Tuesday, Lantos Foundation President Katrina Lantos Swett and Robert George were featured speakers at the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Roundtable Forum at the US Capitol. At the event, Senator Marco Rubio and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo received the Thomas Jefferson IRF Champion Award.
Lantos Foundation ISIS Genocide Statement
The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice commends Secretary of State John Kerry’s declaration that the Islamic State’s actions against Yezidi, Christian, and Shiite communities constitutes genocide. Coming just days after Congress passed a unanimous joint resolution condemning the Islamic State’s actions as genocide, it is encouraging to see our leaders joining together in a bi-partisan and ecumenical way to boldly call evil by its true name, and in so doing they are honoring basic human rights and justice.
As Secretary Kerry stated in his remarks today: “Naming these crimes is important. But what is essential is to stop them.” We hope that the message sent this week by the United States Congress and by the United States Department of State will not only raise awareness of the horrific crimes being committed in the Middle East today, but will lead to strong action to stop these atrocities.
Too often the world has failed to act when helpless minorities have faced the clear threat of genocide. We hope that this time will be different. We call on the world community to act to ensure that the Yazidi, Christian, and Shiite communities in Syria and Iraq are not only saved, but also restored in the wake of the devastating trauma that they have endured. Only by working together can we overcome the evil that ISIS represents.
Lantos Foundation Front Line Fund grant recipient honored at International Film Festival on Women, Social Issues, and Zero Discrimination
"Author, researcher, social activist & filmmaker Dr Shahida Akhter has been given the Platinum Award as the Best Director at the Award Ceremony of the International Film Festival on Women, Social Issues and Zero Discrimination 2016 for her documentary film 'Fight Acid Violence' held at the Indonesian capital Jakarta on 7th March." Read more
Lantos Foundation Announces 2016 Solidarity Sabbath - Spotlight Focused on China
Concord, NH - The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice announced today the launch of the 2016 Solidarity Sabbath, which focuses on the Chinese government’s harsh repression of freedom of religion, conscience, and belief. They are calling on individuals and faith communities around the world to devote the weekend of May 20-22, 2016 to highlight the strength and bravery of Chinese citizens who courageously live out their faith despite threats of harassment, imprisonment, and torture.
“While the Chinese government officially sanctions five religions, it does so with strict Communist Party oversight. Individuals and faith communities who follow their consciences outside the control of the Chinese Communist Party risk imprisonment, torture, or worse,” said Katrina Lantos Swett, President of the Lantos Foundation. “Without pressure from the global community and the political leadership of free nations, hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens will continue to be denied the most fundamental of human rights. Furthermore, religious freedom, tolerance, and respect are vital for the economic and social well-being of nations and their people.”
Individuals are encouraged to visit SolidaritySabbath.org to learn more about the absence of religious freedom in China. There are three ways they can participate: (1) encourage their respective faith communities to focus on the lack of religious freedom in China during the weekend of May 20-22, (2) sign the Solidarity Sabbath petition urging governments to put greater pressure on the Chinese government, and (3) reach out to one of the 2016 Solidarity Sabbath partner organizations to support their work on behalf of people in China. These partners include China Aid, Initiatives for China, the International Campaign for Tibet, the Chen Guangcheng Foundation, All Girls Allowed, and the Uyghur Human Rights Project.
The Solidarity Sabbath is an annual initiative of the Lantos Foundation that supports the fundamental human right of freedom of religion, conscience, and belief. During the inaugural Solidarity Sabbath in 2015, leaders across Europe and North America joined together to combat the spread of anti-Semitism. The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice is a non-profit focused on protecting fundamental human rights, promoting the rule of law, encouraging corporate responsibility with respect to human rights, and advancing the legacy and work of the late Congressman Tom Lantos.
Solidarity Sabbath - Spotlight on China
Advance the Freedom of Religion, Conscience, and Belief
Religious and spiritual believers in today’s China are being persecuted in ways not seen since Mao's Cultural Revolution 40 years ago. On the weekend of May 20-22, 2016, religious and spiritual communities around the world will join together in the 2016 Solidarity Sabbath to highlight the strength and bravery of Chinese citizens who courageously live out their faith despite threats of harassment, imprisonment, and even torture by the ruling Communist Party.
Freedom of religion, conscience, and belief is a vital human rights issue for all global citizens, and you have a chance to help highlight the plight of the millions of Chinese denied this basic entitlement. Whether it is encouraging your faith community’s leadership to participate in the Solidarity Sabbath or petitioning your government to take part, there are so many ways to make a difference.
Learn more at SolidaritySabbath.org
He Named Me Malala Film Screening
The Lantos Foundation is proud to announce our sponsorship with the World Affairs Council's Crossroads Film & Discussion Series in honor of International Women's Day.
A special event screening of He Named Me Malala - "an intimate portrait of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was targeted by the Taliban and severely wounded by a gunshot when returning home on her school bus in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. The then 15-year-old was singled out, along with her father, for advocating for girls’ education, and the attack on her sparked an outcry from supporters around the world. She miraculously survived and is now a leading campaigner for girls’ education globally as co-founder of the Malala Fund." (Watch the trailer).
He Named Me Malala
Wednesday - March 23, 2016 7:00 PM
Red River Theatres,
Concord, NH
To attend, please register online, or by phone (603.314.7970)
Please consider supporting this free global education program for the public with a $10 donation per ticket.
Discussion to follow.
Budapest Street Named in Honor of Congressman Tom Lantos
Tom Lantos Street, Budapest
Photos: US Embassy, Budapest
This past Monday, February 1st - which would have been Congressman Lantos' 88th birthday, a celebration was held in honor of the naming of a beautiful promenade after Congressman Tom Lantos. The promenade, located across the street from the high school Tom attended, is a wonderful tribute to one of Hungary's most distinguished native sons. The large gathering included the Mayor of Budapest, the American Ambassador Colleen Bell, high ranking government leaders, and diplomats. Vice President Joe Biden sent a message in which he lauded his old friend's unending fight for human rights and democracy.
Read Ambassador Colleen Bell's Remarks - (English) (Hungarian)
Read Tributes from Vice President Joe Biden & Senator Edward Markey - (Tributes)
See Photos from the ceremony - (Photos, US Embassy in Budapest)
Daily News Hungary - BUDAPEST PROMENADE NAMED AFTER FORMER US CONGRESSMAN LANTOS - (Read here)
Jewish Telegraphic Agency - Budapest promenade named for late Jewish congressman Tom Lantos - (Read here)
Swett: Vladimir Putin puts boot to many Christians, Boston Herald
Katrina Lantos Swett Friday, January 01, 2016
With the passing of Christmas and on this the start of the New Year, Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to convince many Americans and other Westerners that he is a staunch defender of Christians against their oppressors, most recently ISIS in Syria.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. From Iraq and Syria to Crimea, Ukraine, and Russia itself, the Kremlin’s behavior belies such rhetoric. For the sake of Christians and others persecuted for their faith, it is time to rid ourselves of this myth.
At best, Putin’s regime has been an unreliable ally of Christians. At worst, it has persecuted Christians, at home and abroad, especially those who do not belong to the country’s dominant religious and cultural — and some say political — institution, the Russian Orthodox Church’s Moscow Patriarchate.
This is hardly surprising, given that the former KGB official once deemed the collapse of the Soviet Union, one of religion’s most lethal enemies, “the greatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century.” Putin has cynically used concern about Christians to revive as much of the old Soviet empire as possible and to restore Russia’s Soviet-era influence over the Middle East.
In Iraq, Putin has done little about the slaughter and enslavement of Christians by ISIS and like-minded radical Islamist terrorist groups.
In Syria, he has spoken about saving Christians from ISIS, but his actions contradict his words. His air force has launched bombing raids — not primarily against ISIS, but against civilians and armed opposition groups who pose the biggest threat to Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s reign. Clearly, Putin puts Assad’s regime above the well-being of Christians.
Since seizing control of Crimea last year, Russia has put increasing pressure on churches and leaders not affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate. In June 2014, the leader of the Salvation Army in Crimea left the peninsula after reporting repeated harassment by security agents. By late 2014, clergy without Russian citizenship, particularly Greek and Roman Catholics and those belonging to the Kiev Patriarchate, were forced to leave Crimea. The home of the Kiev Patriarchate’s bishop of Simferopol and Crimea, Klyment Kushch, was burned down. Russia also has applied its notorious registration and anti-extremist laws to Crimeans, including Orthodox adherents who are not Moscow Patriarchate members.
Pro-Russian forces have visited similar abuses on communities in the Donbass in eastern Ukraine after Russian-backed paramilitary groups seized territory.
Even within Russia itself, Christians are hardly safe from Putin’s repression. From Baptists to Charismatics to Adventists, Russian Protestants may be denied permits to build churches, as well as visas for foreign missionaries According to some estimates, for every registered Protestant congregation, there are at least two unregistered ones, as Russian authorities often discriminate against such congregations through the religious registration law. Some of these church members, along with Jehovah’s Witnesses and Muslims, are deemed “extremist” under Russia’s overly broad anti-extremism law, some for simply opposing Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
The conclusion could not be more obvious: As evidenced by his sins of commission and omission, Vladimir Putin is no friend of Christians. It is time for Christians and all people of goodwill to pay heed.
Katrina Lantos Swett, a New Hampshire resident, is president and CEO of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice.
Original op-ed on Boston Herald
Lantos Foundation’s Statement on Home Raids of Khodorkovsky’s Staff
The Kremlin’s recent moves against Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the staff of his Open Russia Foundation only serve to underscore the widely acknowledged legal nihilism and corruption of the Putin regime and Putin's personal obsession with Mr. Khodorkovsky. Mr. Khodorkovsky, former head of Yukos Oil, was Russia's most successful businessman until he became the target of a campaign of persecution by the Kremlin and spent 10 years in prison - the result of trumped up charges and bogus convictions. Now out of prison, Khodorkovsky and the Open Russia Foundation continue to advocate effectively and fearlessly for democratic and legal reform in Russia and so, once again, they find themselves in the line of fire.
In the last few weeks, new false charges of murder have been filed against Mr. Khodorkovsky and in just the past few days most of his associates at the Open Russia Foundation have been subjected to unlawful raids of both their homes and offices. There can be little doubt that the new charges and the raids are in retaliation for Open Russia's publication of reports detailing the links between Putin's closest associates and the Russian mafia. These intimidation tactics are part and parcel of the Kremlin's modus operandi under Putin. It is this pattern of legal abuse that has brought the entire Russian legal system under widespread condemnation.
Despite his decade of unjust incarceration, Khodorkovsky has remained unbowed and has not stopped his criticism of the Russian government, recently saying that a new democratic revolution in Russia is "inevitable and necessary".
The Lantos Foundation believes it is vital that governments in the West lend their support to individuals and organizations like Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the Open Russia Foundation that are supporting independent media, assisting Russia's political prisoners, and leading the charge against corruption and authoritarianism. These latest attacks against the forces of reform must be called out for what they are; blatant attempts to threaten and silence those who are fighting for a more just and democratic future for the Russia.
Joint Statement with Hungarian American Coalition Regarding Prime Minister Victor Orbán's Disavowal of Bálint Hóman Statue
December 16, 2015
For Immediate Release
Contact: Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett
(603) 226-3636
The Hungarian American Coalition and the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, welcome Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's December 15th Statement in opposition to the erection of a statue of Bálint Hóman.
In remarks at the Hungarian National Assembly, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, stated the following:
”I do not support the erection of such a statue...the Government cannot support the erection of a statue in honor of a politician who collaborated with occupying powers and collaborated with oppressors of Hungary." Bálint Hóman was a government minister who, in 1944, called for the deportation of Hungarian Jews.
This important disavowal of the Hóman statue by the Hungarian Prime Minister is appreciated by our organizations.
Max Teleki
President of the Hungarian American Coalition
Katrina Lantos Swett
President of the Lantos Foundation