USCIRF Calls for Congressional Hearing after State Department Fails to Designate Nigeria and India as Countries of Particular Concern
Azerbaijan Added to State Department’s Special Watch List

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) calls for a congressional hearing after reiterating its extreme disappointment that the U.S. Department of State yet again failed to designate Nigeria and India as Countries of Particular Concern (CPC), despite both countries repeatedly meeting the legal standard. Despite this disappointment, USCIRF welcomed the State Department’s decision to include Azerbaijan on its Special Watch List (SWL) for committing or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).

“There is no justification as to why the State Department did not designate Nigeria or India as a Country of Particular Concern, despite its own reporting and statements. USCIRF calls on Congress to convene a public hearing on the failure of the State Department to follow our recommendations,” said USCIRF Chair Abraham Cooper and Vice Chair Frederick A. Davie.

“Days before Christmas, hundreds of Christians were killed in Nigeria, along with their Pastor. This is just the latest example of deadly violence against religious communities in Nigeria that even the State Department has condemned. The majority of Commissioners have travelled to Nigeria and noted the threats to freedom of religion or belief and the deadly implications to religious communities,” stated USCIRF Chair Cooper and Vice Chair Davie. “In India, in addition to perpetrating egregious religious freedom violations within its borders, the government has increased its transnational repression activities targeting religious minorities abroad and those advocating on their behalf.”

“USCIRF rejects the State Department’s decision to omit Nigeria and India as CPCs. We met with the State Department on many occasions to sound the alarm about these countries, but not all of our recommendations have been followed. We will not be deterred and will continue our role as a congressionally mandated watchdog to ensure the U.S. government prioritizes religious freedom as a key component of U.S. foreign policy,” they added.

The State Department re-designated 12 countries as CPCs—Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Furthermore, the State Department again issued waivers on sanctions for Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. In its 2023 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended the re-designation of those 12 countries without any waivers and also recommended CPC designation for Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Syria, and Vietnam.

The State Department placed Algeria, Azerbaijan, the Central African Republic (CAR), Comoros, and Vietnam on its SWL. USCIRF recommended in its 2023 Annual Report that Algeria, Azerbaijan, and CAR be placed on the SWL, in addition to Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.

“USCIRF acknowledges the State Department accepted our recommendation to include Azerbaijan on its SWL. At the same time, USCIRF is disappointed that the State Department did not include our other recommendations for CPC or SWL. Though Vietnam is included on its Special Watch List, USCIRF strongly believes Vietnam should be designated a CPC based on the State Department’s own reporting on the government’s religious freedom violations,” said USCIRF Chair Cooper and Vice Chair Davie. “USCIRF formally requests a detailed justification by the State Department as to why our policy recommendations were not fully implemented, including lifting the waivers.”

The State Department also designated eight EPCs, which are non-state actors that engage in particularly severe violations of religious freedom pursuant to IRFA. USCIRF recommended the redesignation of seven of these actors in its 2023 Annual Report: al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Houthis, ISIS-Sahel (formerly known as Islamic State in the Greater Sahara or ISGS), Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP, also referred to as ISIS-West Africa), and Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM).

Since the issuance of its 2023 Annual Report, USCIRF has consistently shared its recommendations with the U.S. Department of State and Congress. In early December 2023, USCIRF met with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken to reiterate those recommendations. USCIRF released publications on India’s State-Level Anti-Conversion Laws, Ethnonationalism and Religious Freedom in Nigeria, and State Control of Religion in Azerbaijan, and many others. In 2023, USCIRF held hearings on Iran, Burma, Russia, Cuba, Tajikistan, Vietnam, India, and Iraq.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].

USCIRF Troubled by New Religion Law in Belarus

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) highlights a setback to religious freedom in Belarus. Yesterday, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka signed into law “On Amendments to Laws on the Activities of Religious Organizations,” which retains the most regressive provisions of the country’s 2002 religion law and imposes more undue restrictions on religious communities.

“Instead of repealing its highly restrictive religion law enacted over two decades ago, which did not meet international human rights standards, Belarusian officials have doubled down and implemented a more repressive religion law that grants the government unbridled control over religious communities and their affairs,” said USCIRF Chair Abraham Cooper. “Religious communities will face the daunting choice of practicing their religion or belief ‘illegally’ or submitting to a brutal regime that uses indiscriminate force and intimidation against its own people.”

Following the breakout of popular protests against the country’s fraudulent 2020 elections that kept President Lukashenka in power, authorities have sought to eliminate independent civil society and subjugate all aspects of social life to state control and surveillance. Belarus’ new religion law imposes strict, burdensome requirements on religious communities and includes vague prohibitions that will likely curtail the peaceful expression of religious beliefs. The law requires religious communities to reregister within a year, which is expected to result in the deregistration of dozens of small religious communities, as occurred after the enactment of the country’s 2002 religion law. Under the new religion law, unregistered religious activity will remain illegal, with punishments ranging from fines to up to three years’ imprisonment.

“In 2023, Belarusian authorities have bulldozed and liquidated the Pentecostal New Life Church, detained and fined dozens of Christian religious leaders for perceived political activities, and blacklisted human rights organizations working on religious freedom issues,” said USCIRF Vice Chair Frederick A. Davie. “The Biden administration and Congress must prioritize religious freedom as part of U.S. government efforts to hold Belarus accountable for its gross human rights violations.”

In its 2023 Annual Report, USCIRF highlighted the negative trajectory for religious freedom conditions in Belarus. USCIRF recently published a report examining the problematic provisions of the revised religion law and other religious freedom violations in Belarus. In November 2021, USCIRF also released a report that detailed the decline of religious freedom in Belarus following the government’s brutal crackdown on popular anti-government protests in 2020.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].

USCIRF Condemns Nicaragua’s Arbitrary Detention of Priests  

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) strongly condemns the Nicaraguan government’s arbitrary arrest and detention of clergymen in the days leading up to and immediately after Christmas. Among the arbitrarily detained clergymen are Father Silvio Fonseca, who has openly criticized the Nicaraguan government’s intense persecution of the Catholic Church, and Bishop Isidro Mora and Father Pablo Villafranca, each of whom offered prayers for the wrongfully imprisoned Bishop Rolando Álvarez prior to their arrests.

“USCIRF is outraged that the Nicaraguan government has chosen to continue its brutal crackdown on members of the Catholic Church for speaking out about the religious freedom and human rights violations occurring in the country,” said USCIRF Vice Chair Frederick A. Davie. “It has become increasingly clear that President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo are intent on silencing the voice of any individual peacefully following the dictates of their conscience.”

On Christmas Eve, the regime also sentenced six former employees of the Catholic charity Caritas, Julio Sevilla, Julio Berríos, Bladimir Pallés, María Verónica Herrera Galeano, Freydell Andino, and Mariví Andino, to six years imprisonment on dubious money laundering charges. This latest wave of persecution bookends a year which saw the Nicaraguan government, among many other violations, sentence Bishop Rolando Álvarez to 26 years’ imprisonment, expel religious prisoners of conscience to the United States and the Vatican, and shutter Catholic charitable and educational institutions such as the Jesuit-run University of Central America.

“We urge the U.S. Congress to help stem these egregious religious freedom violations and hold violators accountable by passing the bipartisan Restoring Sovereignty and Human Rights in Nicaragua Act of 2023,” said USCIRF Commissioner Frank Wolf. “This bill expands the U.S. government’s ability to sanction officials responsible for religious freedom and human rights violations and ensures the U.S. government’s support for the United Nations Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua, which is working diligently to investigate all alleged human rights violations and abuses committed in the country since 2018.”

In its 2023 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended the U.S. Department of State redesignate Nicaragua as a Country of Particular Concern for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. In November 2022, USCIRF held a hearing on the “Crackdown on Religious Freedom in Nicaragua” and discussed the situation in an episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].