11 Countries on "Religious Freedom" Watch List

USCIRF Names 11 Countries of Particular Concern, Puts Iraq on Watch List

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today announced its 2007 recommendations to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on “countries of particular concern,” or CPCs. The 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) requires that the United States designate as CPCs those countries whose governments have engaged in or tolerated systematic and egregious violations of the universal right to freedom of religion or belief.

“The issue of religious freedom is now understood to have a profound impact on our own political and national security interests as well as on political stability throughout the world,” said Commission Chair Felice D. Gaer.

The Commission’s recommendations for CPC designation for 2007 are: Burma, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), Eritrea, Iran, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

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