USCIRF Releases Report on India’s Collapsing Religious Freedom Conditions 

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

India Country Update – This report highlights how throughout 2024, individuals have been killed, beaten, and lynched by vigilante groups, religious leaders have been arbitrarily arrested, and homes and places of worship have been demolished. These events constitute particularly severe violations of religious freedom. It describes the use of misinformation and disinformation, including hate speech, by government officials to incite violent attacks against religious minorities and their places of worship. It further describes changes to and enforcement of India’s legal framework to target and disenfranchise religious minorities, including the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and several state-level anti-conversion and cow slaughter laws.  

In its 2024 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate India as a “Country of Particular Concern,” or CPC, or 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 or belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected]   

USCIRF Releases New Report on Religious Freedom Challenges in Iraq 10 Years After ISIS’s Genocide

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

Religious Freedom Challenges in Iraq 10 Years after ISIS’s Genocide – This report provides an overview of ISIS’s genocide and other crimes against Iraq’s religious minorities beginning in the summer 2014. ISIS used mass execution, forced conversion to Islam, abduction, rape, and slavery against Iraqi and Syrian Yazidis; Assyrian-Syriac-Chaldean and other Christians; Shi’a Muslims of a variety of ethnic backgrounds, such as Shabaks, Turkmens, Arabs, and Kurds; and other religious groups. The report highlights ongoing religious freedom challenges facing these communities 10 years later and identifies ways the United States can encourage Iraq’s federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to improve religious minority groups’ security and freedom of religion or belief today.

In its 2024 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State include Iraq on its Special Watch List (SWL) for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act. USCIRF has consistently highlighted the ongoing aftereffects of ISIS’s genocide. In December 2023, the Commission held a hearing on Religious Minorities and Governance in Iraq. In August 2024, on the tenth anniversary of ISIS’s launch of the genocide, a USCIRF Spotlight podcast series featured religious minority genocide survivors and former U.S. officials.

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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].