Oct 18, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 18, 2017
USCIRF Condemns Pakistan Sentencing Three Ahmadis to Death for Blasphemy
USCIRF Chairman Mark calls blasphemy laws “an assault on human rights and dignity"
WASHINGTON, D.C. – According to media reports, three members of the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan have been sentenced to death for blasphemy by a court in Sheikhupura, a town northwest of Lahore in the Punjab Province. Daniel Mark, Chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) stated that “Pakistan must repeal its blasphemy laws and immediately release all those imprisoned under those provisions. Blasphemy laws and the horrific acts they unleash are an assault on human rights and dignity.”
A spokesman for the Ahmadiyya community has stated that Mubasher Ahmad, Ghulam Ahmed, and Ehsan Ahmed were sentenced last week to death after having been arrested in 2014. The spokesman further indicated that these individuals would challenge the court’s decision.
Chairman Mark, along with Commissioner Thomas J. Reese, S.J., visited Pakistan in May of this year and met with a variety of religious minorities, including representatives of the Ahmadi community. As part of USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project, Chairman Mark has chosen to advocate on behalf of imprisoned Ahmadi member Abdul Shakoor. After a speedy trial in an anti-terrorism court, Mr. Shakoor was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment under the Penal Code for blasphemy and three years under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Pakistan’s constitution declares Ahmadis to be non-Muslims and the Penal Code makes it criminal for Ahmadis to refer to themselves as Muslims; preach, propagate, or disseminate materials on their faith; or refer to their houses of worship as mosques. “In short,” added Chairman Mark, “Ahmadis are required to renounce their faith in order to avail themselves of important civil rights in Pakistan.”
“This latest case,” said Chairman Mark, “reinforces that there is no excuse for the blasphemy provisions in Article 295 of the Pakistani Penal Code to even exist. USCIRF has consistently called on Pakistan to repeal such laws. They violate human rights standards and make the government the ultimate arbiter of religious doctrines or truths. This is quite simply wrong.”
Additional USCIRF resources on blasphemy and Pakistan:
2017 Annual Report (Pakistan chapter – English/Urdu)
Respecting Rights? Measuring the World’s Blasphemy Laws
Press release for Respecting Rights?
Chairman Mark speaks on behalf of Abdul Shakoor
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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission, the first of its kind in the world. USCIRF reviews the facts and circumstances of religious freedom violations abroad and makes policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the Congressional leadership of both political parties. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or John D. Lawrence, Director of Communications ([email protected]/ +1-202-786-0611).
Oct 12, 2017
The following op-ed appeared in Huffington Post on October 12, 2017
By former Commissioner Tenzin Dorjee and Congressman Jim Mcgovern
Imagine you are a 6-year-old. Your world is your family, friends and community. One day, people come to your home and reveal that you are very special, a venerable leader of your faith, and that you will serve as a spiritual guide for your people.
Two days later, authorities appear. They force you and your family from your home and take you away.
This is what we know about Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, chosen on May 15, 1995 by the Dalai Lama, the highest position in Tibetan Buddhism, to be the 11th Panchen Lama, filling the second highest position. On May 17, 1995, the Chinese government detained him and his family and announced a few months later that it had selected its own Panchen Lama. In so doing, the government asserted an authority that it does not possess: to name a reincarnated religious leader of Tibetan Buddhism—a particularly ironic action given the state’s official atheism.
We have chosen to advocate for the Panchen Lama and highlight the Chinese government’s laws, policies and practices that led to his disappearance. Our advocacy is part of the congressional Defending Freedoms Project of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, and the Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
The Panchen Lama has not been heard from since that day, more than 20 years ago, when he and his family were taken. He now is one of the world’s longest-held prisoners of conscience. Representatives from the U.S. government, the United Nations, civil society organizations and others repeatedly have asked to see him. During a July 2017 Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing on “Tibet: Freedom of Religion,” which highlighted deteriorating conditions in Tibet, we called on the Chinese government to provide authenticated video graphic evidence of the Panchen Lama’s well-being. The Chinese government answers these inquiries with silence, statements that they are protecting him from being “kidnapped by separatists,” or bromides about his “normal, happy life receiving a good education and cultural upbringing,” and desire to “not be disturbed.” Even if true, we want to hear from the Panchen Lama himself, without mediation.
The Panchen Lama’s disappearance is emblematic of the violations of religious freedom that take place in Tibetan areas on a daily basis. While the People’s Republic of China presents itself as a global superpower that respects the rule of law and international standards, nothing could be farther from the truth.
The Chinese government has disappeared many Tibetan Buddhists and imprisoned thousands, many of whose cases have been documented by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. The government forces some Tibetans into reeducation programs, imposes extensive electronic and physical surveillance, mandates government officials’ presence in monasteries, cancels festivals, restricts travel, and intrusively restricts private religious practice. These restrictions have escalated since President Xi Jinping assumed leadership of the military and the Communist Party in November 2012.
At Larung Gar, one of the world’s largest Tibetan Buddhist institutes, and Yachen Gar, a nearby religious community, the Chinese government has demolished buildings and evicted thousands in an attempt to eviscerate the teachings and study integral to the practice of Tibetan Buddhism. In late August Communist Party and government officials were appointed to manage Larung Gar.
Due to the extensive repression, since 2009 at least 150 Tibetans have self-immolated, one of the few forms of protest many Tibetans believe remains to them given the intense government control that prevents most collective acts of resistance.
Government officials also continually attack the Dalai Lama, seeking to make him a persona non grata worldwide. They accuse him of “blasphemy” and “splittism,” refer to him as a “wolf in monk’s robes,” and, most egregiously, want to exercise complete control over his reincarnation.
We believe that the U.S. government must do more in response to the religious freedom violations the Chinese government has committed against the Tibetan people. To that end, we urge the Congress to pass and President Trump to sign H.R. 1872, the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act. We also urge the Administration to designate China as a “country of particular concern” (CPC) for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations, and develop a list of Chinese officials subject to sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act.
We must not be silent about the Chinese government’s persecution of the Tibetan people. That government has disappeared the Panchen Lama and seeks to make the Tibetan people disappear by repressing their religion, culture, and language. We cannot let this happen on our watch.
Oct 11, 2017
USCIRF Vice Chairwoman Kristina Arriaga Testifies Before the House Oversight Committee
Arriaga tells Members that religious freedom violations “have security implications for the United States"
WASHINGTON, D.C. – This morning, Kristina Arriaga, the Vice Chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), testified before the National Security Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Speaking on the “government’s role in protecting international religious freedom,” Arriaga advised the Members that “we ignore religious freedom violations at our peril and must address challenges proactively.”
Ms. Arriaga stated that “some governments view religion as competition, an alternate source of authority, which they must control. However, in so doing, they create more instability, not enhanced authority.” Governments seek this control by: using national security concerns as an excuse for violating religious freedom; pitting groups against each other to enhance the government’s power; allowing violators to act with impunity; and inciting vigilante groups and others to violence.
Vice Chairwoman Arriaga reminded the subcommittee members that non-state actors, especially in failed or failing states, are among the primary perpetrators of egregious religious freedom violations, and reviewed some of the tools the U.S. government can use to address international religious freedom violations. These tools include the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, the 2016 Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act, and the Global Magnitsky Act. She also underscored that our government “must have the political will to use” these and other tools, and “that is where we can fall short.”
She also noted the key role women play in building lasting peace and security. “Especially during conflicts,” she warned, “women often are targeted for violence and discrimination, with religion used to disempower them.” She also stressed that it is a “betrayal of the very foundations of freedom of religion or belief whenever it is misused to justify inexcusable, harmful practices such as female genital mutilation, child marriage, and forced conversion.”
Ms. Arriaga called for greater focus on religious prisoners of conscience unjustly imprisoned for their religious beliefs, activities, and advocacy and the impact of unjust laws and practices. “To do our part,” she added, “Each Commissioner is advocating for a prisoner as part of USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project. I would encourage each Member of this subcommittee to adopt a prisoner as well.”
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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission, the first of its kind in the world. USCIRF reviews the facts and circumstances of religious freedom violations abroad and makes policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the Congressional leadership of both political parties. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or John D. Lawrence, Director of Communications ([email protected]/ +1-202-786-0611).