Nov 22, 2022
USCIRF Releases Report on Religious Freedom in India
Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new report:
India Country Update – This report provides a broad overview of religious freedom conditions in India in 2021 and 2022. It examines how various policies adopted and implemented by the Indian government have cultivated an environment that is increasingly hostile toward religious minority communities. This trajectory, alongside an escalating government crackdown on civil society and dissent, is deeply alarming in a diverse, secular, and democratic country whose constitution is intended to protect religious freedom.
USCIRF previously reported on India in its 2022 Annual Report, and in publications regarding global blasphemy laws. Additionally, USCIRF highlighted religious freedom conditions in India during a December 2021 event on Democracy and Religious Freedom, and during a May 2022 episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast.
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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].
Nov 18, 2022
More than a decade after the onset of Syria’s civil war, the conflict continues with multiple state and non-state actors vying for power. Today, one of the most notable non-state actors is the militant Islamist rebel group and former al-Qaeda affiliate Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Although President Bashar al-Assad has regained control of about 70% of Syrian territory, HTS has maintained a strong resistance in the northwest, setting itself up as the civic authority in areas including the strategically important province of Idlib. Despite HTS’s recent efforts to rehabilitate its militant jihadist image and rebrand itself as a legitimate governing force, it continues to pose serious threats to religious freedom. USCIRF recommended in its 2022 Annual Report that the U.S. Department of State redesignate HTS—a U.S. designated terrorist group since 2018—as an “entity of particular concern,” or “EPC,” for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act.
Dr. Aaron Zelin, the Richard Borow Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a visiting research scholar at Brandeis University, joins us today to analyze religious freedom conditions in 2022 under the governance of HTS.
Nov 17, 2022
USCIRF Releases Report on Religious Freedom Implications of
Official and Favored Religions
Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new report:
Global Overview of Official and Favored Religions and Legal Implications for Religious Freedom – This report provides an overview of the ways governments enforce religion through their laws and policies and the implications of that enforcement for religious freedom and related human rights. Many governments that repress religious freedom do so through laws and policies that coerce compliance with a particular religious interpretation, typically one that aligns with an official or state-favored religion. Such laws—particularly when governments actively enforce them—can lead to severe violations of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) and other human rights, including discrimination on the basis of religion against individuals and communities who do not adhere to the state’s interpretation. The report, based on research into all countries with official or favored religions, finds that most governments with an official or favored religion also maintain laws or policies on the basis of religion that lead to discrimination or repression, or that hold the potential to do so. Far fewer such countries—less than a third—name an official or favored religion and maintain no discriminatory laws or policies based on that religion.
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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].