Apr 3, 2026
North Korea remains one of the most dangerous places in the world for individuals from all religious backgrounds, particularly for Christians. Organized religion in North Korea has reportedly been almost entirely eliminated. North Korean escapee testimony is the primary and the most important source of information on the Kim regime’s violations of freedom of religion or belief in North Korea, yet fewer North Koreans than ever have been able to escape North Korea since the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, China has become increasingly complicit in the North Korean government’s persecution of religious adherents and practitioners while repatriating North Korean escapees back to North Korea.
On this episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, Commissioner Rachel Laser speaks with Peter Oh, a journalist with Radio Free Asia, and Illyong Ju, Chair of Tong-il Majoong, a nonprofit faith-based organization dedicated to North Korean human rights.
In 2025, nonstate actors posed significant threats to religious freedom abroad. Among these, USCIRF identified some groups that met the criteria of an Entity of Particular Concern (EPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998, as amended. IRFA calls for USCIRF to recommend that the U.S. Department of State designate certain nonstate actors as EPCs. That statute defines an EPC as a nonstate group that engages in particularly severe violations of religious freedom and is also “a nonsovereign entity that exercises significant political power and territorial control; is outside the control of a sovereign government; and often employs violence in pursuit of its objectives.”
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Cuba
Religion or Belief: Christian – Protestant
Date of Detainment: March/16/2025
Current Status: Not Released
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment
Jonathan David Muir Burgos
Extra Bio Info:
Jonathan David Muir Burgos is detained for his religious association.
In March 2026, authorities arrested 16-year-old Muir Burgos along with his father, Pastor Elier Muir Ávila, during political protests. Government authorities had previously targeted Pastor Muir Ávila for his leadership of Tiempo de Cosecha, an unregistered Protestant church. In 2024, the Office of Religious Affairs of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party repeatedly sent government officials and religious leaders to intimidate him to close his church. Authorities released Pastor Muir Ávila the same day of his arrest, but continue to detain his son, Jonathan, as an attempt at coercion by proxy.
During detention, authorities denied Muir Burgos medical care for a skin condition requiring constant treatment.