Oct 28, 2024

USCIRF Observes International Religious Freedom Day
Calls for Greater Advocacy for Release of Religious Prisoners of Conscience

Washington, DC – This past weekend marked the 26th anniversary of the signing of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA). By enacting the bipartisan IRFA, Congress and the President cemented religious freedom as a priority in U.S. foreign policy. Among its range of government tools and institutions to support this policy, IRFA created the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) as an independent, bipartisan entity tasked with monitoring religious freedom abroad and making policy recommendations to the U.S government.

“It has been over 25 years since the bipartisan passage of the International Freedom Act. In that time the U.S. has dramatically increased advancing this fundamental freedom, which is a bedrock American value and an integral part of international human rights law,” stated USCIRF Chair Stephen Schneck. “Because of these efforts perpetrators have been held accountable, prisoners of conscience have been set free, and harmful policies have changed. While progress has been made, more can be done to enable everyone, everywhere to freely follow their conscience.”

Following amendments in 2016, IRFA sought to further strengthen the United States advocacy on behalf of individuals persecuted in foreign countries on account of religion. These amendments require USCIRF to: “make publicly available, to the extent practicable...lists of persons it determines are imprisoned or detained, have disappeared, been placed under house arrest, been tortured, or subjected to forced renunciation of faith for their religious activity or religious freedom advocacy by the government of a foreign country that the Commission recommends for designation as a country of particular concern [CPC]...or by a nonstate actor that the Commission recommends for designation as an entity of particular concern [EPC].” In 2019, USCIRF launched the Frank R. Wolf Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) Victims List—an online public database—to implement this provision for countries USCIRF recommends for Country of Particular Concern (CPC) or Special Watch List (SWL) status. The list also includes such victims located in the de facto territories of nonstate actors that USCIRF recommends for Entity of Particular Concern (EPC) status, according to the same criteria.

“USCIRF has worked tirelessly to raise the cases of victims through engagement with government officials and during international travel,” USCIRF Vice Chair Eric Ueland said. “The FoRB Victims List is a crucial tool for USCIRF’s advocacy. It has led to the improvement of conditions for victims and in some cases resulted in their early release from prison.”

Earlier this year, USCIRF released its 2024 Annual Report, the 25th since the Commission’s inception. In the Report, USCIRF recommended that the State Department designate Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, India, Iran, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam as CPCs and place Algeria, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkey, and Uzbekistan on the SWL.

The Annual Report includes a section assessing the U.S. government’s implementation of IRFA and providing recommendations to improve the U.S. government’s engagement on religious freedom, including advocating for the release of religious prisoners of conscience, including those documented in USCIRF’s Frank R. Wolf Freedom of Religion or Belief Victims List in multilateral fora and in bilateral meetings with relevant governments.

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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].