Essay: It’s time to end ‘name and shame’ religious freedom policy
In an article first published on Religion News Service, PETER HENNE, an associate professor at the University of Vermont, says it’s time for the US to adapt a different approach to tackling the issue of religious freedom around the world…
US religious freedom commissioner Nury Turkel on Uighurs and his new post
AP Nury Turkel, co-founder of the Uyghur Human Rights Project and former president of the Uyghur American Association, was appointed to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom late last month. Born in the Xinjang province of China, he is a leading human rights advocate on behalf of fellow Uighurs, a Muslim ethnic minority group […]
Uighur activists celebrate religious freedom agency’s first Uighur commissioner
RNS House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has appointed prominent Uighur American attorney and activist Nury Turkel to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent religious freedom watchdog agency funded by Congress. Turkel’s appointment has been celebrated widely by Uighur rights activists, who say the move is a clear signal to the Chinese Government that […]
List India as top religious freedom violator, says US watchdog group
RNS India, which recently passed legislation that experts say is detrimental to Muslims, should be placed on the US Government’s list of most egregious religious freedom violators, a watchdog agency says in its new report. The Citizenship Amendment Act, passed in December by the Parliament in majority-Hindu India, violates religious freedom especially for Muslims, said the […]
Russia’s human and religious rights record criticised at US House hearing
Washington DC, USRNS Russia’s human rights record, including its history of mistreating religious minorities, is worsening, according to testimony at a hearing on Capitol Hill on Thursday. “Unfortunately, the human rights situation in Russia continues to deteriorate, and just when you think things can’t get any worse, they do,” said Representative Jim McGovern, a Democrat from […]
US religious freedom agency reauthorised with Trump’s signature
Washington DC, USRNS The independent religious freedom watchdog whose future was in question in recent months has been reauthorized as part of an ominbus bill US President Donald Trump signed Friday. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom received funding of $US3.5 million annually for the next three years after members of Congress included revised […]
ESSAY: US CONGRESS MUST REAUTHORISE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AGENCY FOR PRISONERS OF FAITH
ANDREW BRUNSON, in an article first published on Religion News Service, explains how the work of US Commission on International Religious Freedom is not only critical in “sounding the alarm” on religious persecution” but also in advocating for people, who, like he was, are imprisoned for their faith…
Religious freedom watchdog, facing recent controversy, awaits reauthorisation
Washington DC, USRNS The US Commission on International Religious Freedom, whose funding runs out on Saturday, could be reauthorised by week’s end if Congress passes an omnibus bill that includes a section recommending it stay in business. Since its creation in 1998, the independent agency has drawn attention to repression of religious minorities across the […]
China, two dozen other countries top USCIRF religious freedom offenders list
Washington, DCRNS With its particular focus on China’s oppression of religious and human rights, an independent watchdog group has decried in its annual report the state of religious freedom across the globe. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan organisation created 20 years ago, concludes in its Monday report that “innumerable believers and nonbelievers […]
Andrew Brunson, back in US after detention, hopes to return to Turkey one day
RNS Pastor Andrew Brunson, the American evangelical imprisoned in Turkey for almost two years, says he’d like to return to that country someday. For now, he is grateful to be on US soil. Andrew Brunson speaks during a US Commission on International Religious Freedom event in Washington. He was joined by his wife, Norine, and […]