March 6, 2012 | by USCIRF

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) deeply mourns the loss of Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), a longtime advocate of human rights, including the right to freedom of religion, who passed away this morning in Livingston, New Jersey.

"For more than a generation, Donald Payne was a committed champion in Congress for oppressed people, especially those in Africa, whose fundamental rights, including religious freedom, were being trampled upon,” said USCIRF Chair Leonard Leo . "From Sudan to Eritrea, Ethiopia to the Ivory Coast and elsewhere, Representative Payne spoke truth to power, working with USCIRF and like-minded advocates to hold the abusers of human freedom and dignity accountable. My colleagues and I offer our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. Representative Payne will be sorely missed.”

Elected to Congress in 1988, Representative Payne was the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights. In 2001, he was arrested for chaining himself to the gates of the Sudanese Embassy to protest the regime's brutal treatment of civilians in Darfur. Representative Payne also helped highlight the plight of Christians, animists, and non-conforming Muslims victimized by the efforts of the Sudanese regime in Khartoum to impose its extremist ideology on the nation.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact Paul Liben at [email protected] or (703) 870-6041.

For Your Information

July 3, 2012| by Katrina Lantos Swett

The following op-ed appeared in Stars and Stripes on July 3, 2012 at www.stripes.com/honor-july-4-by-upholding-first-freedom-1.182008 .

As we celebrate our Declaration of Independence, we are reminded of its powerful proclamation of freedom.

Freedom includes many things but, at its core, it is the right to think as we please, believe or not believe as our conscience dictates, and live out our convictions openly and peacefully. In other words, freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief is central to who we are.

Yet, according to a Pew Research Center study released in August 2011, fully 70 percent of the world"s people live in countries where religious freedom and related rights are severely restricted. Those include some of the most repressive environments in the world.

In China, religious groups that are not approved by the government - from the Falun Gong to the house church movement - are ruthlessly suppressed, while officials crack down brutally on Tibetan Buddhists and Uighur Muslims.

In In Iran, an extremist theocracy detains, tortures and executes those who dissent from its dictates. The government targets reformers among the Shiite Muslim majority, as well as members of religious minorities, including Sunni and Sufi Muslims, Baha"is and Christians, and its officials aggressively promote Holocaust denial and other forms of hatred against Jews.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, on which I serve, has successfully recommended that these and a number of other nations with similar records be designated as "countries of particular concern.” deeming them among the world"s most serious religious freedom violators.

In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including Article 18, which states the following: "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, alone or in community with others, and, in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

In 1966, the governments of 156 countries signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which includes similar words and which the United States ratified in 1992.

Concerned that these agreements were being flouted, and that America"s foreign policy was failing to respond, Congress passed, and President Bill Clinton signed into law, the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998. IRFA created USCIRF, as well as a religious freedom office with its own ambassador in the State Department.

In taking that action, our country reaffirmed our Declaration of Independence"s insistence that every freedom, including religious freedom, is an unalienable human right.

Research also finds that, across the globe, religious freedom is correlated with robust political democracy, diminished tension and violence, and greater prosperity and stability.

In contrast, nations that abuse religious liberty are often incubators of intolerance and extremism, poverty and insecurity, and violence and further repression.

Thus, standing for freedom of religion or belief isn"t just a legal or moral obligation, but a practical imperative, one that is tied to our own well-being and that of the world.

This is especially important in the post-9/11 world, where the key to countering terrorism, along with its tyranny and violence, is to persuade people not to become terrorists in the first place. But in order to succeed, we must offer a competing vision of liberty, one that holds open the real promise of a peaceful, prosperous way forward.

Backed by international law and treaty, made indispensable by our critical security needs, and supported by our Declaration of Independence, the world"s first freedom deserves our steadfast commitment.

Katrina Lantos Swett is chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner please contact Samantha Schnitzer at [email protected] or (202) 786-0613.

March 1, 2012 | by USCIRF

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) renews its call for justice for Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's slain Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs, and a longtime religious freedom advocate who was assassinated a year ago today by the Pakistani Taliban.

"Shahbaz Bhatti was murdered on March 2, 2011 for daring to oppose Pakistan's blasphemy law and defending the rights of Pakistan's religious minorities,” said Leonard Leo , USCIRF chair. "Despite Bhatti's being a cabinet member, the Pakistani government has done virtually little to investigate the crime and bring the perpetrators to justice. The United States and the international community must press Pakistan on this case, so that every Pakistani knows that people who commit violence will be held to account and that individuals can stand for religious freedom without risking their lives.”

The only Christian in Pakistan's federal cabinet, Bhatti was assassinated outside his mother's home in Islamabad. Tehrik-i-Taliban, commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility. Bhatti had received multiple death threats, including those from Tehrik-i-Taliban, because of his advocacy against the blasphemy law. The investigation into his murder has made little progress, with initial efforts focused on the Christian community and financial disputes with Bhatti's family. The government did not issue an arrest warrant until December 2011 for Pakistanis residing in the Persian Gulf. No one currently is in custody: all of those arrested for suspected involvement have been released.

"Statements reportedly made by some government officials that Bhatti's assassins were not the Pakistani Taliban are preposterous. The Pakistani Taliban explicitly took credit for assassinating Shahbaz who was killed for his religious freedom advocacy. Pakistan's government must end this charade and bring the real killers to justice,” said Leo.

"The culture of violence that grips Pakistan threatens both Muslims and members of minority religious communities, and the very foundation of that society. Pakistan's government must find the resolve to bring the killers to justice and repudiate the culture of impunity that has plagued Pakistan,” said Leo. "Failure to do so reinforces USCIRF's recommendation that Pakistan be designated a ‘country of particular concern" for its egregious violations of religious freedom.”

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact Paul Liben at [email protected] or (703) 870-6041.