Recommendation of United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for Congressional Hearing to Designate India as Country of Particular Concern

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Recommendation of United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for Congressional Hearing to Designate India as Country of Particular Concern

On December 15, 2023 and January 04, 2024 United Sates Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) issued a press release showing its concerns regarding India’s transnational targeting of religious minorities and called for a congressional hearing on the failure of US Department of State to designate India as Country of Particular Concern (CPC), despite repeated requests. These statements were issued in response to USCIRF 2023 Annual Report

This is an independent Federal Commission, created through the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), 1998 later amended through the Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act, 2016. Monitors the universal right to freedom of religion/belief, makes policy recommendations to the President, Secretary of State and Congress and tracks the implementation of these recommendations.

CPC means countries where the government engages in or tolerates “particularly severe violations” of religious freedom. The term “particularly severe violations” means systematic, ongoing and egregious violations, including: – Torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, Prolonged detention without charges, Causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction or clandestine detention of those persons, other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the security of persons.

Special Watch List

SWL means where the government engages in or tolerates “severe violations” of religious freedom.

EPC enlists non-state actors engaging in “particularly severe violations” of religious freedom. The law defines a non-state actor as a non-sovereign entity that exercises significant political power and territorial control is outside the control of a sovereign government; and often employs violence in pursuit of its objectives.

Criticized the recent efforts by the Indian government to silence activists, journalists, and lawyers abroad. Also highlighted the Indian government’s alleged involvement in the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and the plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the United States. Furthermore, rejected the US State Department’s decision to omit India as CPC & called for a congressional public hearing. USCIRF regretted the failure of State Department to designate India, despite meeting the legal standards. The religious watchdog was alarmed by the Indian Government’s increased instances of transnational repression activities targeting religious minorities abroad

This religious freedom watchdog released the annual report on May 01, 2023 and in its India’s Chapter raised alarms on following issues: –

Anti-Conversion Laws

Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 and National Register of Citizens, 2019

Attacks on Religious Minorities

Demolition of Mosques

Sexual Violence & Harassment

It is a matter of grave concern that USCIRF has been recommending since 2020 to designate India as CPC but the US State Department has failed to do the same. (USCIRF Recommendations vs. Designations is (Attached as Annexure A) Contrarily, US Department of State designated Pakistan along with China & Russia as CPC while excluding India, notwithstanding, her consistent religious freedom violations in IIOJK. This clearly shows the arbitrary assessment & biased intent of US.

One of the most severely criticized Indian laws is her Anti-Conversion Law i.e. Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2022 and Special Marriage Act, 1954 which penalize the forced religious conversion; however, voluntary conversion is subject to the declaration by a District Magistrate. Although there is no Federal Law in India that regulates religious conversions, the states have their own. This move goes in derogation of Article 16 of Universal declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which categorically states that men & women of full age, without any limitation of race, nationality or religion have the right to get married.

Indian Government has been abusing Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1997 to suppress the critical voices and to crackdown on religious minorities. Lately, the Modi Government has overhauled the entire criminal justice system and one of the major changes was replacing the terminology of “Sedition” by “Acts Endangering Sovereignty, Unity and Integrity of India.” [(Section 152 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita Bill 2023)] So, technically India has just played well with the literal meaning and has still not gotten away with this colonial era weapon.

Additionally, in recent weeks India has banned two political parties i.e. Muslim League Jammu Kashmir-Masarat Alam Faction (MLJK-MA) and Tehreek-i-Hurriyat J&K (TeH) for 05 years under Section 03 of UAPA, 1997 on the pretext of anti-national propaganda, foreign funding from Pakistan and terror activities. This again accounts a gross violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (ICCPR) and UDHR which guarantees the basic right to freedom of expression/opinion.

Moreover, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 is another example of draconian law which strictly provides citizenship only to the non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan & Bangladesh. Likewise, the National Register of Citizens, 2019 aims to distinguish Indian Citizens from undocumented migrants, resultantly, 700,000 Muslims are subjected to the risk of losing their citizenship. (Ref: Statistics are quoted from USCIRF 2023 Annual Report) Most importantly, the alleged killing of Sikh activist in Canada clearly shows that India is engaged in diplomatic repression which is a threat to the international community.

Furthermore, it was one of the suggestions of USCIRF to impose targeted sanctions on Indian govt agencies and officials responsible for severe violations of religious freedom either by freezing those individuals’ assets or barring their entry into US. (Relevant Presidential actions & available options are Attached as Annexure B & C)

Annexure A

USCIRF RECOMMENDATIONS VS US STATE DEPARTMENT DESIGNATIONS

USCIRF 2023 Recommendations	US Department of State Designation	Staff Comments
Countries of Particular Concern		Section 303 of the Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act, 2016 states that: The President’s report on action taken in response to violations of religious freedom or on designation of a country as a country of particular concern for religious freedom shall include: (1) an evaluation of the impact on the advancement of U.S. interests in democracy, human rights, and security; and (2) a description of policy tools being applied in the country, including programs that target democratic stability, economic growth, and counter-terrorism.The said section which enables the US President to prepare a report for designation as CPC is inherently discriminatory in nature because it is dependent on the evaluation of US interests. This could be one of the reasons for not designating India as US has close economic and strategic interests with New Delhi for example, G20,  Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad)
USCIRF recommended 17 countries to the State Department for designation as CPCAfghanistan, Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, India, Iran, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan ,Turkmenistan and Vietnam.	Re-designated 12 countries as CPCs including: Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.Omit Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Syria, and Vietnam from designation.
Special Watch List
11 Countries recommended for SWLAlgeria, Azerbaijan, Central African Republic, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Uzbekistan	Placed only 05 Countries on SWL; Algeria, Azerbaijan, the Central African Republic (CAR), Comoros, and Vietnam.
Entity of Particular Concern
07 entities recommended for EPC designation.Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, the Houthis, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP or ISIS-West Africa), and Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM).	Designated all the 07 entities	Section 301 of the said Act binds the President to submit a report detailing the reasons for such designation.

Annexure B

PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS FOR COUNTRIES OF

PARTICULAR CONCERNS (CPC)

 

Annexure C

OPTIONS FOR PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS UNDER

INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT 22 USC §6445