USCIRF hearing addresses the lack of religious freedom in Syria
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) held a virtual hearing on May 10 to discuss freedom of religion or belief in Syria and Turkey’s involvement in the human rights abuses occurring there.
Four expert witnesses testified during the hearing, documenting how the Assad regime has, as USCIRF Commissioner Sharon Kleinbaum said, continuously “violated, exploited, and immeasurably damaged” the rights of religious minorities within Syria.
The USCIRF hearing addressed the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his continued efforts to discriminate against members of religious groups that do not adhere to his own branch of Islam.
The hearing brought many instances of religious persecution to light, including the destruction of religious minorities’ houses of worship and the brutal attacks on and displacement of religious minority communities by the Sunni Islamist militant group, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.
Moreover, in eastern Syria, there have been attacks nearly every day from ISIS, which has negatively impacted religious minorities in the region.
Source: persecution.org
