March 28, 2024  Sean Nelson Even as partisan divides have become seemingly intractable across a wide array of issues, the promotion of international religious freedom remains one of the bipartisan bright spots in Congress. On February 29, one such bipartisan group of Senators introduced a resolution calling support for international religious freedom a “cornerstone” of U.S. foreign policy, while highlighting …

The Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee in Congress held a hearing titled “The Future of Freedom in Nigeria” on Wednesday, February 14 at 2:00pm Eastern time.  Witnesses included: The Honorable Frank Wolf Commissioner United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Bishop Wilfred Anagbe Bishop of the Diocese of Makurdi, Nigeria Roman Catholic Church Mr. Ebenezer Obadare Douglas Dillon Senior Fellow for …

Ken Camp / Managing Editor, Baptist Standard In spite of a Christmas Eve massacre of about 200 Nigerians in predominantly Christian areas and evidence of India’s growing transnational repression of religious minorities, neither nation was designated as a Country of Particular Concern by the U.S. Department of State or placed on its Special Watch List. In response to the omissions, the U.S. Commission on …

Reprinted with permission from Jubileecampaign.org The UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, joined by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and the UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues publish their allegation letter to the government of Nigeria raising the cases of two women the government of Nigeria …

Just two days before US President Joe Biden and his entourage arrived in Hanoi, human rights activist Nguyen Bac Truyen was released from Vietnamese prison on September 8, 2023, five years earlier than his sentence, and along with his wife, Ms. Kim Phuong flew to the Federal Republic of Germany, where they are forced to live in exile. The United …

The people of Burma have faced a brutal campaign by the military junta that has taken thousands of lives, forced millions to flee, and destroyed many church buildings in their campaign to control and suppress the people’s democratic rights and religious freedoms in the country. Attacks by the Burmese military on villages and towns have forced 1.3 million people to …

21Wilberforce is a signatory to the letter mentioned below that was sent to outgoing President Buhari in Nigeria. This article is reprinted with permission from ADF International In 2020, Sufi Muslim Yahaya Sharif-Aminu was sentenced to death by hanging for “blasphemy”. His alleged crime involved sending song lyrics on WhatsApp that were deemed blasphemous toward the prophet Mohammed.    With support …

21Wilberforce joined sixty-seven groups and experts from around the world in signing a letter to Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, calling for Nigeria to be reinstated as a “Country of Particular Concern (CPC)”. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo designated Nigeria as a CPC in 2020, but Secretary Blinken removed the designation in 2021 without explanation. The letter raises …

21Wilberforce is playing a leading role in mobilizing thousands of Burmese diaspora and other concerned citizens through its collaborative advocacy technology. The Burma Advocacy Group is comprised of leaders from associations, churches, community groups who are acting with one voice to advocate for the passage of the Burma Bill in the U.S. Congress. The military seized control on 1 February 2021 …

21Wilberforce welcomes bipartisan legislation that was introduced yesterday bySenator James Lankford (R-OK), Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jim Risch (R-ID), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Chris Coons (D-DE) to reauthorize the independent US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) through 2024. “The United States has the responsibility to call out religious persecution around the world. The US Commission on …