Additional Name(s): 热合木提拉·赛买提
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: China
Ethnic Group: Uyghur
Religion or Belief: Muslim – Unspecified/Other
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Ethnoreligious Identity
Nature of Charges: Leaking State Secrets Public Disorder Separatism
Rehmutulla Semet
Extra Bio Info:
Rehmutulla Semet is imprisoned for his ethnoreligious identity.
In 2018, authorities arrested Semet, the owner of the Tengge Tagh Hotel and a real estate company, and other Uyghur businessmen amid mass detentions of largely Muslim ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
There are conflicting reports on Semet's charges and sentencing. One source indicated that Semet was sentenced to 19 years in prison for leaking state secrets and "disturbing society," whereas Radio Free Asia reported that Semet was sentenced to 20 years in prison for “engaging in separatist activities” in April 2021.
Sources:
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Photo attributed to Xinjiang Victims Database
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"Rehmutulla Semet" Xinjiang Victims Database
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2021 Report on International Religious Freedom: China—Xinjiang U.S. Department of State
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"Uyghur Billionaire Jailed For 20 Years Over Charitable Donations" Radio Free Asia (RFA)
Jul 22, 2022
Several major political events occurred in South Asia over the last year. The Taliban, whom USCIRF has recommended for years as an “Entity of Particular Concern” (EPC), took control of Afghanistan in August 2021. In April 2022, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed from office following political turmoil. And religious nationalist policies at both the state and national level in India continue to impact religious communities.
Senior Policy Analyst Niala Mohammad joins us today to discuss recent developments in South Asia, their impact on religious freedom conditions, and USCIRF’s policy recommendations.
Read USCIRF’s 2022 Annual Report Chapter on Afghanistan
Read USCIRF’s 2022 Annual Report Chapter on Pakistan
Read USCIRF’s 2022 Annual Report Chapter on India
Read USCIRF’s Afghanistan Factsheet
Read USCIRF’s Ahmadiyya Muslims Factsheet
Check out USCIRF’s FoRB Victims List
Jul 22, 2022
USCIRF Releases New Report on Iranian Propaganda Against Religious Minorities
Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released a new report titled “Religious Propaganda in Iran.”
Religious Propaganda in Iran – This report details efforts by Iran’s government to spread misinformation and cultivate derogatory public opinion about religious minorities. The report identifies major traditional and social media outlets responsible for disseminating this messaging, and reviews the major themes Iran’s government deploys against Jews, Sunni Muslims, Gonabadi Sufis, Christian converts from Islam, and Baha’is. It demonstrates Iran’s systematic campaign to deny freedom of religion or belief to groups that do not conform to the government’s singular interpretation of Ja’afri Shi’a Islam.
In its 2022 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S State Department designate Iran as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for its ongoing, systematic, and egregious religious freedom violations. USCIRF recently published a country update on religious freedom in Iran in 2022, held a hearing on “State-Sanctioned Religious Freedom Violations and Coercion by Saudi Arabia and Iran,” and highlighted the situation for religious prisoners of conscience in Iran on an episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast.
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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 and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].