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Advancing Human Rights to Combat Extremism

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Advancing Human Rights to Combat Extremism ADVANCING HUMAN RIGHTS TO COMBAT EXTREMISM HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION DECEMBER 6, 2017 Serial No. 115–92 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 27–755PDF WASHINGTON : 2018 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:00 Jan 16, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\WORK\_AGH\120617\27755 SHIRL COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida BRAD SHERMAN, California DANA ROHRABACHER, California GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey JOE WILSON, South Carolina GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida TED POE, Texas KAREN BASS, California DARRELL E. ISSA, California WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island MO BROOKS, Alabama AMI BERA, California PAUL COOK, California LOIS FRANKEL, Florida SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii RON DESANTIS, Florida JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois TED S. YOHO, Florida BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois DINA TITUS, Nevada LEE M. ZELDIN, New York NORMA J. TORRES, California DANIEL M. DONOVAN, JR., New York BRADLEY SCOTT SCHNEIDER, Illinois F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., THOMAS R. SUOZZI, New York Wisconsin ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York ANN WAGNER, Missouri TED LIEU, California BRIAN J. MAST, Florida FRANCIS ROONEY, Florida BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania THOMAS A. GARRETT, JR., Virginia JOHN R. CURTIS, Utah AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina KAREN BASS, California DANIEL M. DONOVAN, JR., New York AMI BERA, California F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas Wisconsin THOMAS R. SUOZZI, New York THOMAS A. GARRETT, JR., Virginia (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:00 Jan 16, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\_AGH\120617\27755 SHIRL C O N T E N T S Page WITNESSES Thomas Farr, Ph.D., president, Religious Freedom Institute, director, Reli- gious Freedom Research Project, Georgetown University ................................ 7 John Lenczowski, Ph.D., founder and president, The Institute of World Poli- tics ......................................................................................................................... 14 Sayyid Syeed, Ph.D., senior advisor, Office of Interfaith and Community Alliances, Islamic Society of North America ...................................................... 36 Mr. Neil Hicks, director, Human Rights Promotion, Human Rights First ......... 43 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING Thomas Farr, Ph.D.: Prepared statement ............................................................. 9 John Lenczowski, Ph.D.: Prepared statement ....................................................... 16 Sayyid Syeed, Ph.D.: Prepared statement ............................................................. 39 Mr. Neil Hicks: Prepared statement ...................................................................... 46 APPENDIX Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 88 Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 89 The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey, and chairman, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations: Material submitted for the record ...................................................................................... 90 The Honorable Thomas A. Garrett, Jr., a Representative in Congress from the Commonwealth of Virginia: Material submitted for the record ................ 94 (III) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:00 Jan 16, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\_AGH\120617\27755 SHIRL VerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:00 Jan 16, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\_AGH\120617\27755 SHIRL ADVANCING HUMAN RIGHTS TO COMBAT EXTREMISM WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2017 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:03 a.m., in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. Smith (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. SMITH. The committee will come to order. And good after- noon to everybody, or good morning, I should say. Today’s hearing will explore ways to combat violent extremism by advancing fundamental human rights—in particular, the free- dom of religion. Advancing freedom of religion both as an end in and of itself and as a means to achieve peace, stability, and human flourishing should be a core objective of U.S. foreign policy. Religious liberty is opposed, however, by extremists who seek to impose their vision of an ideal society upon us all. Oftentimes a ‘‘choice’’ they give to those who seek to adhere to the beliefs they were raised in boils down to: Convert or die. This clash manifests itself in numerous parts of the world in varying degrees of inten- sity but is particularly acute in certain Muslim-dominated regions where groups such as ISIS, al-Nusra, Boko Haram, and Al Shabaab seek to bring all under their sway. To personalize this, let me tell you about a victim of Boko Haram that I have gotten to know and greatly admire. On one trip to Ni- geria, in an IDP camp in Jos, I met with Habila Adamu. Dragged from his home by Boko Haram terrorists, he was ordered to re- nounce his faith. Four Boko Haram terrorists threw him to the ground, and one literally put an AK-47 to his face and said, ‘‘Are you ready to die as a Christian?’’ With amazing courage, Habila an- swered, ‘‘Yes, I am ready to die as a Christian.’’ He was asked a second time if he was ready to die, and he said yes. This time, despite the pleas of his wife, who was crying pro- fusely, the terrorist pulled the trigger. A bullet ripped through Habila’s face. He crumpled to the ground and was left for dead. By some miracle, he survived. I asked Habila to come to DC to tell his story at a congressional hearing that I chaired. Habila told our committee, ‘‘I am alive be- cause God wants you to have this message. Knowing Christ is so much deeper than merely knowing Boko Haram’s story of hate and (1) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:00 Jan 16, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AGH\120617\27755 SHIRL 2 intolerance.’’ He closed his testimony, ‘‘Do everything you can to end this ruthless religious persecution, but know Christ first.’’ I would point out that on that trip I also met with the Arch- bishop Kaigama, whose churches have been firebombed in Jos, but also with the Imam and his top clerics. They were equally appalled, both the Christians and the Muslim moderate leadership, appalled at what Boko Haram was doing. I remember the Imam saying, ‘‘We don’t know who they are. They are not us.’’ It couldn’t have been clearer that he saw that this was a cruel manifestation of extre- mism under the name falsely of Islam. It should be stressed that extremist groups such as Boko Haram coerce and oppress not only members of other faiths but also, in particular, members of the Muslim faith—and, again, that is what I have heard all over the world, and you have heard it, I am sure, too—whose interpretation of Islam differs from that of the extrem- ists. They also target converts whose consciences have led them to choose a different path. To combat these extremists, the ideological battlefield is just as important as a territorial one. By emphasizing human rights prin- ciples, we counter extremist messaging, support moderate voices, and promote the popular aspirations of people around the world who simply want to live in peace and freedom. Last year, an important weapon in the fight against extremism was passed by the Congress and signed into law, the Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act. This law provides tools and resources to our State Department to integrate religious freedom into all of our diplomacy in order to counter, in part, terrorism but also to promote religious freedom. In building upon this landmark International Religious Freedom Act that was passed in 1998, authored by Frank Wolf, this law ad- dresses the changed circumstances in the world since 1998 by des- ignating nonstate extremist groups, such as Boko Haram and ISIS, as violent nonstate actors, making it easier to ostracize and apply financial sanctions against their members, thereby helping starve extremists of resources. The law strengthens the ability to investigate and monitor reli- gious persecution by creating a designated persons list of violators
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