December 26, 2011 |byUSCIRF

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today expressed grave concern over the latest outbreak of sectarian religious violence on Christmas Day in Nigeria and renewed its call for the Nigerian government to investigate, prosecute, and punish such crimes and those responsible for them. According to news reports and statements from the Government of Nigeria, the recent violence included Christmas Day explosions at Christian churches in five cities in central and northeastern Nigeria-- Jos, Kano, Madalla, Gadaka, and Damaturu--leaving at least 39 dead and 65 wounded. Muslim militants from the extremist organization Boko Haram have claimed responsibility for the bombings, making this the second Christmas season in a row that Boko Haram has attacked Christian houses of worship in Nigeria.

"The Commission condemns the unconscionable and senseless Christmas Day attacks on innocent worshippers in Nigeria,” said USCIRF Chairman Leonard Leo . "Nigeria must come to grips with these kinds of attacks at or around Christian celebrations, and find appropriate ways to prevent them. But that isn"t enough. Nigeria"s government needs to bring all perpetrators of sectarian violence to justice, from this Christmas and the last. To date, the government has failed to address fully the culture of impunity surrounding the ongoing violence, which is why, for the past two years, USCIRF has recommended that Nigeria be officially designated a country of particular concern.”

This past spring, USCIRF had commended the government of Nigeria for having instituted, for the first time in over 10 years of sectarian clashes, 41 prosecutions against some of the perpetrators of violence that occurred in and around Jos in early 2010. But there has been limited progress in seeing these prosecutions to a conclusion. "It"s most unfortunate, but far from surprising, that sectarian violence would continue unabated in light of the fact that, time and again, the Nigerian government has signaled that there may be no cost to such lawlessness,” Mr. Leo observed. "If Nigeria wants to keep extremism from its communities, then it needs to get serious about combating impunity.”

USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives. USCIRF"s principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress.

View the most recent findings and recommendations of the Commission on combating privately-driven sectarian violence in Nigeria at http://uscirf.gov/images/ar2011/nigeria2011.pdf

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact Tom Carter, Communications Director at [email protected], or (202) 523-3257.

For Your Consideration
December 15, 2011

By FELICE D. GAER and RICHARD D. LAND

Each year, asylum seekers come to the United States seeking refuge from religious and other forms of persecution. Desiring new lives of freedom and dignity, many confront a system that, in the name of security, treats them like criminals.

Such was the finding of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent, bipartisan federal advisory body on which we serve, in a 2005 study and the 2007 follow-up report.

Unfortunately, to this day, little has changed.

Click here to view entire oped.

December 14, 2011| by USCIRF

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A Bahraini government-appointed committee should address concerns related to the demolition earlier this year of dozens of Shi'a Muslim religious structures, said the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

On November 23, the Bahraini Independent Commission on Inquiry (BICI), created and funded by the Bahraini government, released a 500-page report detailing systematic and egregious abuses in the government's response to protests earlier this year. The BICI report includes findings and recommendations related to the destruction of Shi'a religious sites by government authorities.

The BICI received information that 53 Shi'a religious structures were demolished by Bahraini authorities between March 1 and May 11. The report found that, in violation of its own law, the Bahraini government did not give adequate notice of the demolitions nor did it allow judicial review before the demolitions took place. The BICI findings on the destruction of religious sites, and other Bahraini government abuses, affirmed a number of previous reports Bahraini and international human rights groups have issued that came to many of the same conclusions.

"Most of the BICI findings about the destruction of Shi'a religious structures are detailed and specific, including that the timing of the demolitions was ‘perceived as a collective punishment" and provoked further tension between the government and the Shi'a population,” said USCIRF chair Leonard Leo. "However, the recommendations are incomplete, and do not help ensure that illegally destroyed religious structures are rebuilt or that the Shi'a community is adequately compensated or restituted for loss of religious materials.”

Soon after the release of the BICI report, King Hamad al-Khalifa appointed a committee to review how to implement the report's recommendations. The committee is expected to report back to the King in February.

USCIRF urges the committee to address the following concerns during its review of the BICI's recommendations:

• The report recommends the government of Bahrain should "consider rebuilding, at its expense, some of the demolished religious structures in accordance with administrative regulations.” USCIRF is concerned that the government may rebuild only a few of the religious structures with legal permits and decrees, and not many of the other structures. In consultation with the Shi'a community, the government of Bahrain should restore or rebuild all the structures that were illegally destroyed;

• The report does not address the loss and destruction of religious materials in some of the demolished structures. The Bahraini government should restore, replace, or compensate the local Shi'a community for the loss of these materials;

• The report's findings do not address allegations by multiple human rights groups that some individual members of the Shi'a community were harassed, interrogated, and arrested for returning to some of the destroyed sites to pray or retrieve religious materials. These allegations should be addressed and officials responsible should be reprimanded and held to account;

• Any Bahraini government officials found to have committed severe religious freedom abuses should be brought to justice and punished under the law; and

• The Bahraini government should issue a formal apology to the Shi'a community for destroying dozens of religious structures that the BICI found clearly violates Bahraini and international law.

"USCIRF welcomes the King's decision to establish the BICI, as well as his public announcement that the government intends to rebuild Shi'a places of worship. It is important that these structures be rebuilt in close consultation with the local Shi'a community and not unilaterally,” said Leo.

USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives. USCIRF's principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact Tom Carter, Communications Director at [email protected], or (202) 523-3257.