This report provides an overview of the ways governments enforce religion through their laws and policies, along with the religious freedom and related human rights implications of that coercion. The official enforcement of religion-based laws and policies to violate human rights or discriminate on the basis of religion has been for years featured in the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s (USCIRF) reporting on a number of the countries it recommends annually for Country of Particular Concern (CPC) or Special Watch List (SWL) status. The research for this report examined how such systematic measures might impact FoRB in countries that fail to meet the rigorous standards in the International Religious Freedom Act, as amended, for CPC or SWL designation. Specifically, the report highlights 78 countries that, as of 2021, named an official religion or either explicitly or implicitly favored one religion or a small group of religions.

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