Highlighting the World’s Worst Religious Persecutors

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent body established by Congress, has released its latest annual report. The Commission only covers the worst of the worst, but that is sufficient to fill 90 pages. Many of these generally oppressive regimes grow more brutal and arbitrary year after year.

USIRF recommends that 17 persecutors be labeled “Countries of Particular Concern” and sanctioned accordingly. Enforcement is up to the State Department, which sometimes equivocates for geopolitical reasons. For instance, last year Secretary of State Antony Blinken left Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Syria, and Vietnam off the department’s list. At least the last one ended up on the less harsh Special Watch List.

Many nations are effectively permanent members CPCs — Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Iran, and China, for instance. Two states were newly added this year, Cuba and Nicaragua. As before, the State Department will decide their final disposition.

Afghanistan was an obvious CPC designee. Even when the U.S.-supported government was in power there was little religious liberty. Now the Taliban rules. Explained USCIRF: “In 2022, religious freedom conditions in Afghanistan continued to deteriorate, as they have since the Taliban seized control of the country in August 2021. In contrast to its pledges for change and inclusivity upon its seizure of power, the Taliban has since ruled Afghanistan in a deeply repressive and intolerant manner — essentially unchanged from its previous era in power from 1996 to 2001.”

Also on the road to hell is Burma. The junta has responded to increasing popular resistance with greater brutality. Reported the Commission: “In 2022, religious freedom conditions in Burma continued to decline significantly. Since staging a military coup in February 2021, the country’s junta — the Tatmadaw — has ruled through the State Administration Council (SAC) under the leadership of General Min Aung Hlaing. The SAC maintains full control of only an estimated 17 percent of the country’s total territory, and in that limited space it has significantly cracked down on all dissent and freedoms.”

In China Xi Jinping is leading China back to Maoist-era repression and regimentation. USCIRF covered what has become a breathtaking level of religious persecution:

The retirement of Raoul Castro did nothing to relax persecution in Cuba. USCIRF related: “In 2022, religious freedom conditions in Cuba worsened. Throughout the year, the Cuban government tightly controlled religious activity through surveillance, harassment of religious leaders and laypeople, forced exile, fines, and ill treatment of religious prisoners of conscience. Religious leaders and groups that are unregistered or conducted unsanctioned religious activity — as well as journalistic reporting on religious freedom conditions — faced relentless oppression from the Office of Religious Affairs (ORA) and state security forces.”

Eritrea has been called the North Korea of Africa, and that is not a compliment. Freedom House ranks both at just three points out of a hundred, putting them in the nether regions of its rankings for civil and political liberty. Also dismal is the status of religious freedom, as detailed by the Commission. Last year “religious freedom conditions in Eritrea remained extremely poor. The government did not register any new religious organizations, and individuals practicing faiths other than the four officially recognized by the government faced intimidation and prosecution by Eritrean authorities. Members of officially recognized religions also faced restrictions and government backlash for practicing their faith. Dozens of religious prisoners of conscience remain imprisoned in decrepit, unsanitary, and inhumane conditions.”

Although majority Muslim states are among the worst persecutors, in India Muslims are the most persecuted, given their large number. The far smaller Christian population also faces often severe mistreatment, much of it unofficial but encouraged by state authorities. Reported USCIRF: “In 2022, religious freedom conditions in India continued to worsen. Throughout the year, the Indian government at the national, state, and local levels promoted and enforced religiously discriminatory policies, including laws targeting religious conversion, interfaith relationships, the wearing of hijabs, and cow slaughter, which negatively impact Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, and Adivasis (indigenous peoples and scheduled tribes). The national government also continued to suppress critical voices — particularly religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf — including through surveillance, harassment, demolition of property, and detention.” Alas, Washington consistently downplays New Delhi’s malign role for political reasons, since the U.S. wants India to be a counterweight to China.

Iran has long been a notable persecutor. Last year, explained the Commission, “religious freedom conditions in Iran sharply deteriorated. Following the death of Mahsa Zhina Amini after her arrest and torture by police for wearing an ‘improper hijab,’ Iran repressed nationwide protests with lethal force, detained and killed children, sexually assaulted and raped detained protesters, and engaged in other gross violations of human rights, including executions of protesters without due process. Scores of protesters received charges grounded in Islamic religious concepts that in Iran carry the death penalty, raising serious concerns of mass executions.”

The Western Hemisphere has traditionally enjoyed greater religious liberty than in any other region. However, in Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega — once a thug, always a thug — has become a full-fledged authoritarian, steadily increasing repression. According to USCIRF, Managua has “escalated its campaign of harassment and severe persecution against the Catholic Church by targeting clergy, eliminating Church-affiliated organizations, and placing restrictions on religious observances. Violations of religious freedom that occurred in previous years — such as hate speech against the Catholic Church and denial of entry into the country for clergy — continued in 2022 as well.”

In Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, blasphemy is a common tool for religious persecution. The country, noted the Commission, suffered from “militant Islamist violence; some forms of identity-based violence; mob violence; and criminal, political, and vigilante violence impacting worship.” In this highly fractious society, “armed actors targeted worshipers and religious leaders. Attacks targeted churches and mosques in Kaduna State, mosques in Zamfara and Katsina states, and several Christian leaders in other parts of the country. Tensions at the intersection of ethnicity, religion, and geographic heritage yielded atrocities in several regions, including in Plateau, Benue, and Anambra states.”

The nation that comes closest to treating politics as religion may be North Korea, which demands absolute loyalty to the leader, now the third generation of the Kim family. According to USCIRF: “Religious practitioners belong to the ‘hostile’ class and are considered enemies of the state, deserving ‘discrimination, punishment, isolation, and even execution.’ The government attempts to provide an illusion of religious freedom to the outside world…. In reality, religious freedom remains nonexistent as authorities actively and systematically target and persecute religious groups and adherents, including Christians, practitioners of shamanism, and others.” Punishment is severe: “Authorities consider the practice of their faith a political crime and levy particularly harsh punishments on prisoners from that community, including severe torture and killing.”

In Pakistan the fount of persecution is Islam, not communism. The Commission explained: “In 2022, Pakistan’s religious freedom conditions continued to deteriorate. Religious minorities were subject to frequent attacks and threats, including accusations of blasphemy, targeted killings, lynchings, mob violence, forced conversions, sexual violence against women and girls, and desecration of houses of worship and cemeteries. Members of the Shi’a Muslim, Ahmadiyya Muslim, Christian, Hindu, and Sikh communities faced the continued threat of persecution via harsh and discriminatory legislation, such as anti-Ahmadiyya and blasphemy laws, as well as increasingly aggressive societal discrimination amid a rise in radical Islamist influence. These laws have enabled and encouraged radical Islamists to operate with impunity, openly targeting religious minorities or those with differing beliefs, including nonbelievers.”

Although majority Muslim states are among the worst persecutors, in India Muslims are the most persecuted, given their large number. The far smaller Christian population also faces often severe mistreatment, much of it unofficial but encouraged by state authorities. Reported USCIRF: “In 2022, religious freedom conditions in India continued to worsen. Throughout the year, the Indian government at the national, state, and local levels promoted and enforced religiously discriminatory policies, including laws targeting religious conversion, interfaith relationships, the wearing of hijabs, and cow slaughter, which negatively impact Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, and Adivasis (indigenous peoples and scheduled tribes). The national government also continued to suppress critical voices — particularly religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf — including through surveillance, harassment, demolition of property, and detention.” Alas, Washington consistently downplays New Delhi’s malign role for political reasons, since the U.S. wants India to be a counterweight to China.

Iran has long been a notable persecutor. Last year, explained the Commission, “religious freedom conditions in Iran sharply deteriorated. Following the death of Mahsa Zhina Amini after her arrest and torture by police for wearing an ‘improper hijab,’ Iran repressed nationwide protests with lethal force, detained and killed children, sexually assaulted and raped detained protesters, and engaged in other gross violations of human rights, including executions of protesters without due process. Scores of protesters received charges grounded in Islamic religious concepts that in Iran carry the death penalty, raising serious concerns of mass executions.”

The Western Hemisphere has traditionally enjoyed greater religious liberty than in any other region. However, in Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega — once a thug, always a thug — has become a full-fledged authoritarian, steadily increasing repression. According to USCIRF, Managua has “escalated its campaign of harassment and severe persecution against the Catholic Church by targeting clergy, eliminating Church-affiliated organizations, and placing restrictions on religious observances. Violations of religious freedom that occurred in previous years — such as hate speech against the Catholic Church and denial of entry into the country for clergy — continued in 2022 as well.”

In Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, blasphemy is a common tool for religious persecution. The country, noted the Commission, suffered from “militant Islamist violence; some forms of identity-based violence; mob violence; and criminal, political, and vigilante violence impacting worship.” In this highly fractious society, “armed actors targeted worshipers and religious leaders. Attacks targeted churches and mosques in Kaduna State, mosques in Zamfara and Katsina states, and several Christian leaders in other parts of the country. Tensions at the intersection of ethnicity, religion, and geographic heritage yielded atrocities in several regions, including in Plateau, Benue, and Anambra states.”

The nation that comes closest to treating politics as religion may be North Korea, which demands absolute loyalty to the leader, now the third generation of the Kim family. According to USCIRF: “Religious practitioners belong to the ‘hostile’ class and are considered enemies of the state, deserving ‘discrimination, punishment, isolation, and even execution.’ The government attempts to provide an illusion of religious freedom to the outside world…. In reality, religious freedom remains nonexistent as authorities actively and systematically target and persecute religious groups and adherents, including Christians, practitioners of shamanism, and others.” Punishment is severe: “Authorities consider the practice of their faith a political crime and levy particularly harsh punishments on prisoners from that community, including severe torture and killing.”

In Pakistan the fount of persecution is Islam, not communism. The Commission explained: “In 2022, Pakistan’s religious freedom conditions continued to deteriorate. Religious minorities were subject to frequent attacks and threats, including accusations of blasphemy, targeted killings, lynchings, mob violence, forced conversions, sexual violence against women and girls, and desecration of houses of worship and cemeteries. Members of the Shi’a Muslim, Ahmadiyya Muslim, Christian, Hindu, and Sikh communities faced the continued threat of persecution via harsh and discriminatory legislation, such as anti-Ahmadiyya and blasphemy laws, as well as increasingly aggressive societal discrimination amid a rise in radical Islamist influence. These laws have enabled and encouraged radical Islamists to operate with impunity, openly targeting religious minorities or those with differing beliefs, including nonbelievers.”