International Religious FreedomBrowse by Recently AddedTitleDateAuthorTopic Int'l Religious Freedom ArticleExplainer: Chinese officials sanctioned for atrocities in Xinjiangby by Policy StaffThis week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced the United States government would apply Global Magnitsky Sanctions to top-ranking Chinese officials and a Chinese government entity for the human rights abuses and religious freedom violations committed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) against the Uyghur Muslim people in the Xinjiang Continue… Continue... International Issues Article5 facts about North Korea’s violations of human rights and religious freedomby by ERLC StaffNorth Korean dictator Kim Jong Un missed the April 15 commemoration of the birthday of his grandfather, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung. The silence from him since then has led to speculation that he is either seriously ill or has already died. Kim’s death would likely not lead to an improvement in the lives Continue… Continue... Int'l Religious Freedom ArticleIs India’s new citizenship law friendly toward religious liberty?by by Alex WardIndia’s capital of New Delhi and regions throughout the country were rocked in recent months by religious violence and rioting. The rioting left over 40 people dead with property damage and devastation common throughout the rest of the country. The cause of this violence in the world’s largest democracy was the new law entitled the Continue… Continue... Int'l Religious Freedom ArticleThe coronavirus pandemic is testing international religious freedom commitmentsby by Aaron MercerLast month the coronavirus pandemic became a stark reality for Americans. Our normal routines disappeared seemingly overnight, including church activities. Calls for “social distancing” suddenly precluded most gatherings, including those in houses of worship. We are not alone. Governments around the world are seeking to contain the spread of the highly contagious virus by placing Continue… Continue... Int'l Religious Freedom ArticleAre U.S.-India relations good for religious freedom?by by Aaron MercerWhen the world’s oldest democracy and the world’s largest democracy develop a close relationship, that can only be good for religious freedom, right? Well, it’s complicated. U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have become close in recent years. At the end of Trump's state visit to India in February, he celebrated Continue… Continue... Int'l Religious Freedom ArticleExplainer: What you should know about China’s internment campsby by ERLC StaffWhat just happened? China claims Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslim minorities in internment camps are there because they had been “infected” by the “virus” of Islamic radicalism and must be quarantined and cured. That’s one of the findings in a series of leaked papers recently obtained by The New York Times. The documents reveal how Continue… Continue... Int'l Religious Freedom ArticleSpeak up for those facing sexual violenceby by Chelsea Patterson SobolikA slender young woman stood before the attendees of the State Department’s Ministerial to Advance International Religious Freedom and recounted her harrowing story of capture and sexual slavery by ISIS leaders. I was sitting in the audience, among like-minded NGOs and government officials who were gathered in our nation’s capital to dialogue about how to Continue… Continue... International Issues ArticleExplainer: What you should know about the Hong Kong protestsby by Joe CarterWhat just happened? For the past four months, hundreds of thousands of protestors in Hong Kong have been demonstrating in opposition to legislation by China’s communist government that would allow citizens of the semi-autonomous region to be extradited to mainland China. Human rights activists—including many Christians—worry that dissenters and critics of the Chinese regime could Continue… Continue... Int'l Religious Freedom ArticleSudan and the suppression of freedomby by Steven HarrisIn February of this year, Omar al-Bashir declared a year-long state of emergency in the wake of escalating, nationwide protests calling on him and his regime to step down. Commentators rightly interpreted Bashir’s declaration as providing the mechanism whereby the forceful crackdown on revolutionary protests and demonstrations could be achieved, and the suppression of freedom legitimized. Continue… Continue... Int'l Religious Freedom ArticleInternational religious liberty: The ERLC’s work in Genevaby by Jeff PickeringAt the turn of the 20th century, artists from around the world submitted proposals in a contest to enhance the grounds of the University of Geneva. The park improvements were chartered to mark the 400th birthday of the city’s own John Calvin and the 350th anniversary of the university he founded. The winning design was Continue… Continue...