WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom welcomes the appointment of two Commissioners.  Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) on May 13, 2016 announced the reappointment of Daniel I. Mark and the appointment of Kristina Arriaga.

Dr. Daniel Mark is an assistant professor of political science at Villanova University, where he teaches political theory, philosophy of law, American government, and politics and religion. At Villanova, he holds the rank of battalion professor in the Navy ROTC unit and is a faculty associate of the Matthew J. Ryan Center for the Study of Free Institutions and the Public Good. He also is a fellow of the Witherspoon Institute and an assistant editor of Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy. Dr. Mark works with the Tikvah Fund in New York and has taught at the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University. He holds a BA, MA, and PhD from the Department of Politics at Princeton University. There, he was affiliated with the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, the Program in Law and Public Affairs, and the Penn-Princeton Bioethics Forum. Before graduate school, he spent four years as a high school teacher.  Dr. Daniel I. Mark was appointed to his first term by then Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) in May, 2014.

Kristina Arriaga de Bucholz has been the Executive Director of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty since 2010: she joined the Fund in 1995. After starting her career in D.C. working for U.S. Ambassador José Sorzano at the Cuban American National Foundation, she became an advisor to the U.S. delegation to the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC). Splitting her time between the seat of the UNHRC in Geneva and Washington, D.C., Ms. Arriaga worked on raising awareness of the plight of political prisoners with New York Times bestselling author, former political prisoner, Armando Valladares who was named Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Commission. After returning to the U.S., Ms. Arriaga continued to work on behalf of defectors and refugees. She also worked on domestic affairs as an Intergovernmental Relations Officer at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and then later as a four-year appointee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

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

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Barack Obama on May 12, 2016 announced his intent to reappoint Rev. Thomas Reese, S.J. and appoint Dr. John Ruskay to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).  

“USCIRF is very pleased with the reappointment of Father Reese and the appointment of Dr. Ruskay,” said USCIRF Chairman Dr. Robert P. George. “The Commission has benefited from Father Reese’s insight and knowledge during his first term and will continue to benefit from his wisdom and experience during his second term on the Commission.  We also warmly welcome Dr. Ruskay to the Commission. His knowledge, experience, and commitment also will be a great asset to our Commission and its mandate, helping us advance the cherished right of freedom of religion or belief around the world.”   

Rev. Thomas J. Reese, S.J. is a Senior Analyst for the National Catholic Reporter, where he has worked since 2013.  Father Reese was Editor-in-Chief of America magazine from 1998 to 2005 and an associate editor from 1978 to 1985.  Additionally, Father Reese was a Senior Fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center from 2006 to 2013 and from 1985 to 1998.  Father Reese entered the Jesuits in 1962 and was ordained in 1974.  He was first appointed to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in 2014.  Father Reese received a B.A. and M.A. from St. Louis University, an M.Div. from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. John Ruskay is a partner at JRB Consulting Services, a position he has held since 2014.  Dr. Ruskay is currently the Executive Vice President-Emeritus of the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York, where he previously served as Executive Vice President & CEO from 1999 to 2014.  He began his tenure at the UJA Federation working in a variety of roles in 1993 including Chief Operating Officer, Group Vice President for Program Services, and Executive Director for Education and Community Services.  From 1985 to 1993, Dr. Ruskay served as the Vice Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.  From 1980 to 1985, he was the Education Director of the 92nd Street Y.  Dr. Ruskay received a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University.

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. The President and leadership of both political parties in the Senate and House of Representatives appoint USCIRF Commissioners. 

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

(RNS) The eighth anniversary this Saturday (May 14) of Iran’s imprisonment of seven Baha’i leaders is an opportune time to refocus attention on the plight of their people.

Dominated by an extremist interpretation of Shiite Islam, Iran’s government has a long-term goal to eradicate the more than 300,000-member Baha’i community, the country’s largest non-Muslim religious minority. While pursuit of that goal remains, its intensity ebbs and flows in response to the level of world attention and outrage. Unfortunately, there are signs from this past year that persecution is on the upswing, calling for greater world outrage at Iran’s abuses of this peaceful religious community.

Since Iran’s Khomeini revolution of 1979, authorities have killed more than 200 Baha’i leaders, and more than 10,000 have been dismissed from government and university jobs.

Baha’is effectively are prohibited from attending colleges, chartering their own worship centers or schools, serving in the military, and obtaining various kinds of jobs.

Even Baha’i marriages are not recognized.

Over the past 10 years, about 850 Baha’is arbitrarily have been arrested. As of February 2016, more than 80 remain imprisoned, including the Baha’i Seven — Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Behrouz Tavakkoli, Vahid Tizfahm, Fariba Kamalabadi and Mahvash Sabet.

According to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, on which we serve, there were ominous signs of a renewed government crackdown over the past year. In Tehran and other municipalities, Baha’i homes have been ransacked, Baha’i-owned shops closed, Baha’i religious materials confiscated and Baha’i members arrested. In January 2016 alone, 24 Baha’is in the Golestan province were sentenced to prison terms of up to 11 years simply for engaging in the religious activities of their faith.

Iran’s government also continues to issue a steady drumbeat of propaganda that demonizes and dehumanizes its Baha’i population. In 2014 alone, pro-government media and print outlets published nearly 4,000 anti-Baha’i articles in which Baha’is typically are portrayed as immoral traitors, agents of foreign powers, and strangers and aliens who don’t belong in the country.

The government’s demonization of Baha’is predictably creates a climate conducive to acts of violence against them that often are not prosecuted.

This is not to say that the Iranian government only targets Baha’is. Christians and members of other religious minorities also face persecution, including jail time. Since 2010, authorities arbitrarily have arrested and detained more than 550 Christians throughout the country. Over the past year, there were numerous reports of authorities raiding church services, threatening church members, and arresting and incarcerating worshippers and church leaders, particularly evangelical Christian converts.

Jews and Zoroastrians also face official discrimination, and the government continues to foster anti-Semitism. Among Muslims, Iran’s government has imposed harsh sentences on prominent reformers from the Shiite majority community; imprisoned about 150 Sunni Muslims on charges relating to their beliefs and religious activities; and harassed and incarcerated members of the Sufi Muslim community.

But what distinguishes mistreatment of the Baha’is is the stark evidence that eradication is the goal. From laws that push Baha’is to the margins of society to government-sponsored propaganda that degrades and dehumanizes, from mass detention and imprisonment to the closing of businesses, from allowing societal violence against Baha’is to failure to prosecute perpetrators, all signs suggest that Iran’s government seeks religious cleansing of this community.

Responding to pressure from the United States and the world community, Iran in January released Saeed Abedini, a Christian pastor. It is time to demand that Iran do likewise to all religious prisoners, including the Baha’i Seven and the imprisoned Baha’i educators, and other prisoners of conscience. It is time for Iran to abandon its terrible goal of eradicating its Baha’i community and instead treat its members with the dignity and respect they deserve as human beings and citizens. It is time for Iran to uphold the right to religious freedom for each and every Iranian.

(Robert P. George is chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom; Katrina Lantos Swett is a USCIRF Commissioner)

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