Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
On Thursday, a bipartisan group of six senators officially requested that the United States agree to maintain the federal commission charged with monitoring matters of international religious freedom.
While it is unlikely to face much in the way of resistance in either chamber of Congress or the White House, the effort of Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), and Chris Coons (D-Del.) is nonetheless both important and necessary.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan commission created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, would cease to exist on Sept. 30 if it is not reauthorized.
“Every individual around the globe deserves the right to practice their own religion without fear,” Risch, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, religious freedom is under attack in all corners of the globe, including the genocide of Uyghurs in China, attacks on Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, and the persecution of Yazidis, Baha’is, Christians, and others in the Middle East. The Senate passage of our USCIRF reauthorization will ensure the United States utilizes every resource available to continue promoting religious freedom and investigate violations for all.”
Melendez, the chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, indicated that the proposal, deemed the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2022, would easily pass in the Senate.
“The human right to freedom of religion or belief is fundamental and reflected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Menendez said. “I’m proud to see the Senate speak with one voice in reaffirming our belief in the importance of this human right.”
Although it might seem ceremonial, the commission serves as a significant cog in U.S. international policymaking.
The president as well as Republican and Democrat leadership appoints commissioners, of which there are currently eight. Those commissioners are charged with making policy recommendations based on their observations of how other nations protect (or fail to protect) religious freedom.
At present, the commission has designated 15 nations as countries of particular concern and placed another 12 on a special watchlist. In addition, the commission is responsible for recommending to the Department of State which nonstate actors have engaged in “systemic, ongoing, egregious violations” of religious freedom.
According to the commission’s website, a nonstate actor is defined as “a nonsovereign entity that exercises significant political power and territorial control; is outside the control of a sovereign government; and often employs violence in pursuit of its objectives.”
The lists of nations and terrorist organizations can be found here.