Abuses of Traditional Religion in Russia

USCIRF is deeply concerned about religious freedom conditions in the Russian Federation, which have rapidly deteriorated in recent years as the government increasingly mistreats “traditional” religious communities, and targets Jehovah’s Witnesses, with baseless ‘extremism’ charges, and uses unsubstantiated accusations of ‘terrorism’ to imprison Crimean Muslim activists opposed to its illegal annexation of their homeland. USCIRF has covered these violations in numerous publications and hearings, including a report released this week on religious freedom abuses in Chechnya.USCIRF Senior Policy Analyst Jason Morton joins us today to elaborate on the myriad of religious freedom concerns in Russia and Chechnya in particular. Read USCIRF’s Issue Update on Religious Freedom Violations in the Republic of Chechnya