Current and Past Chairs of USCIRF Release Letter of Solidarity with Iranian People

Chairs of USCIRF Release Letter of Solidarity with Iranian People
Call on US Government to Support Protesters
 

Contacts:

Katrina Lantos Swett
President, Lantos Foundation
info@lantosfoundation.org
(603) 545-4430

Robert P. George
McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University
and Herbert W. Vaughan Senior Fellow, Witherspoon Institute
rgeorge@princeton.edu
(609) 258-3270

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - A bi-partisan group of past Chairs together with the current Chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today published an open letter to the people of Iran praising their courage and expressing solidarity with them. In addition, they call on the US government to support the protesters in Iran and to send a clear signal that human rights and the Iranian government’s treatment of dissidents will be at the top of the agenda in any future dealings between the US and Iran.

The letter also urges governments and businesses to actively thwart Iran’s efforts at internet censorship and calls on the US government to robustly fund internet freedom technologies to keep access open to the internet and social media platforms.

The letter, signed by a broad bi-partisan group of academic, religious and human rights leaders reads in part “We are inspired by your bravery. We stand with you and call on our own government and governments and peoples throughout the world to support you.”

The letter is published in response to nearly a week of demonstrations across Iran that began as a protest against high food prices and rampant unemployment but has broadened into a political movement demanding leadership changes and greater freedom and human rights. The government has responded with violence- over 20 protesters have been killed and hundreds have been arrested.

The full text of the letter is printed below.
 

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January 4, 2018

To the people of Iran:

We are Americans each of whom has chaired the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Each of us has, moreover, publicly advocated for the freedom of prisoners of conscience and persecuted people of all faiths and beliefs in the Islamic Republic.

In that capacity, we have pressed the United States government to give priority to the rights and freedoms of persecuted Iranians in America’s dealings with the regime in Tehran.

Today we write to express solidarity and support for your courageous efforts to restore your Nation’s dignity and put an end to the abuses and deprivation which the people of Iran have suffered. We are inspired by your bravery. We stand with you and call on our own government and governments and peoples throughout the world to support you.

Governments and business firms who are in sympathy with the people of Iran and their aspirations to national dignity and freedom can, for example, assist in thwarting censorship and the efforts of the Tehran regime to shut down social media platforms, such as WhatsApp, by which the Iranian people  can communicate with one another and with foreign journalists freely. Keeping open the corridors of communication through which information flows in all directions is vital. To that end, we call for robust funding by our government of technologies that will enable Iranians and others in closed societies safely and freely to access the internet and social media platforms.

What’s more, human rights organizations, international journalists, as well as governments and their embassies can assist the cause of Iranian freedom and self-determination by documenting and publicizing human rights offenses—detentions, beatings, murders—committed by the Tehran authorities against peaceful protestors. It is important for the world and for the people of Iran to be apprised in a timely manner of offenses that the government will commit and, indeed, is already committing.

A clear signal should be sent  that human rights issues—above all the regime’s treatment of dissidents—will be at the top of the agenda in any state-to-state negotiation, be it diplomatic or economic.

When Iranians rose up against their oppressors in 2009, too few supported them in a sustained and meaningful way. Please be assured that in 2018 we are doing everything we can to ensure your freedoms.

We pray that your courageous efforts will lead swiftly to the realization of your aspirations, which we heartily endorse, for a free, peaceful, and prosperous Iran.

Signers

Elliott Abrams
Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, Council on Foreign Relations
USCIRF Chair, 2000-2001

Preeta Bansal
CEO, Social Emergence Corporation and Visiting Scholar, MIT Media Lab
USCIRF Chair, 2004-2005

Felice D. Gaer
Director, Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights
USCIRF Chair, 2002-2003, 2006-2007, and 2008-2009

Robert P. George
McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University
and Herbert W. Vaughan Senior Fellow, Witherspoon Institute
USCIRF Chairman, 2013-2014 and 2015-2016

Leonard Leo
Executive Vice President, Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy
USCIRF Chair, 2009-2010, 2010-2011, and 2011-2012

Daniel Mark
Assistant Professor of Political Science, Villanova University
and Visiting Fellow, University of Notre Dame
USCIRF Chairman, 2017-2018

Thomas J. Reese, S.J.
Senior Analyst, Religion News Service
USCIRF Chair, 2016-2017

Ambassador Rabbi David Saperstein
Senior Fellow, Georgetown University’s Berkley Center on Religion, Peace and Foreign Policy and the Foreign Service School’s Center for Jewish Civilization
USCIRF Chair, 1999-2000

Katrina Lantos Swett
President, Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice
USCIRF Chair, 2012-2013 and 2014-2015

Michael K. Young
President, Texas A&M University
USCIRF Chair, 2001-2002 and 2003-2004

 

(Affiliations are for purposes of identification.)

2018 Lantos Human Rights Prize to be Awarded to Joshua Wong

The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice is proud to announce that our highest honor, the Lantos Human Rights Prize, will be awarded in 2018 to Joshua Wong, a charismatic leader of the Hong Kong movement for democracy and human rights.

Joshua Wong has received worldwide recognition and admiration as the teenager who dared to take on China in a fight for the democratic future of his beloved Hong Kong. Named by both Time Magazine and Fortune to their lists of the most influential leaders in the world, Joshua has become a target for persecution and imprisonment as a result of his determination to fight for a free future for Hong Kong. Part of Joshua’s story was chronicled in “Joshua: Teenager vs Superpower” which won the Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival and is currently available on Netflix.

In recent years, China has been slowly tightening the noose on political, educational, and cultural institutions in Hong Kong despite a treaty commitment to allow Hong Kong to maintain its independent and democratic system while legally part of China.

At the age of only 14, Joshua founded the Scholarism movement to fight against the introduction of a program of communist indoctrination in the Hong Kong school system. Against all odds, Mr. Wong’s tiny group of activists swelled to over 100,000 peaceful protestors, galvanized in large measure by Joshua’s personal passion and his electrifying oratory.

After achieving an improbable victory in the fight for educational integrity in Hong Kong, Mr. Wong became a key leader in the democratic Umbrella movement and one of the founders of the Demosisto Party which advocates for Hong Kong’s autonomy and right to self-determination. Joshua is now facing likely imprisonment for his charismatic leadership of these movements.

Lantos Foundation President Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett said in a statement regarding the 2018 Lantos Prize:

“Joshua Wong, despite his youth, has shown remarkable clarity of vision in fighting against China’s encroaching stranglehold on Hong Kong and its institutions. Few have been willing to take on the aggressive Chinese Goliath, but this young “David” has stepped forward to engage in this battle with uncommon courage and idealism. The Lantos Foundation is proud to honor Joshua, and we call on the government of Hong Kong to allow him to travel to the US Congress to receive this well-deserved award.”

Upon learning of his selection for the Lantos Prize, Mr. Wong issued the following statement:

“It is a true honor to be awarded the 2018 Lantos Prize. By the time of the award ceremony, I will probably be back behind bars for protesting against Beijing’s authoritarian regime. Alas, civil disobedience has never been risk free but one must fight for what one believes in. Rest assured these challenges have only made me and my fellow activists stronger in our beliefs and more courageous in our convictions. It is an honor for me to accept this prestigious Lantos Prize in the name of the millions of Hongkongers who decided to stand up against the false façade of democracy and to take their destiny into their own hands.”

The Keeper - A Podcast Brought To You By The Lantos Foundation

 
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The Lantos Foundation's podcast, The Keeper, was launched in 2017. Hosted by our own President, Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, The Keeper features in depth conversations about some of the most pressing matters of justice in our world and welcomes some of the most important human rights leaders of our time as guests. 

We take our name from Congressman Lantos’ personal conviction, fully lived out in his own life, that we have a moral and ethical obligation to be our brother and sister’s keeper. This guiding principle led Congressman Lantos to found the Congressional Human Rights Caucus and use his eloquence, leadership, and personal passion to advocate fiercely on behalf of those whose human rights were being trampled in every corner of the world.

The Keeper is available for download on Apple Podcasts.


 

 

The First Annual Lantos Rule of Law Lecture

The Lantos Foundation has launched is a new, exciting annual event – the Lantos Rule of Law Lecture. Our inaugural address was delivered by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a prominent businessman who became Russia’s most notable prisoner of conscience from 2003-2013. The first annual Lantos Rule of Law Lecture took place at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington DC on October 10th. 

Congressman Lantos had an enormous amount of respect and admiration for Johns Hopkins SAIS as one of the great centers of scholarship and debate about international affairs. It is a source of great pride for the Lantos Foundation to have the inaugural Lantos Lecture at this distinguished institution and we feel it truly brings us full circle. Tom had a personal relationship with Mikhail and deeply respected his determination to confront the corruption and political intimidation in Russia despite the evident risks such a principled course of conduct posed. He flew to Moscow at the time of Mr. Khodorkovsky’s first trial to protest the pre-determined verdict of “guilty” from a corrupt legal system that unjustly imprisoned Mikhail for nearly a decade. The combination of Mikhail’s powerful story, his continued efforts to improve the conditions of millions of Russians under Putin’s abusive and undemocratic rule, and Washington’s investigation of Russia’s illegal efforts at interfering in the recent Presidential election, will undoubtedly make this a unique and fascinating event.

Once head of Russian oil giant YUKOS, Khodorkovsky was arrested on false charges of tax evasion and fraud in 2003, after publically criticizing the endemic corruption in Russian President Vladmir Putin’s government. After a farcical trial, he was sentenced to fourteen years in prison.  Khodorkovsky was declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, and finally released in December 2013. In 2014, the Hague Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that the Russian Government had violated international law by taking YUKOS from its shareholders, for political purposes, described as a “full assault on Yukos and its beneficial owners in order to bankrupt Yukos and appropriate its assets while, at the same time, removing Mr. Khodorkovsky from the political arena.” Mikhail Khodorkovsky is the founder of the Open Russia movement. Today, he advocates an alternative vision for his country: a strong and just state, committed to observing human rights, free and fair elections, and the rule of law.

Announcing The Keeper - A Podcast Brought To You By The Lantos Foundation

 
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The Lantos Foundation is excited to announce the launch of our podcast The Keeper. Hosted by our own President, Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, The Keeper will feature in depth conversations about some of the most pressing matters of justice in our world and will welcome some of the most important human rights leaders of our time as guests. 

We take our name from Congressman Lantos’ personal conviction, fully lived out in his own life, that we have a moral and ethical obligation to be our brother and sister’s keeper. This guiding principle led Congressman Lantos to found the Congressional Human Rights Caucus and use his eloquence, leadership, and personal passion to advocate fiercely on behalf of those whose human rights were being trampled in every corner of the world.

Our inaugural season will begin with a fascinating interview with two fearless advocates for democracy and freedom in China - Dr. Yang Jianli and Mr. Jared Genser. Yang Jianli is the founder of Initiatives for China and a former jailed human rights activist. Jared is the founder of Freedom Now and one of the most effective and admired human rights lawyers in the world. These extraordinary men address a wide range of topics from the shameful death of Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo at the hands of Chinese authorities, to the communist regimes fear that the outside world will recognize how fragile its hold on power really is.

Anti-Genocide Activist Father Patrick Desbois to Receive 2017 Lantos Human Rights Prize

The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice is proud to announce that our highest honor, the Lantos Human Rights Prize, will be awarded to Father Patrick Desbois, President and founder of the international human rights organization Yahad In-Unum. Father Desbois is being recognized as the 2017 Lantos Prize recipient for his unparalleled work in uncovering the lost stories of over one million victims of the “Holocaust by Bullets” period of World War II as well as his continuing fight against anti-Semitism and genocide throughout the world. 

The Lantos Foundation will present their most distinguished prize at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on October 26, 2017, at the U.S. Capitol. Father Desbois joins a distinguished community of prior Lantos Laureates that includes the Dalai Lama, Hillary Clinton, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, and most recently Vian Dakhil (aka “ISIS’ Most Wanted”), who was recognized for her courageous defense of the Yazidi people. It is fitting that Father Desbois should receive the Prize the year following Ms. Dakhil, as he has been outspoken in defense of her Yazidi community - a 21st century victim of genocide at the hands of ISIS.

“At a time when anti-Semitic acts are surging globally, Father Desbois’ work is more important than ever,” said Lantos Foundation President Katrina Lantos Swett. “Exposing the truth, honoring the victims, and memorializing these events are vital safeguards against a repetition of these horrors. But Father Desbois’ work is about more than rescuing and remembering the past. His truly universal calling is to act on behalf of all victims of mass violence, persecution, and murder. The Lantos Foundation is truly honored to recognize him for this noble mission.”

The Lantos Foundation established the Lantos Human Rights Prize in 2009 to honor and bring attention to heroes of the human rights movement. It is awarded annually to an individual or organization that best exemplifies the Foundation’s mission, namely to be a vital voice standing up for the values of decency, dignity, freedom, and justice in every corner of the world. The prize also serves to honor the memory and legacy of the late Congressman Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to the U.S. Congress and a leading advocate for human rights during his nearly three decades as a U.S. Representative.

Lantos Foundation Successfully Lobbies to Keep Anti-Semitism Envoy

This morning the US State Department has proposed cutting nearly half its Special Envoy and At-Large Ambassadorial positions in order to streamline and refocus operations. It gives me great satisfaction to report to you that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has decided to retain the posts of both the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism and the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom. The Lantos Foundation is proud to have played a role in bringing about this important victory.  

Earlier this year, we launched the 2017 Solidarity Sabbath Initiative re-asserting our nation’s commitment to lead on defending religious freedom and combatting the scourge of anti-Semitism. We organized an unprecedented letter from former Ambassadors for Religious Freedom and Special Envoys to Combat Anti-Semitism from both Republican and Democratic Administrations in which they urged the current Administration to uphold our values by appointing outstanding individuals to fill these posts which were still vacant at the time. 

In the months following our Solidarity Sabbath efforts, there have been mixed signals from the State Department about our requests. In a positive development, late July brought the appointment of an Ambassador for International Religious Freedom. But as you may recall, during Congressional testimony earlier this summer, Secretary Tillerson had suggested that the Administration was considering leaving the Special Envoy to Combat Anti-Semitism post unfilled. We immediately wrote to Secretary Tillerson urging the Administration to retain this post as a key component of America’s efforts to combat global anti-Semitism.

I reminded him that my late father, Congressman Tom Lantos, played the lead role in passing the legislation that created the post of Special Envoy. I know my father would not stand idly by at a time of growing anti-Semitism if our government were to downgrade our commitment to fighting against this insidious evil. In our letter to the Secretary I wrote: “I am baffled that the Administration would ignore the hard won wisdom and experience of Congress’ only Holocaust survivor and choose to leave this post vacant. This is disrespectful not only to the memory of my father but to all those who have fought against anti-Semitism for so long.”

It is good news indeed that the Administration will keep this essential office open and we intend to be vigilant in ensuring that an individual of the utmost skill and expertise is appointed to fill this position. America has long been a beacon to the world when it comes to combating anti-Semitism in all its forms. In the aftermath of the horrifying events in Charlottesville just a few weeks ago, we must redouble our efforts to confront and defeat anti-Semitism both at home and abroad. Only by doing so can we retain the mantle of moral leadership on this fundamental question of human rights and justice.

 

Katrina Lantos Swett
President
Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice 

Human Rights Activists Call on Trump to Hold China Responsible for Liu Xiaobo's Death

August 15, 2017
For Immediate Release
 

Contact:
Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett
(603) 226-3636

The Chen Guangcheng Foundation
cgcfoundation1@gmail.com

 

Human Rights Activists Call on Trump to Hold China Responsible for Liu Xiaobo's Death

A broad group of human rights activists including the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice and The Chen Guancheng Foundation have called on President Trump to apply the Global Magnitsky Act to those in the Chinese government responsible for the death of Liu Xiaobo.

The international community continues to be alarmed about the fate of Liu Xiaobo's widow, Liu Xia. This family has suffered an unspeakably unjust tragedy. We cannot stand by and allow such tragedy to be repeated. World governments must use their influence to urge the Chinese government to release her immediately. They must also do whatever is in their power to hold China accountable for these injustices.

"Liu Xiaobo’s death at the hands of the authoritarian Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the ongoing abuse of his widow are both a personal tragedy and an egregious affront to the civilized world and a challenge to democratic nations.

By its conduct in the case of Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia, the Chinese government has made it clear that it believes it can violate international standards of law and justice with impunity. The United States must now use the Global Magnitsky Act to send an equally strong message that this nation, founded in liberty and justice, will stand by its principles and the laws that govern and guide it."