USCIRF Spotlight Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Persecuted Christians Around the World Apr 22, 2022

Show notes

According to the Pew Research Center’s most recent global data, Christianity’s diverse set of traditions comprise the single largest religious group on earth, of some 2.3 billion people—or nearly a third of the world’s population. Yet, it has been plainly evident throughout our reporting at USCIRF that many Christian communities around the world face a wide range of hardships for practicing their faith: from social marginalization to governmental harassment to imprisonment to mob violence and even death.

Isaac Six, Director of Advocacy for Open Doors USA—an NGO that advocates on behalf of persecuted Christians around the world—joins us today to explain where Christians face the most severe persecution, and the conditions these believers endure.

Read USCIRF’s latest op-ed on Global Christian Persecution in USA Today

With Contributions from:

Dwight Bashir, Director of Outreach and Policy, USCIRF

Isaac Six, Director of Advocacy, Open Doors USA

Kurt Werthmuller, Supervisory Policy Analyst, USCIRF

Gabrielle Hasenstab, Communications Specialist, USCIRF

Nontheists Facing Challenges to Freedom of Belief Apr 08, 2022

Show notes

Article 18 of both the United Nations Human Rights Charter and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights protects not only the right to believe in and practice a religion and to change religion, but also the right to hold nontheistic beliefs.

Despite these protections, many members of nonreligious communities’ face government repression, social intolerance, restrictions on freedom of thought, belief and expression, and pervasive discrimination because of their lack of religion or absence of belief in a God.

Rachel Deitch, Director of Policy and Social Justice with the American Humanist Association joins us to discuss conditions of non-religious communities around the world.

Read USCIRF’s Factsheet on Nonbelievers in Africa

With Contributions from:

Dwight Bashir, Director of Outreach and Policy, USCIRF

Rachel Deitch, Director of Policy and Social Justice, American Humanist Association

Kirsten Lavery, Supervisory Policy Analyst, USCIRF

Gabrielle Hasenstab, Communications Specialist, USCIRF

Rohingya Genocide Determination and Accountability Apr 01, 2022

Show notes

The Rohingya community in Burma have been targeted by the Burmese military (known as the Tatmadaw) with mass killings and rape since 2017, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee the country. Since the military coup in February 2021, the Tatmadaw have employed similar tactics used on the Rohingya against all ethnic and religious communities, as we have noted in past Spotlight episodes. The coup has increased concern among the international community to pursue efforts of justice and accountability for the ongoing abuses against the Rohingya, which U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken officially determined as genocide and crimes against humanity on March 21, 2022.

USCIRF Commissioner Anurima Bhargava joins us today to elaborate on what the genocide determination means going forward, and on ongoing accountability processes.

With Contributions from:

Dwight Bashir, Director of Outreach and Policy, USCIRF

Anurima Bhargava, Commissioner, USCIRF

Kirsten Lavery, Supervisory Policy Analyst, USCIRF

Patrick Greenwalt, Policy Analyst, USCIRF

Gabrielle Hasenstab, Communications Specialist, USCIRF

The Status of Religious Freedom for the Baha’i Community Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

Founded in 19th century Persia—present day Iran—the Baha’i faith is the second most widespread religion in the world and has communities in most territories and countries across the globe. However, several governments in the Middle East and North Africa region engage in systematic oppression of Baha’is. Iran, Yemen, Qatar, and Tunisia are some of the countries where the situation for the Baha’i community is particularly challenging.

Anthony Vance, Director of the Office of Public Affairs for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States, joins us today to tell us about the core beliefs of the Baha’is faith and elaborate on religious freedom conditions for Baha’is in the Middle East.

With Contributions from:

Dwight Bashir, Director of Outreach and Policy, USCIRF (writer and host)

Anthony Vance, Director of the Office of Public Affairs, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais (guest)

Scott Weiner, Supervisory Policy Analyst, USCIRF (contributing writer)

Gabrielle Hasenstab, Communications Specialist, USCIRF (sound design and audio production)

Implications of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Part 2: The Religious Regulation Framework Mar 10, 2022

Show notes

*Special note: This podcast was recorded on March 8, 2022 and only reflects the events that have occurred up to this date*

The Russian government has long used religious freedom violations in its efforts to discourage non-conformity and facilitate its brutal occupation of Crimea and the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine. In 2016, the government adopted a series of legal reforms that enhanced the scope and penalties of religion and anti-extremism laws. These legal reforms also increased State jurisdiction over monitoring private electronic communications for the purpose of rooting out extremists and missionaries in Russia.

Russia’s religious regulation framework has been used to target Jehovah’s Witnesses, Crimean Tatar Muslims, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and other groups that are seen as posing a threat to the State’s authority. What does this mean for the rest of Ukraine now that it’s under attack from Russia? USCIRF Senior Policy Analyst Jason Morton joins us to explain.

Check out our other podcast on this topic: “Implications of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Part 1: The ‘Denazification’ Narrative”

Read USCIRF's report on The Global Persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Read USCIRF report on The Anti-cult Movement and Religious Regulation in Russia and the Former Soviet Union

Read USCIRF's report on Religious Freedom Violations in the Republic of Chechnya

Implications of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Part 1: The “Denazification” Narrative Mar 04, 2022

Show notes

*Special note: This podcast was recorded on March 3, 2022 and only reflects the events that have occurred up to this date*

The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has shocked the world and created a humanitarian crisis with profound effects for the region and beyond. Among the reasons Russian President Vladimir Putin has listed to justify this invasion is that the operation will “seek to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine.” Putin’s accusation that there is evidence of modern Nazism in the form of antisemitism in Ukraine is not only patently false, but also has religious implications that pose grave concerns.

USCIRF has documented the decline of religious freedom in Russia and warned about Russia’s use of religious freedom violations to suppress dissent and terrorize the population in occupied-Crimea and the Donbas.

Bernard-Henri Levy, noted French philosopher, commentator, and writer has spent decades reporting on human rights abuses and conflict around the globe. He joins us today to discuss the intersection of religious freedom with this ongoing, brutal invasion.

Read USCIRF report on The Anti-cult Movement and Religious Regulation in Russia and the Former Soviet Union

Read USCIRF's report on Religious Freedom Violations in the Republic of Chechnya

Iraq’s Beleaguered Religious Minority Communities Feb 25, 2022

Show notes

Many of the religious communities that call Iraq home have suffered from conflict and displacement in recent decades. The civil war in Iraq in the 2000s led large numbers of Christians and other small religious groups to flee the country. Between 2014 and 2019, many religious communities in the north suffered horrifying atrocities under ISIS—including what the United States in 2016 formally declared as a genocide against Yazidis, Christians, and Shi’a Muslims.

Today we are joined by USCIRF Chair Nadine Maenza and Jeremy Barker, Senior Program Officer and Director of the Middle East Action Team for the Religious Freedom Institute. Our discussion focuses on the current state of religious freedom in Iraq; in particular, for Iraq’s beleaguered religious minority communities.

The Grim Backdrop to the Beijing Olympics Feb 11, 2022

Show notes

Several Western governments joined the U.S. in diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics amid the outcry over China’s human rights and religious freedom abuses. Nevertheless, the lack of international solidarity on this issue is apparent. The International Olympics Committee (IOC) has been noticeably muted on the issue. Several U.S. companies like Coca-Cola, Airbnb, Visa, and Procter & Gamble that are major sponsors of the Winter Games have refused to acknowledge the atrocities against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang.

In today’s conversation, we explore the disconnect between the severity of China’s human rights and religious freedom abuses, and the international action to address them. We are joined by USCIRF Vice Chair Nury Turkel and Naomi Kikoler, Director of the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Nicaragua’s Assault on Religious Freedom Feb 04, 2022

Show notes

The government of Nicaragua, under the leadership of President Daniel Ortega, has a history of persecuting Catholic clergy, worshipers, and organizations as well as Protestant institutions especially since religious leaders provided sanctuary and support to civic protesters in 2018. The runup to Nicaragua’s general elections in November 2021 provided yet another backdrop for religious freedom violations committed by the government.

The State Department has placed Nicaragua on its Special Watch List of severe religious freedom violators since 2019, which USCIRF has also recommended and highlighted in its 2021 Annual Report (also available in Spanish).

Christopher Ljungquist, Adviser for Latin America in the Office of International Justice and Peace at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, joins us today to discuss religious freedom conditions in Nicaragua.

Christians in Extreme Danger in Afghanistan Jan 28, 2022

Show notes

The situation for the Christian community in Afghanistan has grown ever more perilous since the Taliban took control of the country in August 2021. There have been accounts of the Taliban going door to door seeking out Afghans who practice other faiths and beliefs than the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Sunni Islam. Christian converts in Afghanistan also report receiving threatening phone calls. Now forced to practice their faith in hiding, Christians in Afghanistan face regular threats from the Taliban and from the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K).

The leader of the Afghan House Church Network who is living in exile joins us to shed light on the chilling reality that Afghan Christians are facing today.

Read more in USCIRF’s Factsheet on Afghanistan

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected