U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
White House announces new religious affairs leaders, first Muslim religious freedom ambassador
By Jack Jenkins, Kathryn Post, and Joseph Hammond — July 30, 2021
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Biden will nominate Rashad Hussain, who served in other roles under the Obama administration, as his U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.
Russia, China, Myanmar recommended for State Department list of religious freedom violators
By Adelle M. Banks — April 21, 2021
(RNS) — The U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom highlighted atrocities against Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar’s military, persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses by Russia’s government and China’s detention of millions of Uighurs and other Muslims.
First Jehovah’s Witness woman sentenced in Russia after faith declared ‘extremist’
By Adelle M. Banks — February 24, 2021
(RNS) — The faith group’s spokesman called the ruling ‘a mockery of the rule of law — both international human rights law as well as Russia’s constitution.’
Fifth Jehovah’s Witness receives six-year sentence in Russia for practicing his faith
By Adelle M. Banks — December 17, 2020
(RNS) — Yuriy Savelyev was ‘charged with organizing the activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ when his home was raided in 2018.
State Department adds Nigeria to list of most serious religious freedom violators
By Adelle M. Banks — December 9, 2020
(RNS) — The State Department redesignated nine other nations as ‘countries of particular concern’: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
One Jehovah’s Witness acquitted in Russia as others get months of restrictions
By Adelle M. Banks — October 8, 2020
(RNS) — ‘We hope that Russia will stop vilifying Jehovah’s Witnesses with the preposterous label of ‘extremists,’’ a spokesman said.
Uighur activists celebrate religious freedom agency’s first Uighur commissioner
By Aysha Khan — May 26, 2020
(RNS) — Uighur activists say lawyer Nury Turkel’s appointment to USCIRF is a clear signal to the Chinese government that the U.S. government will not tolerate human rights violations in Xinjiang.
List India as top religious freedom violator, says watchdog group
By Adelle M. Banks — April 28, 2020
(RNS) — India currently is not on the State Department’s list of ‘countries of particular concern.’
Citizenship laws threaten India’s Muslims, hurt minorities elsewhere, panel says
By Adelle M. Banks — March 5, 2020
WASHINGTON (RNS) — ‘The fear of losing citizenship is genuine,’ said Aman Wadud, who defends accused illegal migrants and detainees in the northeastern state of Assam.
Trump poses a challenge for the US religious freedom commission
By Mark Silk — February 28, 2020
(RNS) — Trump supporters on the panel can't seem to muster criticism for the president's strongman allies.
McCarrick gifts for bosses expose flaws of Vatican practice
By Thomas Reese — January 2, 2020
(RNS) — Gifts that Theodore McCarrick made to Vatican officials raise questions about whether the donations were buying access or protection.
Religious freedom agency reauthorized with Trump’s signature
By Adelle M. Banks — December 20, 2019
WASHINGTON (RNS) — The agency, created in 1998, had faced a range of controversies in the months leading up to the reauthorization.
Religious freedom watchdog, facing recent controversy, awaits reauthorization
By Adelle M. Banks — December 18, 2019
WASHINGTON (RNS) — USCIRF Chair Tony Perkins told Religion News Service that the commissioners are satisfied with the current proposed language but all of them considered the earlier proposal to be 'very problematic.'
Congress must reauthorize religious freedom agency for prisoners of faith
By Andrew Brunson — December 17, 2019
(RNS) — Little more than a year ago, I stood in a Turkish courtroom facing 35 years in prison. I was saved in part by a little-known U.S. commission that is facing extinction if Congress fails to act.
USCIRF report: China, two dozen other countries top religious freedom offenders list
By Adelle M. Banks — April 29, 2019
WASHINGTON (RNS) — The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom concluded in its Monday report that 'innumerable believers and nonbelievers across the globe continued in 2018 to experience manifold suffering due to their beliefs.'
