USCIRF Releases New Policy Update on Preserving Religious Freedom in Sudan

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

Sudan Policy Update – The Sudanese military takeover on October 25, 2021, dissolved the civilian-led government and arrested key civilian officials.  This policy update highlights challenges to advancing religious freedom in Sudan, including the threat to this progress posed by the recent military coup, as well as examines the progress previously made by the Sudanese transitional government in 2021.The report discusses key U.S. policy engagement with Sudan in 2021 and concludes by providing concrete recommendations to the U.S. government, once the civilian-led transitional government returns, to improve human rights protections and preserve reforms by the civilian-led government that will benefit freedom of religion or belief.

In 2020, USCIRF released a Sudan Policy Update discussing a number of significant religious freedom reforms undertaken by Sudan’s transitional government. USCIRF also highlighted significant developments in Sudan in an episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast in October 2020. Due to continued advancement of religious freedom by the Sudanese government since the 2019 revolution, in its 2020 Annual Report, USCIRF no longer recommended that the U.S. Department of State include Sudan on its Special Watch List (SWL).

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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].