The contrast was poignant and powerful.  As we sat in September with a global gathering of parliamentarians in the majestic Bundestag in Berlin, we recalled how more than 80 years ago, Germany’s chancellor had extinguished freedom and begun sowing the seeds for the Holocaust.   On that same September day, we watched German Chancellor Angela Merkel stand in this historic seat of her country’s Parliament and repudiate this genocidal past by denouncing violations of religious freedom worldwide. 

There is plenty to denounce.  Billions of people live in countries that perpetrate or tolerate severe religious freedom abuses.  Such abuses range from restrictions on building houses of worship to detaining and torturing people based on their religion to perpetrating murder and even genocide, which the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) commits against Yazidis, Christians, Shi’a Muslims and others in Iraq and Syria.

The stakes are high, and not just for religious freedom.  When governments brutally repress entire groups, such as Muslims in parts of Russia or China, it can be a recipe for frustration, discontent, instability, and in some cases violence.

As members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), we see a global crisis in need of a global answer. We were in Berlin precisely for that purpose, participating in the third meeting of the International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (IPPFoRB), a remarkable and blossoming grassroots coalition to address this problem worldwide.

This month marks the IPPFoRB’s second anniversary. Gathering in November 2014 at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway, more than 30 parliamentarians from various countries formed this network and signed a historic Charter for Freedom of Religion or Belief (Oslo Charter) pledging to advance this pivotal right for all.  Its second meeting, held in New York in September 2015, included 100 parliamentarians from more than 50 nations as well as diplomats and religious leaders.

The Oslo Charter is based on Article 18 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which reads as follows:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

This voluntary network’s approach may be summed up in the following steps: 

• Bring together as many parliamentarians as possible from across the globe committed to advancing freedom of religion or belief.
• Identify countries plagued by religious freedom violations and jointly respond by raising concerns with and seeking improvements from responsible governments.
• Share with each other the information parliamentarians need to educate, inform, and persuade their own people and governments to act in freedom’s cause, and support other parliamentarians around the world who stand up for religious freedom at personal risk to themselves.
• Build regional groups of parliamentarians committed to combatting religious persecution and promoting religious freedom.

In Berlin, we saw accomplished and committed legislators from 60 nations and diverse political and religious backgrounds working together. Among them was a Christian legislator from majority-Muslim Pakistan, who has been serving for 14 years and concentrating on women’s issues and matters of forced conversion.  We met a former parliamentarian from Burma, a Buddhist-majority nation, who had been elected to its parliament but had his citizenship revoked and thus was precluded from running again because he was a member of Burma’s persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority.  And we met an inspirational parliamentarian from Iraq, a member of its persecuted Yazidi minority.

Since IPPFoRB’s inception, its parliamentarians have written advocacy letters to heads of state and other high officials of countries that are serious religious freedom violators, including Burma, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan, and Vietnam. 

In August of this year, a small group of religiously diverse parliamentarians from five continents  made its first fact-finding and solidarity visit, traveling to Burma, a nation emerging from 50 years of military rule. There they met with government officials, members of parliament, and religious and civil society groups, confronted religious freedom violations, and discussed concrete and workable solutions.

It is one thing for one nation or its officials to advocate for this fundamental freedom, as the United States has done for many years. But it is quite another for people from many nations to stand together in this cause.  When parliamentarians across borders and oceans join together, it sends an unmistakable message: religious freedom matters, not just to one nation or culture, but to all of humanity.

This was the most welcome message that echoed throughout the halls of the historic Bundestag.

Jackie Wolcott and Sandra Jolley are commissioners at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As coalition forces begin the liberation of Mosul, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) notes that November 13 is the one-year anniversary of the liberation of Sinjar from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). 

ISIL’s two-week August 2014 assault on Sinjar and the Tal Afar districts of northern Iraq’s Nineveh Province resulted in the deaths of more than 5,000 Yazidi men, the rape and enslavement of 5,000 Yazidi women, and the displacement of at least 200,000 civilians. ISIL also destroyed Yazidi temples and shrines and looted and demolished Yazidi homes.

Likewise, ISIL’s occupation of Mosul resulted in thousands of victims and its liberation could result in hundreds of thousands of refugees.

“ISIL’s unspeakable crimes in northern Iraq have permanently altered the country’s religious landscape, including the decimation of the Yazidis, a minority religious community which was given only two options: convert or die,” said USCIRF Chair Thomas J. Reese, S.J. “The ongoingmilitary offensive against ISIL in Mosul will liberate the city, but it may also increase the number of refugees and further aggravate sectarian tensions in the region. ISIL’s crimes must not lead to massive retaliation against Sunni Muslims. USCIRF acknowledges the administration’s efforts to return people to their homes and secure vulnerable communities. USCIRF also urges the U.S. government and the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL to work to develop measures to protect freedom of religion or belief.”

ISIL’s violent religious and political ideology allows no religious diversity or freedom of thought or expression. USCIRF welcomed the State Department’s declaration in March 2016 that Yazidis, Christians, and Shi’a Muslims in Iraq and Syria are victims of genocide by ISIL. USCIRF continues to urge the U.S. government to call for a referral by the UN Security Council to the International Criminal Court to investigate ISIL’s violations in Iraq and Syria.

USCIRF urges the U.S. government to initiate an effort among relevant UN agencies, NGOs, and the Global Coalition to fund and develop programs that bolster religious tolerance, alleviate sectarian tensions, and promote respect for religious freedom and related rights for refugees in host countries.

For more information on religious freedom conditions in Iraq, see USCIRF’s 2016 Annual Report (in English, in Arabic, and in Kurdish).

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or 202-786-0615.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 10, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the 10^th anniversary of the State Department’s removal of Vietnam’s designation as a “country of particular concern” (or CPC), the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) sees a country that has made progress but still has a long way to go before it fully respects religious freedom. USCIRF also watches with concern as the Vietnamese National Assembly is poised to vote on a new law governing religion.

“Vietnam is at a crossroads,” explains USCIRF Chair Thomas J. Reese, S.J. “Its government needs to stop oppressing believers and enact legislation that respects religious freedom. If it does not, USCIRF will have to continue calling for its designation as a country of particular concern.”

The freedom to practice one’s faith or beliefs in Vietnam has come a long way since the dark days following the 1975 communist takeover. Many individuals and religious communities are able to exercise their religion or belief freely, openly, and without fear. 

Nevertheless, the Vietnamese government’s complicity in or indifference to egregious violations of religious freedom in many parts of the country is deeply troubling. In some areas, local authorities harass and discriminate against religious organizations that do not have government recognition, and in others, they threaten religious followers with eviction from or demolition of their places of worship or other religious buildings—in some instances carrying out these threats. Law enforcement officials continue to arrest and imprison individuals due to their religious beliefs or religious freedom advocacy, including Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh; Khmer Krom Buddhist the Venerable Thach Thuol; Hoa Hao Buddhist Nguyen Van Minh; and Buddhist Patriarch Thich Quang Do. Others are beaten by police or government hired thugs.

The scope and scale of these violations make clear that Vietnam still is a long way from respecting the universal right to freedom of religion or belief as defined by international law and covenants.

Vietnam’s law on religion and belief, which the National Assembly is expected to consider later this month, presents the government with a stark choice: either it can opt for positive change that reflects international religious freedom standards or it can maintain the status quo.  

The measure includes some positive language. The new law would extend legal personality to some religious organizations, reduce the time that religious organizations must wait for government registration, encourage the establishment of religious schools, and transition from requiring government approval for certain actions by religious groups (like moving clergy or holding events) to simply requiring notification.

However, many religious organizations and international observers view the proposed law as fundamentally flawed because it would increase the government’s control over religious life and make activities it deems “illegal” subject to the force of law. The bill also would limit freedom of religion or belief through vaguely worded and broadly interpreted national security provisions.

The new law should respect religious freedom. Registration requirements, if they exist at all, should be voluntary, easy, and nonintrusive; internal operations, like the assignment of clergy and the scheduling of activities, should not be managed by the government; and believers should be protected from officials who abuse their authority.

USCIRF urges the United States to continue discussions with the Vietnamese government about its religious freedom policies, including the religion law and its implementation, emphasizing the importance of adhering to international human rights standards. 

For more information, please see USCIRF’s Vietnam chapter in the 2016 Annual Report (in English and Vietnamese).

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or 202-786-0615.