| USCIRF

Oct 26, 2010

For Your Information

09/22/2012| ByLeonard A. Leo and Don Argue

The following op-ed appeared in AOL News on September 22, 2010.

(Sept. 22) -- President Barack Obama will be delivering an address on Thursday to the U.N. General Assembly and, as in previous years, it is almost certain that he will have to share the podium with a rogue's gallery of the world's most oppressive human rights and religious freedom abusers.

President Obama has the ability and the standing abroad to leverage this opportunity by speaking forcefully and eloquently on behalf of the cause for universal human rights.

Worst Violators of
Religious Freedom

China
Iran
Saudi Arabia
Eritrea
Nigeria
North Korea
Sudan
Vietnam
Burma
Pakistan
Uzbekistan
Turkmenistan
Somalia

Source: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

He should make clear that the world's democracies, including the United States, stand unequivocally for those core rights, among which is freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief.

Placing an accent on freedom of religion, here and now, is especially crucial, because we have been witnessing an accelerated erosion of this core human right in far too many countries around the world.

State-sponsored repression of people of faith on account of their religion has been acute these past several months in a number of countries.

For example, when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad takes the podium at the General Assembly, we should try to imagine the horrific conditions that seven Baha'i leaders are suffering at Gohardasht Prison, after being sentenced this past summer on bogus charges of propaganda against the regime and espionage.

In a similar vein, the presence of Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov at the General Assembly should remind us of the thousands of Muslims who have been imprisoned, denied due process and subjected to torture for peaceable exercise of their religious faith without posing any credible security threats.

And while Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah recently has undertaken limited reforms and promoted inter-religious dialogue internationally, we should not forget that his government continues to produce textbooks that teach children hatred and intolerance. And the kingdom's religious police, known as the Commission to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice, regularly commits abuses and uses strong-arm tactics to enforce the state's version of Sunni Islam.

Buddhists, Catholics and Protestants in China, Burma and Vietnam; Copts in Egypt; Ahmadis in Pakistan; Orthodox Christians in Turkey and Eritrea; and other religious minorities from many other countries will be suffering under the yolk of oppression and discrimination as their leaders take the General Assembly podium in New York in an effort to gain favor and credibility.

And, of course, the fate of the people of Sudan should especially weigh heavily on the minds of all the U.N. delegates, as we move ever closer to the deadline of the North-South peace agreement, which, if not fully and fairly implemented, could very likely end in another bloody civil war where religion will almost certainly, yet again, become the proxy for killing millions of innocents.

This must be be remembered, and President Obama as well as other leaders should engage the world community on the need to find solutions for improving conditions for their freedom of religion and belief.

Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right that no government has the authority to deny, and that our government and other democracies around the world have the moral authority and duty to promote.

Hopefully, during this session of the General Assembly, all U.N. members will live up to this aspiration and so many others embodied in the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights.

Leonard A. Leo is chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom , a federally mandated, independent bipartisan agency that advises the White House, the State Department and Congress. Leo is also executive vice president of the Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies . Don Argue is vice chairman of the Commission on International Religious Freedom. He is also chancellor of Northwest University in Kirkland, Wash ., and previously served as president of the National Association of Evangelicals.

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.

Oct 14, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 14, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) applauds the awarding of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo and urges the Obama Administration to make religious freedom and related rights a more prominent part of U.S.-China relations.

In addition, USCIRF also calls on the international community to press Beijing for the unconditional release of Liu Xiaobo and other Chinese dissidents and human rights advocates.

"That Liu Xiaobo, and the drafters of Charter "08, have been harassed and jailed for courageously calling for the placement of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law at the core of China"s political system is a travesty that the international community must work to correct,” said Leonard Leo, USCIRF chair. "U.S. policy and programs should stand firmly with Liu Xiaobo and work to advance the reforms included in Charter "08, including the freedom of religion. But the main lesson the Obama Administration can learn from Liu Xiaobo is that human rights cannot be viewed as a sideline concern, but are critically linked to the advancement of all U.S. interests, including China"s peaceful rise.”

In a 2006 article "Changing the Regime to Change Society,” Liu Xiaobo cited St. Thomas Aquinas" notion of political virtue as critical to the reform of China"s political system, saying that "virtuous good governance lies not only in maintaining order, but even more in establishing human dignity … [recognizing that] humans exist not only physically, but also spiritually, possessing a moral sense … that is the natural source of our sense of justice.”

This idea worked its way into the Charter ‘08 document"s emphasis on human rights, including religious freedom, as essential reforms for China"s future. The Charter "08 document, originally signed by 303 Chinese intellectuals and activists, contains a list of 19 reforms, including guaranteeing, among other things, the freedom of religion, speech, assembly, and association and the right to private property. Regarding the freedom of religion, the Charter "08 document urges reforms similar to those advanced by USCIRF for the past 10 years in its Annual Reports and engagement with Chinese officials. The Charter "08 urges the Chinese government to:

"guarantee freedom of religion and freedom of belief, and implement separation of religion and state so that activities involving religion and faith are not subjected to government interference. Examine and repeal administrative statutes, administrative rules, and local statutes that restrict or deprive citizens of religious freedom; ban management of religious activities by administrative legislation. Abolish the system that requires that religious groups (and including places of worship) obtain prior approval of their legal status in order to register, and replace it with a system of record-keeping that requires no scrutiny.”

"Liu Xiaobo"s Nobel Prize demonstrates again the urgency of human rights reform in China and the need for U.S. leadership in pressing Beijing for change,” said Mr. Leo. "Beijing views Liu Xiaobo as an enemy of the state, but for millions in China and around the world, he represents the best of China"s future. The international community should continue to press for his unconditional release and embrace his calls for rights reforms as fundamental elements of better relations with China.”

Sep 30, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomes the executive order signed today by President Barack Obama that imposed sanctions on eight Iranian government officials responsible for serious human rights abuses in Iran.

"These targeted sanctions are the first of their kind and send a very clear message to Tehran,” said Leonard Leo, USCIRF chair. "In May, USCIRF called on the U.S. government to take the action it did today. Also in May, USCIRF identified nine Iranian officials, six of whom the Obama administration named today, as being responsible for egregious religious freedom violations in Iran.”

The President"s executive order complies with the mandate in PL. 111-195, the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act that was signed into law on July 1, 2010. This law, which had broad and bipartisan support in Congress, highlights Iran"s serious, systematic, and ongoing violations of human rights, including suppression of religious freedom. The law mandates that the President impose sanctions on individuals responsible for or complicit in human rights and religious freedom abuses.

"USCIRF applauds today"s executive order and urges President Obama to impose sanctions on the other three Iranian officials USCIRF has identified: Sadegh Ardeshir Larijani, Head of the Judiciary, Mohammad Reza Naghdi, Head of the Basij militia, and Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam, Head of the National Police,” said Mr. Leo.

"USCIRF also urges the President to encourage our European Union counterparts to impose similar measures. We must send the clear message to the Iranian government that the international community will not tolerate with impunity continued human rights and religious freedom violations,” said Mr. Leo.

The government of Iran has been engaging in human rights abuses for more than 30 years. During the past year, the Iranian government"s poor religious freedom record deteriorated, especially for religious minorities such as Baha"is, Christians, and Sufi Muslims, and physical attacks, harassment, detention, arrests, and imprisonment intensified. Even the recognized non-Muslim religious minorities-Jews, Armenian and Assyrian Christians, and Zoroastrians-protected under Iran"s constitution faced increasing discrimination and repression.

Since 1999, USCIRF has recommended, and the State Department has designated, Iran as a "Country of Particular Concern,” or CPC, due to its systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.

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