Four Years after the Taliban’s Takeover, “Morality Law” Imposes Harsh Religious Freedom Restrictions
 

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released the following report on Afghanistan: 
 

Issue Update: Afghanistan - Assessing the Law on the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice – In August 2024, the Taliban introduced the law on the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, known colloquially as the “morality law.” This law expands on and imposes harsher punishments on all Afghans who fail to observe the Taliban’s struct religious interpretation of Islam. A year after the law’s enactment, this publication considers the religious freedom implications and the enforcement of its strict provisions in 2025, focusing on the repercussions for religious minority communities and Afghan women.
 

In its 2025 Annual Report, USCIRF highlighted the Taliban’s egregious religious freedom violations, including the introduction of the morality law in 2024. USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate Afghanistan as a Country of Particular Concern, for its ongoing, systematic, and egregious religious freedom violations. 
 

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan legislative branch agency 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 Religious Freedom Violations Amid Sudan’s Two-Year Conflict

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released the following report on Sudan:

Sudan’s War and Its Implications for Freedom of Religion or Belief - Since April 2023, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have entrenched Sudan in a brutal civil war. Both sides have committed atrocities and human rights violations that have impacted Sudanese civilians. Religious freedom concerns have again risen amid the current war, as sporadic reports have emerged of attacks on places of worship, arbitrarily detained members of religious minorities, and created a pervasive climate of fear for those communities by blocking humanitarian aid and other insidious tactics. USCIRF has continued to closely monitor religious freedom conditions in Sudan amid these concerning developments. This issue update highlights the impact of the last two years of conflict on religious minorities and other communities in Sudan. 

In its 2025 Annual Report, USCIRF highlighted religious freedom conditions in Sudan as part of its chapter on other global developments. Prior to the outbreak of the present conflict, USCIRF conducted a delegation to Sudan to assess conditions in 2020 and published a related country update in 2021.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan legislative branch agency 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 Religious Freedom in Houthi-Controlled Areas of Yemen

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released the following report on religious freedom in Houthi-controlled areas of northern Yemen:

Violations of Religious Freedom by the Houthi Movement in Northern Yemen – This factsheet assesses freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) conditions in areas of northern Yemen controlled by the Houthi movement. Following the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israel, the Houthis have escalated their systematic and egregious violations of religious freedom affecting a range of groups, including Baha’is, Christians, Jews, Ahmadiyya Muslims, Yemeni women and girls, and all individuals who dissent from the movement’s singular interpretation of Islam. By advancing its religious ideology across sectors – including education, military, correctional facilities, and the judiciary – the Houthis are severely restricting religious freedom in a country with a millennia-long history of religious diversity. The few remaining members of minority faith communities stay hidden due to threats of Houthi intimidation and violence. 

In its 2025 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate the Houthis as an “Entity of Particular Concern,” or EPC, for engaging in particularly severe violations of religious freedom.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan legislative branch agency 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].