Press Release
Smith presses Biden Administration for removing Nigeria from list of countries that violate religious freedom at congressional hearing90 percent of Christian deaths worldwide occur in NigeriaWhile chairing a congressional hearing today on the dire state of religious freedom around the world, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) pressed the Biden Administration for removing Nigeria from the State Department’s list of countries that violate religious freedom, known as “Countries of Particular Concern” (CPC). “Time and time again, violators of religious freedom are given a pass in the State Department’s Country of Particular Concern designations, even when the US Commission on International Religious Freedom makes recommendations with compelling evidence,” said Smith, Chair of the House Global Human Rights subcommittee, who has chaired over 40 congressional hearings and authored four major laws on religious freedom, including the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act. “While on paper Nigeria has robust protections for all religions, violations of religious freedom are escalating,” said Smith, who introduced legislation (HRes 82) earlier this year that calls on the Biden Administration to designate Nigeria as a CPC and appoint a Special Envoy to Nigeria and the Lake Chad Region to monitor and combat atrocities in the region. “Why was Nigeria taken off the list just before Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Abuja?” Smith asked US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain, who in response did not offer any specific details on the State Department’s decision. According to the religious freedom watchdog Open Doors International, more than 5,000 Christians were killed in Nigeria last year alone, accounting for nearly 90 percent of Christian deaths worldwide as well as 90 percent of Christian kidnappings across the globe. “Nigeria has become a country steeped in religious freedom violations, where people of faith, and those of no faith at all, live increasingly in fear of harassment, imprisonment, and violence,” said Abraham Cooper, Chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. “The destabilization of Nigeria by violent Islamist militants continues its downward spiral,” said Dr. Eric Patterson, President of the Religious Freedom Institute. “In Nigeria’s middle belt, sectarian violence has resulted in abductions, forced conversions, and thousands of deaths, the majority of which are ethno-religious attacks targeting Christian communities, and churches.” In addition to Nigeria, Smith’s hearing also examined other countries that have a record of egregious violations of religious freedom, including: · China, where all religious believers must comport with and aggressively promote communist ideology under Sinicization; · Vietnam, where the Communist government’s crackdown on religion, including the Catholic Church, has worsened in recent years; · Afghanistan, where religious freedom has severely deteriorated under the Taliban’s brutal regime as Taliban thugs go door to door trying to discover Christians, who live in fear of persecution; and · Nicaragua, where Bishop Rolando José Álvarez and other innocent victims remain unjustly imprisoned by the brutal Ortega regime in its attempt to silence the Catholic Church. “Tragically, billions of people around the world—half of the world’s population—are not able to practice their faith freely,” said Smith. “Many are persecuted by oppressive governments or extremist groups—brutally attacked, tortured, jailed, and even slaughtered for their beliefs.” “I am concerned that the US State Department is not using all the tools provided to hold guilty parties accountable,” said Smith, who urged Ambassador Hussain to reconsider CPC designation for Nigeria and other egregious violators of religious freedom who were left off the State Department’s list, including Afghanistan, Vietnam, Syria and India. ### |