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Displaying results 101 - 139 of 139
Jan 5, 2023
Authoritarian states promote religious tolerance without necessarily ensuring freedom of religion or belief. Last month, USCIRF released a report distinguishing between these two concepts and explains the origins of religious tolerance…
Jan 12, 2023
Governments around the world use many different strategies to control or repress religion, but a common tactic is for the state to elevate a particular religion to a special status in ways that can marginalize different faiths or belief…
Jan 19, 2023
In 2016, Congress passed the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act which mandated that USCIRF maintain a list of individuals targeted for their religion or belief. In 2019, USCIRF launched its Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB)…
Feb 10, 2023
In recent years USCIRF has reported that religious freedom conditions in Algeria have continued to deteriorate with the government increasingly enforcing blasphemy laws and restricting worship. These laws particularly impact religious…
Jun 22, 2023
In May 2023, violent clashes between two communities erupted in India’s Manipur state, leaving entire villages burned and displacing tens of thousands. The ongoing conflict is between the state’s majority Hindu Meitei community and the…
Jan 25, 2024
One of USCIRF’s key functions is to make recommendations to the State Department about which countries we think should be designated as Countries of Particular Concern or CPCs, based on our independent research and…
Jul 3, 2024
In 1998, Republicans and Democrats came together to pass the International Religious Freedom Act, creating USCIRF as an independent government Commission led by a bipartisan group of nine Commissioners appointed by both political party leaders…
Jul 25, 2024
The French government has prohibited French athletes from wearing religious garb while competing at the Paris 2024 Olympics. As such, French athletes who wish to wear religious garb are forced to choose between adhering to their sincerely…
Aug 2, 2024
Ten years ago, the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) launched a campaign of mass atrocities to achieve the religious and ethnic cleansing of Yazidis, Assyrian-Chaldean-Syriac Christians, Shi’a and Sunni Muslim Turkmens,…
Aug 9, 2024
Ten years ago, the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) launched a campaign of mass atrocities to achieve the religious and ethnic cleansing of religious minority groups in Iraq and Syria. In 2016, the U.S. State Department…
Nov 15, 2024
On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Chair Stephen Schneck joins Senior Strategic Advisor Elizabeth Cassidy to reflect on his trip to the United Kingdom. Marked by a special relationship, the United States, and the…
May 1, 2025
In recent years, USCIRF has reported declining religious freedom conditions in India, as the government continues to enforce and strengthen legislation that disproportionately impacts religious minorities, including anti-conversion…
May 16, 2025
The religious freedom situation in Azerbaijan remains highly restricted. The government subjects virtually all religious practices to intrusive state oversight. Shi'a Muslims who do not operate within the government's preferred…
May 23, 2025
At the end of 2024, over thirteen years since the onset of Syria’s protracted civil war, the country’s political landscape dramatically shifted when a rebel coalition toppled the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Religious freedom…
May 30, 2025
The governments of Central Asia—that is Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan—influenced by decades of Soviet rule, maintain similar legislation to combat “extremism.” Each of these governments uses these laws…
Jul 14, 2025
China has been described as the “most prolific,” “sophisticated, far-reaching, and comprehensive” perpetrator of transnational repression in the world. It has targeted many religious communities in diaspora, including Uyghur Muslims,…
Jul 31, 2025
One of the most important elements of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 is the requirement for the U.S. Secretary of State to designate the world’s worst violators of religious freedom as Countries of Particular Concern and…
Aug 18, 2025
The Nigerian federal government enforces blasphemy laws that include a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment for acts “persons consider as a public insult on their religion.” Twelve Nigerian state governments also enforce their own…
Aug 29, 2025
Religious freedom concerns are increasing in Sudan’s current brutal civil war. There are increasing reports of attacks on places of worship and other incidents that violate freedom of religion or belief. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF)…
Sep 12, 2025
China has perpetrated gross religious freedom violations against religious groups of recognized religions through its “sinicization of religion” policy. However, the government also persecutes many religious groups of unrecognized…
Oct 3, 2025
The U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, often referred to as the IRF Ambassador, plays a vital role in the U.S. government’s promotion of international religious freedom. Pursuant to the International Religious…
Oct 17, 2025
The Eritrean government does not recognize religious communities other than the Tewahedo Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Evangelical Lutheran churches, along with Sunni Islam. As a result, there are dozens religious minorities including…
Nov 21, 2025
Cuba and Nicaragua have ranked among the world’s most repressive governments toward religious freedom for years. In 2025, exiles and civil society organizations reported continuing severe restrictions on religious communities, including…
Dec 16, 2025
Pakistan’s Ahmadiyya Muslim community continues to be severely and systematically persecuted by the government. The Pakistani government has enacted a series of discriminatory laws and ordinances that restrict Ahmadiyya Muslims’ ability…
Dec 18, 2025
Since 2012, USCIRF has recommended Tajikistan for designation as a Country of Particular Concern for the government’s egregious, ongoing, and systematic violations of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB). Among the particularly severe…
Dec 30, 2025
The Egyptian government continues to systematically restrict freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) by enforcing laws, policies, and judicial decisions that repress non-Muslim and Muslim religious minority communities. Such FoRB violations…
Dec 30, 2025
In June 2025, USCIRF commissioners traveled to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan to assess religious freedom conditions. During the delegation, USCIRF confirmed that both governments continue to arbitrarily apply a broad and vague legislative…
Dec 31, 2025
Youth play a crucial role in promoting religious freedom in Africa by advocating for greater religious literacy, inclusivity, and understanding. In East Africa, young people face challenges to religious freedom. The Youth Tolerance…
Jan 23, 2026
For decades, the Lautenberg-Specter program has provided a pathway for members of oppressed religious groups, including Christians, Jews, and Baha’is, with close family ties to the United States to escape persecution in Iran and the…
Feb 13, 2026
The Chinese government under Xi Jinping placed an estimated one million Uyghurs in concentration camps, subjecting them to forced labor and other horrific abuses. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has also destroyed or modified mosques…
Feb 20, 2026
In late October, President Donald Trump announced that he was designating Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern, or CPC, in recognition of the horrific and worsening rash of religious violence that Africa’s most populous country has faced in…
Mar 6, 2026
Vietnam’s government strictly regulates and controls religious affairs through state-approved religious organizations. Vietnamese authorities have frequently harassed, detained, arrested, and imprisoned members and advocates of…
Mar 23, 2026
On November 5, 2025, the High Court ruled in favor of the family of missing Pastor Raymond Koh, finding the Malaysian government and police liable for his abduction and enforced disappearance in 2017. While the court’s decision brought…
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…
Apr 17, 2026
In Central Asia, independent media plays an essential role in shedding light on freedom of religion of belief (FoRB) violations. As a result, Central Asian governments attempt to silence independent journalists and bloggers to conceal…
Apr 24, 2026
Alongside advocacy efforts, targeted programming is a tool certain governments and intergovernmental agencies use to strengthen religious freedom. There have been several key programs that have advanced international religious freedom in…
May 5, 2026
Despite sanctions and repeated condemnation against the Burmese military, the ruling junta continues to unleash brutal attacks against its own people, including religious minorities such as Muslim-majority Rohingya and Christian-majority…
May 5, 2026
The Burmese military maintains its grip over Burma through arson, arbitrary detentions, airstrikes, killings, and other forms of intimidation and violence to instill fear in its people, including ethnoreligious minorities such as Rohingya…
May 8, 2026
Individuals imprisoned for their religion or belief continue to face state repression even upon their release. For example, in Saudi Arabia, China, and Egypt, many released prisoners face bans on leaving the…