Special Briefing by Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback 
国际宗教自由事务无任所大使萨姆·布朗巴克
特别简报
国际宗教自由事务无任所大使萨姆·布朗巴克
新闻简报厅
华盛顿DC
2019年6月21日
宗教自由的斗争正在加剧。据报道，80％的人生活在宗教自由受到攻击的地方，但世界上大多数人围绕着一系列宗教信仰来组织他们的生活。他们必须自由地这样做。特朗普政府已经完全按照之前的承诺，将宗教自由作为外交政策的一项优先事项，而且确实是这样。我们已经从旁观转到为所有信仰的人而斗争。
这是因为我们认为对于美国推动宗教自由，没有哪个时间比现在更重要。我们不会停止，直到我们看到宗教迫害的铁幕落下；直到政府不再因为某种特定的信仰或与之相关联而拘留和折磨人们；直到人们不再因似是而非的亵渎罪名而受到起诉和迫害；直到世界不再相信可以迫害任何信仰的任何人而不用承担后果。我们不会停止。
……
正如我们2018年的报告所显示的那样，宗教自由作为我们在国内经历的核心部分，仍然在世界许多地区受到侵犯。例如，伊朗有着世界上宗教自由最差的记录之一，并且继续展示出公然无视保护个人的宗教自由。无数的伊朗宗教少数群体成员，包括巴哈伊教徒、基督徒、犹太教徒、琐罗亚斯德教徒、逊尼派和苏菲派穆斯林，因其信仰而受到歧视、骚扰和不公正的监禁。他们的宗教书籍被禁止。他们被剥夺了接受教育的机会。他们的墓地被亵渎了。对穆斯林亵渎和改变其信仰可受到死刑的惩罚。去年，伊朗政权在人权观察所称的“十年来对伊朗宗教少数群体最严厉的打击之一”中猛烈镇压苏菲教派戈纳巴迪苦行僧的和平抗议。我们对伊朗说，我们正在关注，我们将支持所有宗教自由权利受到侵犯的人们。
中国已经对信仰宣战。我们看到中国政府越来越多地侵犯几乎所有信仰和来自大陆各地的信徒的权利。在新疆，中国在拘留营中拘留了一百多万穆斯林族裔，这些营地为剥夺这些宗教群体的文化、身份和信仰而设计。我们分享报道——再一次地，分享其他人做出的报道——中国当局已经使包括法轮功、维吾尔族、藏传佛教徒和地下基督徒在内的良心犯遭受强行的器官摘除。这会让每个人受到良心上的震动。中国还继续干涉藏传佛教活动和西藏文化，包括干涉藏传佛教喇嘛的选择、教育和敬奉。他们加大了对基督徒的镇压，关闭教堂，并因从事和平宗教活动逮捕信徒。对此我们对中国说：不要弄错，你不会赢得你针对信仰的战争。这将对你在国内和世界各地的地位产生后果。
…
美国无法单独保障宗教自由。我们需要每个人的帮助；每个人在这一斗争中都利益攸关。这就是为什么今年第二届推进宗教自由部长级会议比以往任何时候都重要。我们期待今年的活动将比去年开创性的活动更大、更广泛、更好。对宗教自由持续且复杂的挑战需要更大的舞台、有更多的利益攸关者共同努力以确定解决方案。部长级会议还将提供一个平台，以放大来自世界各地的受宗教迫害的幸存者的声音，他们的故事将展示信仰的不屈不挠的力量。

PRESS BRIEFING ROOM
WASHINGTON, DC
JUNE 21, 2019
The fight against religious freedom is mounting. There was a report that 80 percent of people live in places where religious freedom is under attack, yet most of the world organizes their life around a set of religious beliefs. They must be free to do so. The Trump administration has done exactly what it promised to do about making religious freedom a top foreign policy priority, and it is. We’ve jumped off the sidelines to fight for people of all faiths.
This is because we believe there is no more important a time for the United States to promote religious freedom than now. We will not stop until we see the iron curtain of religious persecution come down; until governments no longer detain and torture people for simply being of a particular faith or associated with it; until people are no longer charged and prosecuted on specious charges of blasphemy; until the world no longer believes it can get away with persecuting anyone of any faith without consequences. We will not stop.
…
The religious freedom central to our experience at home is still encroached upon in many areas of the world, as our 2018 report shows. For example, Iran has one of the worst records on religious freedom in the world and continues to show a blatant disregard for protecting individuals’ religious freedom. Countless members of Iranian religious minorities, including Baha’is, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, and Sunni and Sufi Muslims, face discrimination, harassment, and unjust imprisonment because of their beliefs. Their religious books are banned. They are denied access to education. Their cemeteries are desecrated. Blasphemy and proselytization of Muslims is punishable by death. Last year, the Iranian regime violently cracked down on the peaceful protest of Gonabadi Sufi dervishes in what Human Rights Watch called “one of the largest crackdowns against a religious minority in Iran in a decade.” To Iran we say we are watching and we will stand up for all those whose right to religious freedom is infringed upon.
China has declared war on faith. We’ve seen increasing Chinese Government abuse of believers of nearly all faiths and from all parts of the mainland. In Xinjiang, China has detained more than a million ethnic Muslims in camps that are designed to strip away the culture, identity, and faith of these religious communities. We share reports – again, that others make – that Chinese authorities have subjected prisoners of conscience, including Falun Gong, Uighurs, Tibetan Buddhists, and underground Christians, to forcible organ harvesting. This should shock everyone’s conscience. China also continues to interfere in Tibetan Buddhist practices and Tibetan culture, including by interfering in the selection, education, and veneration of Tibetan Buddhist lamas. They’ve increased their repression of Christians, shutting down churches and arresting adherents for their peaceful religious practices. And to this we say to China: Do not be mistaken, you will not win your war on faith. This will have consequences on your standing at home and around the world.
…
The United States cannot secure religious freedom alone. We need everyone’s help; everyone has a stake in the fight. That’s why this year’s second Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom is more important than ever. We expect this year’s event to be bigger, broader, and better than last year’s groundbreaking event. The continuing and complex challenges to religious freedom demand an even greater stage with more stakeholders working together to identify solutions. The ministerial will also provide a platform to amplify the voices of survivors of religious persecution, these from around the world, whose stories will demonstrate the unrelenting power of faith.