May 10

WHEN:

May 10th 10:30am - May 10th 12:00pm

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing

Transnational Repression of Freedom of Religion or Belief

Wednesday, May 10, 2023
10:30 AM -12:00 PM ET
Virtual

Hearing Transcript

Hearing Summary

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) hosted a hearing that examined transnational repression on the basis of religion, belief, or advocacy for religious freedom and how the United State can respond accordingly.

Government efforts to restrict freedom of religion or belief do not stop at national borders. In recent years, a concerning trend of governments harassing, intimidating, and even attempting to kidnap and deport religious minority citizens or religious freedom advocates who reside abroad has increased. Some of these attempts have occurred on U.S. soil. While country-specific approaches to this repression exist, the coalescence of a U.S. policy on transnational repression is an ongoing process. The stakes of this policy are high not only for those targeted for transnational repression, but also for countries that value freedom of religion or belief as a norm and practice. Authoritarianism is no longer contained to authoritarian states as new technologies, interlinked societies, and globalized economies connect people more than ever before.

Witnesses documented the use of repressive tactics by governments around the world to restrict religious freedom outside their borders and provided policy recommendations to the U.S. government on countering these threats.

Opening Remarks

  • Senator Jeff Merkley, U.S. Senate (D-Oregon)
    Recorded Remarks
  • Nury Turkel, Chair, USCIRF
  • Eric Ueland, Commissioner, USCIRF

Panel I

  • Scott Busby, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State
    Written Testimony

Panel II

Witness Biographies

Submitted for the Record

Statement by Falun Dafa Info Center

This hearing is open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the public, and the media. Members of the media should register online and can email [email protected] for any questions or to schedule an interview. The video recording of the hearing will be posted on the Commission website. For any additional questions, please email Veronica McCarthy at [email protected] or (202) 355-8026.

Additional Name(s): Nahale Shahidi Yazdi

Gender: Female

Current Location: Kerman Prison

Perpetrator: Iran

Religion or Belief: Bahá`í

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Date of Detainment: March/28/2023

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment

Reason for Persecution: Education Rights Religious Activity Religious Belief

Nature of Charges: Unknown

Nahaleh Shahidi

Extra Bio Info:

Nahaleh Shahidi is detained on a religious basis. 

On March 28, 2023, security forces arrested Shahidi, a Baha’i citizen and child rights activist, while she was traveling from Karaj to Kerman and took her to an undisclosed location. The reasons for her arrest and her detained location were unknown.

In April 2023, it was reported that Shahidi was transferred from a Ministry of Intelligence detention facility to Kerman Prison.

Shahidi was previously imprisoned for activities related to her religious identity. 

In March 2011, Shahidi was arrested and then sentenced by the Revolutionary Court of Kerman to two years in prison and one year of suspended imprisonment to prison for “civil and children’s rights activities, such as holding literacy sources for children.” 

Sources:

Apr 19, 2023

USCIRF Condemns Funeral Attack, Rising Violence in Northcentral Nigeria

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today condemned the recent attack on a funeral in Benue State, Nigeria, which killed dozens of mourners in a region where violence often falls along ethnoreligious lines.

“All Nigerians have the right to practice their faith and mourn their loved ones in peace and safety,” said Commissioner Frederick A. Davie. “This attack on a sacred, communal religious ceremony is atrocious and reprehensible. Armed actors in this region frequently show disdain for worshipers and government officials routinely fail to provide justice to faith communities targeted with violence.”

This is just one of the attacks that have impacted religious communities in northcentral Nigeria since the beginning of the year. Other examples include an April 7 attack on internally displaced persons that killed 74 people and January’s bombing of a cattle market that killed 50 people. These incidents serve to further escalate tensions in a region where violence exacerbates ethnoreligious divides and erodes interfaith trust, threatening Nigerians’ freedom of religion or belief. Despite government rhetoric calling for interfaith unity, the Nigerian government has generally failed to enact meaningful policy reforms and changes to address the drivers of violence impacting religious freedom.

“The Nigerian government must be held accountable for protecting the safety and religious freedom rights of its citizens,” said Commissioner Frank Wolf. “The U.S. government needs to give higher priority to religious freedom in its Nigeria policy, at the bare minimum by naming Nigeria a country of particular concern (CPC) and appointing a Special Envoy to the region.”

In its 2022 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate Nigeria as a CPC, for engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief. Last year, USCIRF produced recent analyses on religious freedom conditions in Nigeria and held a hearing on Religious Freedom, Violence, and U.S. Policy in Nigeria.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion or belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].

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