Additional Name(s): Wasim Abbas, وسیم عباس

Gender: Male

Perpetrator: Pakistan

Religion or Belief: Muslim – Shi'a

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Sentence: Death

Date of Detainment: June//2020

Date of Sentencing: February/18/2022

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Blasphemy (General) Blasphemy (Religious Figures)

Nature of Charges: Blasphemy

Waseem Abbas

Extra Bio Info:

Waseem Abbas is imprisoned and sentenced to death for blasphemy.

In June 2020, authorities reportedly arrested Abbas after he was accused of sending written letters insulting the Prophet Muhammad. 

On February 18, 2022, a Faisalabad additional sessions court sentenced Abbas to death for "insulting the Prophet Muhammad" (Sec. 295-C PPC). He was also fined 500,000 rupees.

Sources:

Additional Name(s): Go Sherab Gyatso, ཤེས་རབ་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, 喜绕加措(音)

Gender: Male

Current Location: Lhasa

Perpetrator: China

Ethnic Group: Tibetan

Religion or Belief: Buddhist – Tibetan

Health Concerns: Chronic lung condition

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: Yes

Sentence: 10 Years' Imprisonment

Date of Detainment: October/26/2020

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: Yes

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Adherence to a Religious Figure Criticizing Religious Freedom Conditions Religious Figure & Religious Leadership Role

Nature of Charges: Separatism

Go Sherab Gyatso

Extra Bio Info:

Go Sherab Gyatso is imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.

On October 26, 2020, authorities arrested Sherab Gyatso - a Tibetan monk, religious philosopher, and advocate of a more liberal approach to religious education and belief in Tibet - in Chengdu Municipality, Sichuan Province, after accusing him of "inciting separatism."

In December 2021, it was reported that the Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People's Court sentenced Sherab Gyatso to ten years in prison.

Sherab Gyatso reportedly suffers from a chronic lung condition and was in Chengdu to receive medical treatment at the time of his detention. Current reporting indicates that he is in poor health and that he is not receiving adequate medical care while in prison.

Sherab Gyatso has previously spent time in prison for his religious freedom advocacy. He reportedly detained in 1998 and 2008 and subsequently served time in prison for adhering to the Dalai Lama's religious authority and criticizing government controls in monastic education and literature.

Sources:

Mar 4, 2022

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*Special note: This podcast was recorded on March 3, 2022 and only reflects the events that have occurred up to this date*

The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has shocked the world and created a humanitarian crisis with profound effects for the region and beyond. Among the reasons Russian President Vladimir Putin has listed to justify this invasion is that the operation will “seek to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine.” Putin’s accusation that there is evidence of modern Nazism in the form of antisemitism in Ukraine is not only patently false, but also has religious implications that pose grave concerns.

USCIRF has documented the decline of religious freedom in Russia and warned about Russia’s use of religious freedom violations to suppress dissent and terrorize the population in occupied-Crimea and the Donbas.

Bernard-Henri Levy, noted French philosopher, commentator, and writer has spent decades reporting on human rights abuses and conflict around the globe. He joins us today to discuss the intersection of religious freedom with this ongoing, brutal invasion.

 

Read USCIRF report on The Anti-cult Movement and Religious Regulation in Russia and the Former Soviet Union

Read USCIRF's report on Religious Freedom Violations in the Republic of Chechnya

 

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