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May 18, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Obama on May 14, 2015 announced his reappointment of USCIRF Commissioner Dr. James J. Zogby. 

“USCIRF is pleased with the reappointment of Dr. Zogby,” said USCIRF Chair Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett.  “He has provided the Commission with invaluable insight during his first term as a USCIRF Commissioner.  Along with my fellow Commissioners, I look forward to working with him in support of this vitally important human right.”

Dr. James J. Zogby is the founder and president of the Arab American Institute (AAI), a Washington, D.C.-based organization which serves as the political and policy research arm of the Arab American community.  He is also Managing Director of Zogby Research Services, which specializes in public opinion polling across the Arab world.

Since 1985, Dr. Zogby and AAI have led Arab American efforts to secure political empowerment in the U.S.  Through voter registration, education and mobilization, AAI has moved Arab Americans into the political mainstream.

For the past three decades, Dr. Zogby has been involved in a full range of Arab American issues.  A co-founder and chairman of the Palestine Human Rights Campaign in the late 1970s, he later co-founded and served as the Executive Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.  In 1982, he co-founded Save Lebanon, Inc., a relief organization which provided health care for Palestinian and Lebanese victims of war. In 1985, Zogby founded AAI.

A lecturer and scholar on Middle East issues, U.S.-Arab relations, and the history of the Arab American community, Dr. Zogby has an extensive media profile in the U.S. and across the Arab World.  He currently serves as Chairman of the Editorial Advisory Committee for SkyNewsArabia. Since 1992, Dr. Zogby has also written a weekly column published in 14 Arab and South Asian countries.

He has authored a number of books, including: Looking at Iran (2013), Arab Voices (2010), What Ethnic Americans Really Think (2002), and What Arabs Think: Values, Beliefs and Concerns (2001).  Dr. Zogby is finishing his first two-year term and currently serves as vice-chairman.

Composed of nine commissioners, USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan federal body that is principally responsible for reviewing the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and making policy recommendations to the President, Secretary of State, and Congress.  USCIRF offers policy recommendations to improve conditions at the critical juncture of foreign policy, national security, and international religious freedom standards.  The President and leadership of both political parties in the Senate and House of Representatives appoint USCIRF Commissioners.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or 202-786-0613.

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May 14, 2015 | USCIRF 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A Pakistani Taliban splinter group now reportedly affiliated with ISIL, on May 13 murdered at least 45 Ismaili Muslims in Karachi.  The killers boarded a bus transporting Ismailis and shot riders at point blank range.  Ismailism comes from a branch of Shi'a Islam, and the Pakistani Taliban and other terrorist groups regularly target Shi'a mosques and processions, as well as Christians and Hindus.

"We condemn this horrific attack and extend our condolences to the grieving families," said USCIRF Chair Katrina Lantos Swett.  "The Pakistani government must redouble its efforts to confront militant groups that target minority religious communities, be they Ismailis, other Shi'as, Christians or Hindus.  The perpetrators and planners must be brought to justice."

USCIRF Commissioners Katrina Lantos Swett and Mary Ann Glendon made the first ever Commissioner-level visit to Pakistan in March 2015.  They met with high ranking Pakistani officials, including National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz and officials in the Ministries of Interior and Religious Affairs.  Tragically, suicide bombers attacked two churches in Lahore the day the USCIRF delegation left Pakistan.

"Having visited Pakistan recently and met with targeted communities, I understand the challenging security environment Prime Minister Sharif and his government are facing. These attacks underscore the urgent need for the government to provide protection to religious minority communities," said Lantos Swett.  "This attack is further evidence of how more must be done to provide adequate protection to targeted groups and prosecute perpetrators and those calling for violence."

USCIRF’s recently released 2015 Annual Report found that “Pakistan represents one of the worst situations in the world for religious freedom for countries not currently designated by the U.S. government as ‘countries of particular concern.’”  Sectarian violence is chronic, and Pakistan’s repressive blasphemy laws and anti-Ahmadi laws continue to violate religious freedoms and foster a climate of impunity.

Click here for more of USCIRF’s work on Pakistan.  

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or 202-786-0613.

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May 13, 2015 | USCIRF

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today commemorates the 10th anniversary of the Andijon massacre.  On May 13, 2005, as many as 1,000 people were killed when Uzbek soldiers fired indiscriminately and without warning into a crowd of demonstrators in the city of Andijon during a largely peaceful protest in support of 23 local businessmen on trial for alleged ties to Islamic extremism.

“The Andijon tragedy is a black mark which will remain until the Uzbek government allows a credible investigation of this tragic event and undertakes the necessary reforms to respect religious freedom and human rights,” said USCIRF Chair Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett.  “While Uzbekistan faces legitimate security concerns, these concerns cannot be used as excuses to violate the religious freedom and human rights of its citizens.”

In the aftermath of the Andijon massacre, Uzbek authorities ignored calls for an international investigation and jailed hundreds of local residents, human rights activists, and journalists.  USCIRF observed in its recently released 2015 Annual Report that the Uzbek government’s harsh campaign against those Muslims who are independent from state-sanctioned Islam continues as it targets those linked to the May 2005 Andijon protests.  The government also has imprisoned 231 people for their alleged connection to this event, including ten prisoners who died in detention.  Uzbekistan also continues to pressure countries to return Uzbek refugees who fled after the Andijon tragedy. 

“Uzbekistan represents one of the worst nations in the world for religious freedom.  The State Department since 2006 has named Uzbekistan as a ‘country of particular concern' for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.  The U.S. and international community must condemn the Uzbek government for its culpability in the tragic events related to Andijon and ongoing government repression of religious freedom and related human rights,” concluded Dr. Lantos Swett.

The 2015 USCIRF Annual Report also noted that the government of Uzbekistan imprisons individuals who do not conform to officially-prescribed practices or whom it claims are extremist, including as many as 12,000 Muslims.  USCIRF has called for  the U.S. Government to make U.S. assistance – except for humanitarian assistance and human rights programs – contingent on the Uzbek government’s adoption of specific actions to improve religious freedom conditions and comply with international human rights standards, including reforming the 1998 religion law and permitting an international investigation into the 2005 Andijon events.

Click here to view the full 2015 Annual Report.

View the Uzbekistan chapter in English, Uzbek or Russian.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or 202-786-0613.