By
Mary Jane Maxwell This is part of an occasional series on how Americans celebrate religious holidays. A long blast from the shofar, or ram’s horn, announces the arrival of the new year in the Hebrew calendar. For Jews, the sound of the shofar is more than that of a musical instrument whose use dates back to ancient ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 21 September, 2022 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: American holidays, cultural preservation, freedom of religion
American Muslims are advancing in U.S. society and are more likely than other members of the population to open a business or work full time, according to a new survey. Of all the groups surveyed by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), American Muslims are also the most likely to hold an optimistic ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 20 September, 2022 | Topics: News | Tags: American Muslims, business success, civic equality, freedom of religion
Religious freedom is a core American value and a
universal human right . It’s also a vital foreign policy priority, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said June 2. “When the fundamental right of each person to practice their faith or to choose not to observe a faith is respected, people can make their fullest contributions to their ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 6 June, 2022 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: Burma, China, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, Secretary Blinken, Uyghurs
Religious freedom is a universal human right. The United States is committed to defending and supporting it. In many countries around the world, people are persecuted and imprisoned for their religious beliefs. That is why the State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report is so important. The annual report comprehensively reviews the status of religious freedom in nearly ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 1 June, 2022 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: civic equality, freedom of religion
By
Amirah Ismail After a month of fasting for Ramadan, Muslim Americans enjoy the Eid holiday with family, friends and — finally — food during daylight hours. Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the United States. The number of
mosques in the United States is also increasing, with nearly 3,000 across the country, according to the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 28 April, 2022 | Topics: History, News | Tags: American Muslims, cultural preservation, freedom of religion, Ramadan
By
Mary Jane Maxwell This year on April 17, many American Christians will celebrate Easter — the oldest and most important holy day of the Christian calendar. Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians believe Jesus was raised from the dead three days after his crucifixion some 2,000 years ago. Many Christians observe a period of fasting ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 12 April, 2022 | Topics: Culture, History, News | Tags: American holidays, cultural preservation, freedom of religion
When Gulbahar Haitiwaji returned to Xinjiang, China, in November 2016 after a decade in France, she stepped into a nightmare. She had been summoned back by her employer, purportedly to complete her retirement paperwork. Instead, local authorities arrested Haitiwaji and sent her to an internment camp. Her story is not unique — since 2017, the ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 22 February, 2022 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, civic equality, female leaders, freedom of religion, Uyghurs
Russia continues an aggressive campaign that aims to erase Ukraine’s cultural heritage. Removing artifacts, demolishing grave sites and shuttering churches are among the tactics Russia has been using since 2014 when it invaded Ukraine, occupied Crimea and instigated conflict in areas of the Donbas region. The aim is to establish control over Ukraine and rewrite ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 16 February, 2022 | Topics: Culture, History, Human Rights, News | Tags: cultural preservation, freedom of religion, Russia, ukraine, UNESCO
By
Leigh Hartman What if your culture was banned by your government? Or your child was taken from you and raised speaking another language? Was your wife or daughter sterilized without her consent? Wouldn’t you want the world to know? On October 21, the United States, France, Luxembourg, and Belgium joined 39 other countries in calling for ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 14 December, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, international cooperation, United Nations, Uyghurs
The United States is rejoining the United Nations Human Rights Council to promote and defend human rights worldwide. The United States was elected October 14 to a seat on the council for a three-year term, from January 2022 to December 2024. The United States will be one of 47 nations composing the council. “Together, we ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 27 October, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, United Nations
Adalet Sabit’s daughter has never met her father. The government of the People’s Republic of China confiscated her husband’s passport and refused to let him leave Xinjiang, where Uyghurs live in a state of constant surveillance. Sabit says her video calls to her husband are denied and she doesn’t know if the pictures she sends ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 14 July, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: freedom of expression, freedom of religion, Uyghurs
The United States is committed to defending religious freedom around the world, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said. “Religious freedom, like every human right, is universal,” Blinken said May 12, announcing the release of the State Department’s
2020 Report on International Religious Freedom . “All people, everywhere, are entitled to it no matter where they live, what they believe, ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 17 May, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: China, freedom of religion, Secretary Blinken, Uyghurs
For Uyghurs, using their native language can mean a death sentence. People’s Republic of China authorities are sentencing Uyghur Muslim educators who publish textbooks in their native language to life in prison and even death. A PRC court on April 6 announced the
death sentence against Sattar Sawut , former director general of the education department in Xinjiang, for publishing ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 4 May, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, cultural preservation, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, Uyghurs
The United States is working with international partners to defend human rights worldwide as authoritarian regimes step up repression amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “Standing for people’s freedom and dignity honors America’s most sacred values,” Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said March 30, announcing the release of the
2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices . “At our best, we stand for ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 1 April, 2021 | Topics: Health Issues, History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: China, freedom of religion, Secretary Blinken, Uyghurs
The People’s Republic of China is stepping up baseless prosecutions of Uyghur and other Muslim minorities, sentencing innocent people to years in prison, a new report says. In a February 24 report, Human Rights Watch says that the PRC’s judicial system in Xinjiang has sentenced 250,000 Uyghur and other ethnic minorities to prison, and that ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 15 March, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, Uyghurs
Ever since the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum opened its doors in 1993, its scholars have been educating visitors about the horrors of Nazi Germany’s genocide of European Jews (and other targeted victims) leading up to and during World War II. But the Washington-based museum also has another important mission: helping the general public — as ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 4 February, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: civil society, freedom of religion, social activism, WWII
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is using big data and surveillance to target Uyghurs for detention based on behaviors that are allowed under the laws of the People’s Republic of China, such as studying the Quran or calling family abroad. Human Rights Watch says in a new report that the CCP uses its
Integrated Joint Operations Platform (IJOP) to scan ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 5 January, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: China, cultural preservation, freedom of religion, technology, Uyghurs
The United States is calling out “egregious violations” of religious freedom worldwide, as many regimes continue to criminalize expressions of religious faith. On December 7, U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo designated the governments of Iran, China, North Korea and a half dozen other nations as “countries of particular concern” for engaging in or ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 4 January, 2021 | Topics: Human Rights, Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: civil society, freedom of religion, Sanctions, Secretary Pompeo
In the 80 years since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered his
Four Freedoms speech — citing freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear — the United States has made these democratic principles central to its foreign policy. Today, the United States continues to champion human rights as a critical component of U.S. ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 8 December, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: China, civil society, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, press freedom
U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo is rallying world leaders to stand strong against religious persecution wherever it occurs. From November 16 to 17, the government of Poland hosted the third Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief. In
Pompeo’s opening remarks for the event, held virtually this year, the secretary urged the representatives of more ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 23 November, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: China, freedom of religion, Georgia, Secretary Pompeo, Uyghurs
The Chinese Communist Party’s human rights violations are drawing international outcry. Dozens of countries demand the CCP end its mass internment of Uyghurs and other abuses. In an
October 6 joint statement to the United Nations , 39 countries fault the CCP’s increasing number of “gross human rights violations” against ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang province and the regime’s authoritarian behavior in ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 29 October, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, civic equality, cultural preservation, freedom of religion, United Nations
As the U.S. military becomes more diverse, its rules and regulations are expanding to reflect the United States’ commitment to religious freedom. Kanwar Singh, a devout Sikh, sought to enlist in the U.S. Army in 2014. In keeping with his religious faith, he wanted to maintain a beard and wear a turban. At the time, ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 28 October, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: civic equality, freedom of religion, Sikh Americans
To mark International Religious Freedom Day, ShareAmerica spoke with the U.S. State Department’s Sam Brownback, ambassador at large for international religious freedom. Here are his answers, slightly edited for length, to our questions: Q: Why is defending freedom of religion an objective of U.S. diplomacy? A: With more than 80 percent of the world’s population living ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 22 October, 2020 | Topics: Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: China, cultural preservation, freedom of religion, Iran
U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo is urging world leaders to recommit to protecting the human rights of all people. Pompeo called for nations to rededicate themselves to the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights at a September 23 panel discussion on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly meeting. “We must ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 24 September, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: freedom of religion, Secretary Pompeo, United Nations
The U.S. government is taking steps to address forced labor camps in China’s Xinjiang region. The Chinese Communist Party is repressing millions of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic minorities there, using “re-education” camps, forced sterilization, and destruction of religious sites. The U.S. is blocking the import of goods made with forced labor, sanctioning Chinese ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 10 September, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, freedom of religion, Trade, Uyghurs
The United States has imposed sanctions on senior Iranian officials responsible for continuing the regime’s long-standing persecution of religious minorities. Iran’s constitution states that it protects the equal rights of “all people of Iran.” Yet since 1979 the regime has systematically harassed, arrested and executed members of religious minorities, the U.S. Commission on International Religious ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 9 September, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: freedom of religion, Iran, Sanctions
Freedom of religion is under attack in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, due to authoritarian regimes determined to control expressions of faith. Dictators in the countries, or their proxies, have burned churches and harassed or teargassed worshipers, U.S. Agency for International Development Acting Administrator John Barsa told an August 20 discussion on religious freedom in the ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 26 August, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: Cuba, freedom of religion, Nicaragua, Terrorism, venezuela
By
Leigh Hartman – Jul 27, 2020 The U.S. has imposed sanctions against senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials responsible for “horrific and systematic abuses” against members of Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang.
The July 9 sanctions , issued by the U.S. departments of Treasury and State, target Chen Quanguo, the party’s secretary in Xinjiang, who oversees
internment camps where more than 1 ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 27 July, 2020 | Topics: Human Rights, News from Washington | Tags: China, freedom of religion, Sanctions, Secretary Pompeo, Uyghurs
Report: CCP conducts mass sterilization of minority women (July 6) The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is conducting a campaign of mass sterilization of women as part of its repression of Uyghur and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, a new report says. Using Chinese government documents and interviews with survivors, the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 6 July, 2020 | Topics: Human Rights, News, News from Washington | Tags: China, cultural preservation, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, Uyghurs
Pompeo: No country cares more for religious freedom (June 10) The United States’ commitment to the protection of religious freedom around the world is unwavering. “There is no other nation that cares so deeply about religious freedom,” Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo said. Pompeo and Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 10 June, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: China, freedom of religion, Secretary Pompeo
