FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 10, 2008

Contact:
Judith Ingram, Communications Director,
(202) 523-3240, ext. 127

WASHINGTON-The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan, independent federal body, is seriously concerned about the riots between the Hindu and Christian religious communities in Kandhamal district, Orissa, which had particularly severe consequences on the minority Christian community: at least five people and possibly more have been killed, dozens injured, and over 500 displaced, including priests, nuns, and other individuals who reportedly remain in hiding. In addition, at least 400 homes and 20 churches were burned. In light of the frequency with which devastating acts of communal violence have occurred in India in recent years, the Commission fully supports the announcement by India's National Human Rights Commission to send an investigative team to Kandhamal to obtain first-hand information on the events there.

"A national-level investigation into the December 2007 violence in Orissa and subsequent prosecution will send a strong message to all that violence committed in the name of religion is never acceptable," said Commission Chair Michael Cromartie. "The reported acts of violence against religious communities in Orissa are serious enough to warrant a national-level investigation and response."

The clashes erupted on December 24, 2007 and are the subject of conflicting reports. According to some sources, hundreds of members of a Hindu extremist group demanding that Christmas celebrations be halted attacked Christian individuals, churches, offices, and residences, destroying homes, looting shops, and injuring a number of individuals, and these actions were soon followed by retaliatory actions by Christians against Hindus. Other sources say the unrest began when Christians attacked a Hindu leader, while yet others allege that Christians erected religious statues at a Hindu religious site.

During the subsequent three days of rioting, 20 churches and an untold number of prayer houses and private residences belonging to both Hindus and Christians were destroyed. Although hundreds of national troops reportedly were sent to the region, the government of Orissa reportedly failed to act quickly-thereby enabling the violence to spread and perpetrators to escape accountability. Members of the minority Christian community allege that local police did not respond adequately to calls for help.

Religiously motivated violence has broken out before in Orissa. In 1999, Hindu extremists in Orissa murdered Australian Christian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, a crime for which the perpetrator remains incarcerated. According to Indian news reports, some Indian officials claim that violence between Hindus and Christians has decreased since the murder. However, international human rights groups report that extremist Hindu groups for years have been conducting a sometimes violent campaign against Christians in Orissa that state government officials have done little to halt.

"The U.S. government should urge the government of India at the very least to ensure that the perpetrators of the recent Hindu-Christian violence in Orissa are held to account and to protect the safety of members of religious minorities in that state," Cromartie said.

The U.S. government should also urge the Indian government to make more vigorous and effective efforts at the national level to stem violence against religious minorities. These efforts should include fulfillment of a 2004 pledge to criminalize inter-religious violence, and engagement in the pre-planning necessary to ensure that law enforcement officials can quell outbreaks of communal violence.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to monitor the status of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international instruments, and to give independent policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and the Congress.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 4, 2008

Contact:
Judith Ingram, Communications Director,
(202) 523-3240

WHEN: Monday, Jan. 7, 12-1 p.m.

WHERE: Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, Sixth Floor, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C.

NOTE: A Photo ID is required for entry into the building.

RSVP:  [email protected]

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars are co-sponsoring a presentation on the Putin government's responses to increased xenophobia in Russia. The event features a talk by Aleksandr Verkhovsky, the director of the Moscow-based SOVA Center, on Monday, Jan. 7, from 12 to 1 p.m.

The SOVA Center has emerged as one of Russia's leading non-governmental organizations focusing on xenophobia and freedom of religion or belief in Russia. Mr. Verkhovsky will address recent amendments to the anti-extremism law as well as hate crimes. USCIRF Senior Policy Analyst Catherine Cosman will comment on Mr. Verkhovsky's talk.

In its most recent Policy Focus report on Russia, the Commission has analyzed the harsh impact of political authoritarianism, rising nationalism, officially tolerated xenophobia and intolerance, and the sometimes arbitrary official response to domestic security concerns on human rights in Russia. Those trends are having a particularly severe impact on Russia's Muslims and other religious and ethnic minorities. Last year, the Commission also published an extensive analysis of the impact of Russia's new law regulating NGOs. The Commission's policy recommendations to the U.S. government have included urging the Russian government to establish a nationwide anti-discrimination body, work with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to decrease hate crimes, and ensure the equal legal treatment of the members of religious minorities. For more information, see  http://www.uscirf.gov/countries/publications/policyfocus/Russia.pdf

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 4, 2008

Contact:
Judith Ingram, Communications Director,
(202) 523-3240 , ext. 127

WASHINGTON-The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent, bipartisan federal body, calls on the U.S. government to urge the government of Pakistan to put an end to vigilante violence and to provide adequate protection to human rights defenders in these turbulent times.

"It is the Pakistani government's iron-clad duty to ensure the safety of those who work tirelessly to defend human rights and religious freedom, as well as those seeking to exercise their internationally recognized rights including the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief," said Commission Chair Michael Cromartie.

Following the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, this Commission has heard disturbing reports of politically connected armed groups harassing and threatening human rights defenders. This week, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported that its chair, Asma Jahangir, had been threatened by gun-wielding men who had beaten a young man and physically harassed a group of young women including her daughter and locked them up in an office. The Human Rights Commission said that "the culprits seemed to enjoy local authorities' patronage and were reportedly backed by a couple of police constables in uniform."

In addition to her position as chair of the Human Rights Commission, Asma Jahangir is the UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Freedom. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom calls for the Pakistani government to provide protection to her, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Hina Jilani, and others who work to protect human rights in Pakistan.

This Commission also calls attention to the need to establish the rule of law in Pakistan. An essential component would be restoring the independence of the judiciary branch, as well as acting against extremist groups. The continued influence of armed groups that use violence in Pakistani politics and society has severely compromised rule of law and human rights for Pakistan's citizens, and has been particularly problematic when it comes to the internationally guaranteed rights to freedom of religion, expression, and association.

The Commission has long raised concerns about the ways in which the Pakistani government severely violates the right to religious freedom inside Pakistan. Abuses include the country's blasphemy laws, which commonly involve false accusations and result in the lengthy detention of and violence against Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus, and Muslims on account of their religious beliefs; the laws violating the fundamental rights of the Ahmadi community; the persistent sectarian violence targeting Shi'as, Ahmadis, Hindus, and Christians; and the Hudood ordinances, which violate the rights of women in Pakistan.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to monitor the status of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international instruments, and to give independent policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and the Congress.