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December 2, 2013 | By Robert P. George

The following op-ed appeared in the Providence Journal on November 30, 2013.

Washington - As the nation celebrates Thanksgiving, Jewish Americans are also commemorating Hanukkah, the eight-day Feast of Dedication.

Interestingly, this year these holidays overlap. Much more importantly, however, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah share a common theme: religious freedom. Thanksgiving reminds us of the Pilgrims' arduous and risky journey to the New World to practice their religion in accordance with their consciences. Hanukkah celebrates ancient Israel's Maccabees who, by defeating the foreign despot Antiochus, gained the freedom to practice their religion as they rededicated their Temple.

Yet another commemoration harkens to this freedom. On Monday, Hanukkah's fifth full day, America will mark the 250th anniversary of the dedication of its oldest temple, Touro Synagogue, in Newport.

Decades later, in 1790, George Washington addressed to its congregants his historic letter on freedom of conscience. Writing that all Americans, Jews no less than Christians, "possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship,” Washington reaffirmed that the U.S. government "gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.”

True to Washington's words and the spirit of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, America has been a refuge throughout its history for people fleeing religious persecution.

Unfortunately, such persecution continues today across the world. Religious-freedom abuses affect an alarming range of people: Rohingya Muslims in Burma; Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, Protestant house church members, Falun Gong and others in China; Coptic Christians in Egypt and other Christians elsewhere in the Middle East; Baha'is and Jews in Iran; Ahmadis, Christians and Hindus in Pakistan; and Muslims of minority sects in Muslim-majority nations such as Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan and non-Muslim nations such as Russia.

Indeed, according to a Pew study, 75 percent of the world's people live in countries which perpetrate or tolerate serious violations, ranging from restrictions on worship to the commission of torture and murder.

In 1998, in response to such violations, Congress passed, and President Clinton signed into law, the International Religious Freedom Act. The law created a new international religious freedom office in the State Department, headed by an ambassador-at-large. The law also created the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

USCIRF was founded as an independent, bipartisan federal body to monitor freedom of religion abroad and make policy recommendations to the president, secretary of state and Congress. One of USCIRF"s key responsibilities is to recommend to the State Department nations that should be designated as "countries of particular concern,” marking them as the world's worst religious-freedom abusers, as well as actions that should be taken given this designation.

This year, USCIRF recommended that eight nations be re-designated: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan. We found that seven other states deserved the same status: Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam.

In our work, we are aided by the fact that this fundamental right is not only a foundational part of America's heritage, but is enshrined in international law and covenants, including Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which proclaims 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, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

As USCIRF's chairman, I am committed, along with my colleagues and commission staff, to do all I can to make religious freedom a central issue in the foreign policy of our nation - one that cannot be pushed aside or ignored. It is my hope that during this holiday season, we will gain a renewed appreciation for this bedrock freedom and the importance of proclaiming it to the world.

Robert P. George is Chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

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

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November 26, 2013 | By Robert P. George

The following op-ed appeared in the Washington Times on November 25, 2013.

WASHINGTON,November 24, 2013 - Earlier this fall, a Sudanese business owner and women's rights activist defied a police demand that she cover her hair to satisfy their application of Sudan's laws on personal dress. Amira Osman Hamed now faces the prospect of corporal punishment in the form of forty lashes if convicted of the charges brought against her. Earlier this month, her hearing was postponed while the government prepared a response to her challenge to relevant portions of its criminal code.

Hamed's case highlights how Sudan's women bear the brunt of a brutal legal system rooted in a draconian interpretation of Islamic (Sharia) law and corresponding hudood, or classes of crimes with set punishments. The same regime which openly harbored Osama bin Laden and other international terrorists nearly a generation ago continues to trample on the fundamental rights of its own people, including the right to freedom of religion or belief.

In accordance with the recommendation of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), the U.S. government continues to designate Sudan as a country of particular concern, marking it a world-class violator of religious liberty. For Sudan to merit the withdrawal of this designation, serious reforms are needed, and the United States, along with other nations, must do more to help instigate change in decades-old practices.

Khartoum laid the foundation for its freedom-abusing system 30 years ago, in September 1983, when it imposed Sharia on its people, including non-Muslims in the predominantly Christian and animist south. Imposing Sharia helped ignite Sudan's 20-year, north-south civil war, leading to the deaths of more than two million Sudanese and to South Sudan's secession in 2011. Khartoum's action continues to fuel support for anti-government rebels in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

Under the Sudanese regime's interpretation of Sharia, floggings and amputations have been instituted for criminal offenses and broadcast on television.

In 1991, two years after seizing power in a bloodless coup, Sudan's current president, Omar al-Bashir, made a bad situation worse, implementing the current criminal code which applied punishments not only to criminal conduct but to harmless personal behavior, irrespective of faith or belief.

The 1991 Act identifies and harshly punishes infractions, including hudood offenses, which violate "public order.” Such offenses include drinking alcohol, apostasy (ridda), adultery (zina), defamation, unchastity (qazf), armed robbery (hiraba), and capital theft. These offenses carry fixed sentences that include death by hanging, stoning, crucifixion, and flogging.

In a profound attack on religious freedom, those convicted of apostasy, for example, may be sentenced to death.

Under the guise of protecting morality and preventing the co-mingling of the sexes, which is deemed "prostitution,” government officials have deployed the public order regime against unmarried men and women alike who dare to share office space and taxi rides or attend parties together. But the public order regime disproportionately harms women and girls, especially those from religious and ethnic minority communities.

Each year, hundreds of Muslim and Christian women and girls are flogged for "indecent or immoral dress.” Because the law fails to define "indecent” dress, arresting officers and prosecuting judges are free to impose their own views arbitrarily on others. In Hamed's case, authorities deemed it "indecent” to refuse to wear the hijab or Muslim head scarf. Such actions are contrary to international religious freedom standards which clearly protect the right of Hamed and others to wear or not wear religious dress.

How should the United States respond to these abuses of religious freedom and other human rights?

First, it should spotlight the plight of Amira Osman Hamed and women like her.

Second, our government, along with our allies, should urge Sudan to abide by international standards of freedom of religion or belief by amending or repealing the 1991 Criminal Act and subsequent laws and practices which infringe on religious liberty and related rights.

Lastly, the U.S. should make clear that normalization of relations with the United States hinges on respect for religious freedom and other human rights. Simply stated, a regime that fails to renounce the use of terror against its own people cannot be trusted to cease its support for terrorizing citizens of other nations.

Amira Osman Hamed and others in Sudan have taken a courageous stand for freedom and we must stand with them.

Robert P. George is Chairman of the U.S Commission on International Religious Freedom(USCIRF).

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

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November 12, 2013 | By Katrina Lantos Swett and Mary Ann Glendon

The following op-ed appeared in CNN World on November 12, 2013.

Editor's note: Katrina Lantos Swett is Vice Chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Mary Ann Glendon is a USCIRF Commissioner. The views expressed are their own.

This month, the world's second most populous nation has resumed its annual commemoration of end-of-year holy days. India's Hindu population, along with Jains and Sikhs, has celebrated Diwali , the festival of lights. Muslims are marking Al Hijra, the Islamic New Year, and Ashura on November 14. Next month, Christians will celebrate Christmas.

Taken together, these holidays are a testament to India's remarkable religious diversity. Besides its Hindu majority, India includes the world's third largest Muslim population, 25 million Christians, and Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Jews, and others. As the world's largest democracy, India officially tolerates this diversity. India's prime minister is Sikh and the ruling Congress Party head is Catholic.

Read more .

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