Oct 27, 2022

USCIRF Observes International Religious Freedom Day

Calls for U.S. Special Adviser on IRF within the National Security Council 

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today commemorates International Religious Freedom (IRF) Day, marking the 24th anniversary of the signing of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA). IRFA sought to strengthen the United States’ advocacy on behalf of individuals persecuted in foreign countries on account of religion by considering religious freedom in U.S. foreign policy in a variety of ways, which included creating USCIRF, an Ambassador at Large for IRF within the U.S. Department of State, and a Special Adviser on IRF within the National Security Council to monitor and report on religious freedom violations, and establish consequences for the worst violators.

“Since its establishment over two decades ago, USCIRF has worked to unflinchingly identify violators of religious freedom abroad and make policy recommendations to the U.S. government to uphold its historic commitment to religious freedom, which is an essential component of our mandate under IRFA,” stated USCIRF Chair Nury Turkel. “We urge the U.S. Department of State to implement our recommendations, especially the appointment of a well-qualified individual as a Special Adviser for IRF within the National Security Council.”

To advance religious freedom, IRFA creates a framework that requires that action be taken against countries and other actors that violate religious freedom. As part of this framework, the President, who has delegated this power to the Secretary of State, is required to designate the world’s worst violators of religious freedom as Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) or place these violators on its Special Watch List (SWL). The Administration is also statutorily required to take action in response to the violations. In addition to IRFA’s provisions, U.S law provides several other accountability tools to ensure there are consequences for violators of religious freedom, including the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which affords the Administration the ability to impose sanctions (e.g., deny visas to and/or block any U.S.-based assets) on any foreign person involved in human rights abuses, including violations of religious freedom.

“USCIRF encourages the Biden administration to continue implementing targeted sanctions for violators as it is doing in countries such as China, Iran, and Russia for their systematic, ongoing and egregious persecution of religious communities. Iranians continue to risk their lives protesting for greater freedom, including freedom of religion or belief. The government of Iran has used a shocking level of brutality against those peacefully protesting mandatory hijab laws, which include at least 23 children,” USCIRF Vice Chair Abraham Cooper said. “We also remain deeply concerned by the ever-expanding breadth of the Russian Federation’s religious freedom violations, particularly those committed in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As the U.S. government continues to hold Russia accountable for its brutal war, we urge the State Department to call attention to its egregious violations of religious freedom.”

Chair Turkel added, “Targeted sanctions send a strong message that the U.S. government is committed to ensuring accountability for violations of an individual’s most fundamental right. We hope to see the increased use of targeted sanctions without waivers against additional countries such as China whose sweeping campaign against religious communities has amplified in recent years.”

Earlier this year, USCIRF released its 2022 Annual Report. In the Report, USCIRF recommended that the State Department designate Afghanistan, Burma, China, Eritrea, India, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam as CPCs and place Algeria, Azerbaijan, Central African Republic, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nicaragua, 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 discontinuing the repeated imposition of preexisting sanctions or waivers for CPC-designated countries and instead taking unique and targeted actions in response to religious freedom violations.

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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].