UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ANNUAL REPORT 2021 WWW.USCIRF.GOV ANNUAL REPORT OF THE U.S. COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM COMMISSIONERS Gayle Manchin Chair Tony Perkins Anurima Bhargava Vice Chairs Gary L. Bauer James W. Carr Frederick A. Davie Nadine Maenza Johnnie Moore Nury Turkel Erin D. Singshinsuk Executive Director April 2021 PROFESSIONAL STAFF Dwight Bashir, Director of Outreach and Policy Elizabeth K. Cassidy, Director of Research and Policy Roy Haskins, Director of Finance and Operations Thomas Kraemer, Director of Human Resources Danielle Ashbahian, Senior Communications Specialist Kirsten Lavery, Supervisory Policy Analyst Jamie Staley, Senior Congressional Relations Specialist Scott Weiner, Supervisory Policy Analyst Kurt Werthmuller, Supervisory Policy Analyst Keely Bakken, Senior Policy Analyst Mingzhi Chen, Policy Analyst Patrick Greenwalt, Policy Analyst Gabrielle Hasenstab, Communications Specialist Niala Mohammad, Senior Policy Analyst Jason Morton, Senior Policy Analyst Mohyeldin Omer, Policy Analyst Zachary Udin, Researcher Nina Ullom, Congressional Relations Specialist Madeline Vellturo, Policy Analyst U.S. COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 732 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite A714 Washington, DC 20401 (P) 202–523–3240 www.uscirf.gov TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction and Overview ..................................................1 About this Report ...........................................................1 Standards for CPC, SWL, and EPC Recommendations ...................................1 USCIRF’s 2021 CPC, SWL, and EPC Recommendations ..................................2 Changes in SWL Recommendations ...............................................3 Violations of Human Rights on the Basis of Religion ....................................4 Implementation of the International Religious Freedom Act ....................7 Key Findings ...............................................................7 Recommendations to the Administration ............................................8 Recommendations to Congress ..................................................8 Key USCIRF Resources & Activities ................................................8 Legal Framework ............................................................9 Key Developments in 2020 and Early 2021 ...........................................9 Countries Recommended for Designation as Countries of Particular Concern (CPCs) .......................................14 Burma ..................................................................14 China ...................................................................16 Eritrea ..................................................................20 India ....................................................................22 Iran ....................................................................26 Nigeria. .30 North Korea ..............................................................34 Pakistan .................................................................36 Russia ...................................................................38 Saudi Arabia ..............................................................40 Syria ....................................................................44 Tajikistan. 48 Turkmenistan ..............................................................50 Vietnam .................................................................52 Countries Recommended for the State Department’s Special Watch List (SWL) .................................54 Afghanistan ...............................................................54 Algeria ..................................................................56 Azerbaijan ................................................................58 Cuba ...................................................................62 Egypt ...................................................................66 Indonesia ................................................................70 Iraq ....................................................................74 Kazakhstan ...............................................................76 Malaysia. 78 Nicaragua. .80 Turkey ..................................................................82 Uzbekistan ...............................................................84 Other Key Developments. 87 COVID-19 and Religious Freedom ...............................................87 Attacks on Houses of Worship. .87 Political Unrest Leading to Religious Freedom Violations ................................88 Blasphemy Laws ...........................................................88 Global Antisemitism .........................................................88 China’s International Influence on Religious Freedom and Human Rights. 89 Key USCIRF Recommendations Implemented in 2020 and Early 2021 ...........91 Designating the Worst Violators. 91 Increasing the Use of Targeted Sanctions ..........................................91 Increasing Prioritization of Religious Freedom .......................................92 Filling IRF Related Appointments ................................................92 Increasing the Refugee Ceiling ..................................................92 Raising IRF Issues in Bilateral and Multilateral Engagement ..............................92 Advocating for Religious Prisoners of Conscience .....................................92 Increasing Aid to Support Religious Minorities and Religious Freedom ......................92 Designating Uyghur Genocide. .92 Adopting Laws and Passing Resolutions Related to Religious Freedom ......................93 Appendix 1 Commissioner Biographies .......................................95 Appendix 2 Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project and Victims List ............97 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW n 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted daily life in USCIRF’s 2021 Annual Report assesses religious freedom vio- every country across the world. By early January 2021, the World lations and progress during calendar year 2020 in 26 countries and IHealth Organization (WHO) reported 83 million cases and 1.8 million makes independent recommendations for U.S. policy. The key find- deaths globally since the pandemic’s start, with the numbers con- ings, recommendations, and analysis in this report are based on a tinuing to climb. The year severely challenged individuals, families, year’s research by USCIRF, including travel, hearings, meetings, and religious and other communities, medical and educational systems, briefings, and are approved by a majority vote of Commissioners, with arts and cultural institutions, workplaces and economies, and gov- each Commissioner, under the statute, having the option to include ernments worldwide. a statement with his or her own individual views. During the first two Public health measures to control the virus’ spread restricted months of 2020, Commissioners and/or staff visited Azerbaijan, Laos, in-person gatherings, including religious gatherings. As the U.S. Malaysia, and Sudan to assess religious freedom conditions. For the Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) noted in rest of the year and in early 2021, USCIRF did not travel due to the March, in many cases these measures complied with international coronavirus pandemic. human rights standards protecting freedom of religion or belief, but in The report’s primary focus is on two groups of countries: first, some cases they did not. Such measures must be necessary to protect those that USCIRF recommends the State Department should des- the legitimate state interest of preventing disease and proportionate ignate as “countries of particular concern,” or CPCs, under IRFA, to meeting that aim, must not be discriminatory, and must be lifted and second, those that USCIRF recommends the State Department once the crisis has passed. should place on its Special Watch List (SWL). The report also includes USCIRF’s monitoring revealed that in some countries, already USCIRF’s recommendations of violent nonstate actors for designa- marginalized religious minorities faced official and/or societal stig- tion by the State Department as “entities of particular concern,” matization, harassment, and or EPCs, under IRFA. In addition, discrimination for allegedly causing the report analyzes the U.S. gov- or spreading the virus. Additionally, ernment’s implementation of since crowded prisons present a [I]n some countries, already IRFA during the reporting year high risk of infection, USCIRF urged marginalized religious minorities faced and provides recommendations governments to release all prison- to bolster overall U.S. efforts to ers held because of their religion official and/or societal stigmatization, advance freedom of religion or or belief as part of their COVID- harassment, and discrimination for allegedly belief abroad. It also includes 19 response. On a positive note, causing or spreading the virus. a section discussing key trends some governments that have long and developments in religious repressed religious freedom, such freedom globally during the as Eritrea, did release religious pris- reporting period, including in oners. By contrast, Iran, which reportedly furloughed 85,000 prisoners countries that are not recommended for CPC or SWL status. This for health reasons, also incarcerated others, especially members of the year, that section covers COVID-19 and religious freedom, attacks Baha’i community, and placed prisoners from the