The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has released a new report in which it urges the State Department to designate or redesignate 15 nations as “countries of particular concern” (CPCs) because they are nations “where particularly severe violations of religious freedom are tolerated or perpetrated.”
Eight of the nations are currently designated as CPCs: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Uzbekistan. In addition to these, the report cites seven other nations: Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam.
The commission also found that Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Russia, and Turkey have “governments that engage in or tolerate violations that are serious, but which are not CPC-level violators.”
“With religious freedom abuses occurring daily around the world against people of all faiths and those without religious faith, the United States must by words and deeds stand in solidarity with the persecuted,” said USCIRF Chairman Robert George.
“Religious freedom is a fundamental human right recognized by international law that guarantees to all human beings the freedom to believe or not believe as their conscience leads, and live out their beliefs openly, peacefully, and without fear. Religious freedom also is essential to national and global security. Thus, the defense of religious freedom is both a human rights imperative and a practical necessity and merits a seat at the table with economic, security and other key concerns of U.S. foreign policy.”
“America’s commitment to religious freedom abroad, embodied in the IRFA law enacted more than 15 years ago, must be renewed and strengthened,” he added. “IRFA was prescient in recognizing that religious freedom needs to be a key component of U.S. foreign policy. The United States must fully utilize IRFA’s provisions including: faithfully designating CPCs each year, ensuring that the CPC list expands or contracts as conditions warrant, and consider taking Presidential actions unique to each situation.”
