A recent report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), recommended the Biden Administration to flag India, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and 11 other nations as “countries of particular concern” in the context of the status of religious freedom.
The USCIRF annual report for 2022 was released on April 25.
The countries of particular concern include Myanmar, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Syria and Vietnam.
The special watchlist countries include Algeria, Azerbaijan, Central African Republic, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Turkey and Uzbekistan.
The report recommended that the US impose “targeted sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for severe violations of religious freedom by freezing those individuals’ or entities’ assets and/or barring their entry into the United States”.
“In 2021, religious freedom conditions in India significantly worsened. During the year, the Indian government escalated its promotion and enforcement of policies—including those promoting a Hindu-nationalist agenda—that negatively affect Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, and other religious minorities. The government continued to systemize its ideological vision of a Hindu state at both the national and state levels through the use of both existing and new laws and structural changes hostile to the country’s religious minorities.”
“In 2021, the Indian government repressed critical voices — especially religious minorities and those reporting on and advocating for them — through harassment, investigation, detention, and prosecution under laws such as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Sedition Law,” added the report.
The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan US federal government agency created by the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act. It monitors the state of religious freedom worldwide and makes policy recommendations to the president, secretary of state and Congress.
The USCIRF had made the same recommendation for India — to be declared a country of particular concern — in 2021, but it was not accepted. The commission’s recommendations are not binding on the US government or Congress. The State Department compiles its own international religious freedom report every year.
“We are disheartened by the deterioration of freedom of religion or belief in some countries, especially Afghanistan, under the Taliban’s de facto government since August. Religious minorities have faced harassment, detention, and even death due to their faith or beliefs, and years of progress toward more equitable access to education and representation of women and girls have disappeared,” USCIRF Chair Nadine Maenza said in a statement announcing the release of the 2022 report.
