigeria in recent years and met with religious communities on the ground to hear their painful experiences firsthand. We all agree the U.S. government must do everything it can to urge Nigeria to course correct. However, it continues to pursue a “business as usual” approach to policy in Nigeria, to the detriment of human rights and the needs of everyday Nigerians.
The first critical change must be for the U.S. State Department to appoint a special envoy to better address the crisis impacting not just Nigeria but the whole Lake Chad Basin region. For the past year, USCIRF has been stressing the importance of appointing a special envoy, and we wholeheartedly support the creation of this position. Equally important, the State Department must redesignate Nigeria a country of particular concern (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act (1998). This designation would send a strong message to the Nigerian government that the U.S. does not approve of its repressive tactics in responding to religious tensions and other drivers of violence. It also creates an obligation that U.S. policy in Nigeria should focus more strategically on protecting religious freedom, human rights and atrocity prevention.
The U.S. House of Representatives just recently introduced bipartisan legislation calling on the Biden administration to immediately designate Nigeria a CPC and appoint a special envoy to Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin region. Passing this resolution would constitute an important reaffirmation of U.S. support for religious freedom in Nigeria.
Ramadan is fast approaching, followed by the Easter season. If past years are any indication, worshippers in Nigeria will likely face a threat of violence as they celebrate these holy seasons. The United States has the tools to advance respect for religious freedom in Nigeria and reduce risk of violence to faith communities; it just needs to use them.