On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered remarks on international religious freedoms.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Well, good morning, everyone.
00:10Very very good to have all of you here today.
00:12Welcome to the State Department.
00:15Today, thanks to Ambassador Hussein, thanks to his team, thanks to our diplomats and our
00:22partners around the world, the State Department is releasing its annual report on the status
00:26of international religious freedom.
00:30This is an important day for us every year, and no less so this year.
00:37This report advances our vision for a future where everyone is able to choose and practice
00:42their beliefs, including the right not to believe or ascribe to a faith.
00:48Respecting religious freedom reinforces other rights, like the right to speak freely, to
00:53assemble peacefully, the ability to participate in politics.
00:58Protecting this universal right empowers people to express themselves, to live up to their
01:04full potential, to contribute fully to their communities.
01:09Yet today, religious freedom is still not respected for millions of people around the
01:14world.
01:15Pew Research Center recently found that government restrictions on religion had reached their
01:20highest global level since tracking began back in 2007.
01:25Today, governments around the world continue to target individuals, shutter places of worship,
01:32forcibly displace communities, and imprison people because of their religious beliefs.
01:38Some countries place restrictions on wearing certain types of religious dress, others enforce
01:42it.
01:43In some instances, governments are reaching beyond their own borders to target individuals
01:49because of their faith and their advocacy for religious freedom.
01:54In every region, people continue to face religious-based violence, religious-based discrimination,
02:00both from governments and their fellow citizens.
02:04They may be shut out of schools, denied jobs, harassed, beaten, or worse.
02:14Violent extremist groups also target people based on their faith.
02:18As we saw in the attacks last weekend on churches and a synagogue in Russia's Dagestan
02:21region in which police, civilians, and a priest were killed.
02:28Since Hamas's horrific terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th and the subsequent conflict
02:33in Gaza, both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia have increased significantly across the globe.
02:41Here in the United States, reports of hate crimes and other incidents targeting both
02:45Muslims and Jews have gone up dramatically.
02:49The Department's report tracks these kinds of threats to religious freedom in almost
02:55200 countries.
02:57For example, blasphemy laws in Pakistan help foster a climate of intolerance and hatred
03:02that can lead to vigilantism and mob violence.
03:06In Hungary, officials continue to use anti-Semitic tropes and anti-Muslim rhetoric, and they
03:11penalize members of religious groups who criticize the government.
03:16Nine other European nations have laws that effectively ban some forms of religious clothing
03:21in public spaces.
03:23In India, we see a concerning increase in anti-conversion laws, hate speech, demolitions
03:29of homes and places of worship for members of minority faith communities.
03:35At the same time, people around the world are also working hard to protect religious
03:42freedom.
03:43We see that in the religious leaders advocating across the globe on behalf of the Baha'is
03:48who are being suppressed and persecuted in Iran and across the Middle East.
03:53In activists like Roushan Abbas, who is raising awareness about the genocide and crimes against
03:58humanity that China is committing against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs in Shenzhen.
04:04Countless civil society leaders are also pushing back against hate, like Talia Nates in South
04:09Africa who is sharing the story of her Jewish family members who survived the Holocaust
04:15working with young people to challenge anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia.
04:21Like Farid Ahmed, whose wife Husna was among the people murdered five years ago in the
04:27Moss attacks in Christchurch, and has since dedicated himself to understanding between
04:33faith communities in New Zealand.
04:35These are just two examples, but they are not alone.
04:41One of the things this report documents is the countries that are taking important steps
04:47to defend and promote religious freedom.
04:51Last November, Czechia brought officials, practitioners, faith and civil society leaders
04:57from some 60 countries to share ways to push back against authoritarian governments that
05:02are cracking down on religious freedom.
05:05Saudi Arabia continues to remove exclusionary and hateful language against religious minorities
05:10from its public school textbooks, introducing new additions that promote peace and tolerance.
05:17In Germany, authorities are working with survivors to prosecute ISIS fighters who carried
05:22out genocide and atrocities against Yazidis, Christians, Shia Muslims, and other religious
05:27minorities in Iraq and Syria.
05:31The United States will continue to stand with our partners and work to advance religious
05:36freedom across the globe.
05:39Since 2021, we have dedicated more than $100 million to this effort.
05:44We've supported initiatives to prevent religious-based violence.
05:47We've provided legal assistance to people who are facing religious persecution.
05:52We've trained thousands of human rights defenders who are helping to document abuses.
05:57We've also contributed hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid to support
06:01those fleeing religious repression.
06:05Over generations, our nation has welcomed hundreds of thousands of refugees facing religious
06:11persecution.
06:14We work relentlessly to secure the release of people imprisoned for exercising their
06:18right to religious freedom around the globe.
06:21Just over the last year alone, 47 of those prisoners were freed and we'll continue advocating
06:28for the many who remain unjustly detained.
06:31We've also recently launched a new initiative to train diplomats, train officials from other
06:36countries who are advocating for religious freedom.
06:40We will stay focused on protecting religious freedom, freedom of religion, freedom of
06:45belief everywhere it needs protection.
06:50Ultimately, this work is about protecting an essential part of what it means to be human
06:57– the ability to explore something bigger than ourselves, to decide on our own what
07:05we believe or don't believe without fear of repression.
07:12The right to choose what we believe also allows us to learn from those who are different than
07:17us and celebrate all that we have in common.
07:23As the religious scholar Euston Smith put it, and I quote, if we take the world's
07:28enduring religions at their best, we discover the distilled wisdom of the human race.
07:36So many of the people in this room have dedicated themselves to lifting up that shared wisdom,
07:45defending the many faiths that contribute to it, protecting the ability of people around
07:50the world to choose what role, if any, religion plays in their lives.
07:57So I want to end by thanking you, by expressing gratitude for everything that you do every
08:05day.
08:06And what we know is this – in this effort to defend, to protect religious freedom, to
08:13advance it, we're all in this together.
08:17And the partnerships that we have with so many of you, those are a great source of strength
08:22in making sure that we're effective in doing the work that each of us is dedicated to.
08:27So thank you for your presence here today.
08:29And now, with that, let me turn it over to our extraordinary ambassador, Rashad Hussein.
08:34Rashad, over to you.
08:35Thank you.
08:38Well, one of the many strengths of our democracy is that it is made up of public servants from
08:45all backgrounds, who come together and try to do our part to address the challenges that
08:51we see all around the world.
08:55Mr. Secretary, with the support of civil society, including the leaders that are gathered here
09:00today, you have been unwavering in your advocacy for religious freedom.
09:05And you have made clear to the world that promoting this fundamental right is integral
09:09to U.S. foreign policy.
09:11So thank you.
09:12You've also spoken frequently about the importance of evidence-based policymaking
09:17at the Department and our role in collecting robust data to inform our decisions.
09:23I am proud to say that the International Religious Freedom Report does exactly that.
09:28For 25 years, this annual report has set the global standard for assessing the state of
09:34religious freedom around the world.
09:36This year's report covers 199 countries and territories.
09:40As I've said before, if anyone wonders whether religious persecution in any part of the world
09:46has escaped our attention, your answer is in this report.
09:51In this report's pages are the stories of thousands of individuals who are in each way
09:56trying to live according to their own conscience.
09:59We find the stories of parents, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, people from every walk
10:04of life, lawyers and artists, students and teachers, just far too many people that are
10:11facing repressive regimes, terrible conflict, and extremist violence.
10:16We tell the story of those who suffer at the hands of these repressive regimes, such
10:23as Colm Sampson, a Baptist pastor who was unjustly detained for advocating for religious
10:29freedom for all individuals in Burma.
10:32Sampson is among the many activists and religious leaders, including Christians, Buddhists,
10:37and Muslims that the regime in Burma has targeted for brutal repression and imprisonment.
10:42The Burma military has used many of the same tactics that it used in its genocidal campaign
10:48against Rohingya, and it now targets anyone opposing its repressive rule.
10:54The report also continues to cast light on the ongoing crimes against humanity and genocide
10:59the Chinese government is perpetrating against Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic
11:04and religious minority groups in Xinjiang.
11:08This repression follows decades of persecution of religious communities, from Tibetan Buddhists
11:13to Christians to Falun Gong practitioners.
11:17This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party's crackdown on Falun
11:21Gong practitioners.
11:24Joining us today is Hua Cheng, a courageous leader who has served several prison sentences,
11:30at times enduring torture for her beliefs, and who eagerly seeks to be reunited with
11:35her husband, who is still imprisoned in China.
11:39We even see the PRC attempt to reach across its borders to target individuals and silence
11:44critics, such as the reports of Chinese authorities engaging in transnational repression against
11:49predominantly Muslim Uyghurs, Tibetans, Falun Gong, and many more.
11:55This year also marks the 10th year—the 10th anniversary—of the genocide and crimes humanity
12:02against the Yazidis and Christians and Shia Muslims and other religious minorities in
12:09Iraq and Syria perpetrated by ISIS.
12:12Perry Ibrahim, a representative of the tens of thousands of victims and survivors of these
12:16crimes, is here with us today.
12:19The United States and our like-minded partners will continue our efforts to work together
12:23to bring long-delayed justice, restoration, and religious freedom to protect and preserve
12:29survivor communities.
12:32Our report also documents cases where violence is occurring at the societal level, sometimes
12:37with impunity, and it also contributes to the repression of religious communities.
12:42In India, for example, Christian communities reported that local police aided mobs that
12:47disrupted worship services over accusations of conversion activities or stood by while
12:51mobs attacked them and then arrested the victims on conversion charges.
12:57Just last week, we witnessed two brutal killings related to accusations of blasphemy.
13:02A mob in northwest Pakistan dragged a man accused of blasphemy from a police station
13:06and killed him, while in Nigeria, a mob stoned a Muslim man accused of blasphemy.
13:13Such blasphemy laws criminalizing speech are ineffective because they fail to address the
13:18underlying causes of bigotry.
13:20And in fact, they are often counterproductive in seeking to main order.
13:25Because as we have seen too often, blasphemy laws frequently serve as a pretext for mob
13:30violence and even contribute to radicalization and recruitment into violent extremism.
13:35All of these dangers and developments are occurring against a backdrop of rising hatred
13:40and bigotry around the world, including a sharp rise in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
13:46The horrific terrorist attacks of October 7th produced the deadliest day in Israel's
13:52history.
13:53Since October 7th, we have also witnessed far too much suffering and innocent loss of
13:59life in Gaza.
14:012023 was the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
14:06While we remain hopeful for a lasting ceasefire, a sustainable ceasefire must not be the condition
14:12for protecting civilians, houses of worship, including churches and mosques, and other
14:17civilian objects, and providing humanitarian aid to those in need.
14:21Beyond Gaza, Israel, and the West Bank, the conflict has also fed a global surge in acts
14:28of anti-Muslim hatred and anti-Semitism.
14:31The Secretary has spoken very powerfully about the far-reaching impacts of dehumanization.
14:37And all of us have the responsibility, starting with ourselves and starting with our families,
14:43to counter dehumanization and promote respect.
14:47That is a critical goal that will lead us to the future that we seek in the long run.
14:52That's the vision that gives us hope, even as we continue the tireless work to help those
14:57who are facing oppression around the world.
15:01We're also hopeful because we know the powerful change that's possible when governments and
15:06civil society come together to stand up for human rights, including for religious freedom.
15:12Today, as a direct result of relentless advocacy, including by those of you who are here, many
15:18people who were once unjustly imprisoned are now free and again contributing to their communities.
15:24Asya Bibi is no longer in a jail in Pakistan facing a death sentence.
15:29Miriam Ibrahim and the daughter she gave birth to in a Sudanese jail are free, and Miriam
15:34now advocates for the rights of others.
15:37Nguyen Bac Trinh is free and reunited with his wife, who fought tirelessly against his
15:42unjust detention in Vietnam.
15:45Bishop Rolando Alvarez, while exiled from his home country of Nicaragua, is with his
15:50fellow priests at the Vatican.
15:52And after a perilous path out of Iran, Fatima Mary Mohammadi is now able to tell her story
15:59about her quest for freedom.
16:02More than 60 members of the Shenzhen Holy Reform Church, who I welcomed upon their joyful
16:08arrival to the United States, can spend their Sunday mornings together in safety and not
16:13hiding from PRC authorities.
16:17That's what this work is all about, and that's why it is so important for this report to
16:22cast light on all those who are facing religious persecution around the world.
16:28I encourage everyone to take some time to take a look at it, to learn more about the
16:34people and the human lives that it describes, and to consider how each of us can contribute
16:40to the work of ending dehumanization and making religious freedom a reality for everyone.
16:47Thank you so much.
16:58Thank you.