USCIRF Alarmed over Escalating Crackdown in Vietnam

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is alarmed by the Vietnamese government’s escalating crackdown on independent religious communities—including Khmer Krom Buddhists, Montagnard Protestants, Cao Dai followers, and many others.

“USCIRF condemns the Vietnamese government’s recent targeting of independent religious communities,” stated USCIRF Chair Stephen Schneck. “Authorities sentenced five Khmer Krom Buddhist monks to prison terms between two and six years, disrupted independent Cao Dai followers’ worship and funeral services, and continued to force Montagnard Protestants in the central highlands to denounce their faith. This behavior is inconsistent with Vietnam’s position as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, and we are closely monitoring these disturbing developments with grave concern.”

Vietnamese law imposes restrictive requirements on religious activities that are unevenly applied throughout the country. Moreover, in recent years, USCIRF has observed significant backsliding on religious freedom in Vietnam, as the government has increasingly repressed independent religious groups, including those it considers “strange, false, or heretical religions” that refuse to comply with state control.

“In light of this deterioration, the U.S. government should enhance its efforts to press the Vietnamese government to release religious prisoners and make concrete improvements to religious freedom conditions, including by amending the 2018 Law on Belief and Religion and the implementing decree,” added USCIRF Commissioner Meir Soloveichik. “We also urge the State Department to designate Vietnam as a ‘country of particular concern’, or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act, as USCIRF recommended in our 2024 annual report.”

Since 2002, USCIRF has consistently recommended the U.S. Department of State designate Vietnam as CPC, for its government’s systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. In 2022 and 2023, the State Department placed Vietnam on its Special Watch List (SWL) for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom. The State Department’s CPC and SWL designations for 2024 are expected by the end of the year. In September 2024, USCIRF released a report on “State-Controlled Religion and Religious Freedom in Vietnam.”

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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 Commends Administration’s Efforts Negotiating Release of Religious Prisoners, Including a U.S. Citizen, Held in China

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomes the U.S. government’s recent successful efforts to secure the freedom of those imprisoned or otherwise trapped in China on the basis of their religion, religious activity, or ethnoreligious identity, including Ayshem Mamut, the mother of former USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel. In November, the U.S. government reportedly negotiated the resettlement of three Uyghurs, including Mamut, from China to the United States as part of a broader prisoner swap between the two countries. Additionally, in September, the administration secured the release of American pastor David Lin, who spent nearly two decades in Chinese prison for his religious activities.

“We celebrate the reunion of Ayshem Mamut with former USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel and the rest of their family here in the United States,” said Chair Stephen Schneck. “USCIRF commends the Biden administration for its work to advocate for and secure the release and freedom of those persecuted in China on the basis of religion.”

“Despite this good news, millions of other religious minorities in China face horrible conditions both in and out of state custody,” said Vice Chair Eric Ueland. “The United States must pursue additional efforts to free more people as it did with these three Uyghur individuals.”

China today remains one of the world's worst violators of religious freedom. Authorities subject persecuted religious group members to a range of invasive and egregious treatment, including surveillance, harassment, travel bans, imprisonment, torture, medical neglect, forced labor, and forced assimilation. In its 2024 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State redesignate China as a “Country of Particular Concern,” or CPC, for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.

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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 Releases Report on Persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses 

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following report: 

Religious Freedom Challenges for Jehovah’s Witnesses – Four years after USCIRF’s 2020 publication on the global persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses, countries continue to prosecute and impose harsh penalties on the community for their religious beliefs and peaceful religious activities. Hundreds of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been imprisoned under laws punishing so-called “extremism” and conscientious objection. Other countries prevent Jehovah’s Witnesses from gaining legal recognition, deprive them of rights afforded to others, or impose prejudicial policies. States have a duty to protect freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for Jehovah’s Witnesses.  

USCIRF has documented the persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in its Frank R. Wolf Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) Victims List and calls on the State Department to work with relevant governments and like-minded partners to secure their release.  

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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].