4 Shocking Findings From State Department’s Religious Freedom Report

The U.S. State Department's recent report highlighting religious freedom conditions abroad relayed several shocking realities about the scale of violence and persecution being faced by Christians and other religious minorities around the world.

The report, released by the State Department Office of International Religious Freedom on May 15, is submitted to Congress under the order of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to document human rights abuses and areas of concern regarding religious freedom. 

"U.S. embassies prepare the initial drafts of country chapters based on information from government officials, religious groups, nongovernmental organizations, journalists, human rights monitors, academics, media, and others," the report notes.

"The Office of International Religious Freedom, based in Washington, collaborates in collecting and analyzing additional information, drawing on its consultations with foreign government officials, domestic and foreign religious groups, domestic and foreign nongovernmental organizations, multilateral and other international and regional organizations, journalists, academic experts, community leaders, and other relevant U.S. government institutions."

The U.S. State Department's 2022 report on North Korea suggests that Christians in the Asian country who possess a Bible could face the death penalty, and family members, even children, are sentenced to life imprisonment. 

While North Korea's constitution guarantees religious freedom, and there are churches in Pyongyang, the State Department believes these are "showpieces for foreigners." The persecution watchdog group Open Doors estimates that 50,000 to 70,000 Christians are incarcerated in North Korea, where prisoners face harsh conditions and physical mistreatment. 

The State Department cited an October 2021 report from Korea Future titled Persecuting Faith: Documenting Religious Freedom Violations in North Korea, Volume 2 to state that an entire Christian family was arrested in 2009 for their religious beliefs and possessing a Bible.

"The entire family, including a two-year-old child, were given life sentences in political prison camps," the State Department report states. "Christians also described dire conditions in prison camps and various forms of physical mistreatment."

According to Korea Future, the arrest occurred at night, and three generations of the same family were given life sentences. 

The country's Ministry of State Security is responsible for 90% of documented human rights abuses against both Christians and adherents of Shamanism, according to the report. Followers of Shamanism also face six months to several years in a forced labor camp or reeducation facility.

Christians are subjected to the most severe sentences, according to the report, ranging from 15 years to life in prison.

"The other system is a secret prosecution handled by the Ministry of State Security, exclusively for cases involving Christians, with typical sentences ranging from 15 years to life in a prison camp, imposed on up to three generations of the immediate family of the person found guilty," the State Department report states, citing Korea Future. 

Open Doors' World Watch List has consistently ranked North Korea as one of the worst offenders of Christian persecution worldwide. 

Citing data from multiple sources, including the NGO Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), the State Department noted that a spike in deadly violence continued in 2022, impacting both Christians and Muslims. 

ACLED reported 3,953 civilian deaths from violence across the country for the year, with violence targeting Christians accounting for 5% of all violence. In 2021, the group tallied 3,699 deaths.

"There continued to be frequent violent incidents, particularly in the northern part of the country, affecting both Muslims and Christians, resulting in numerous deaths," the State Department's report on Nigeria states. "Kidnappings and armed robbery by criminal gangs increased in the South as well as the North West, the South South, and the South East. The international Christian organization Open Doors stated that terrorist groups, militant herdsmen, and criminal gangs were responsible for large numbers of fatalities, and Christians were particularly vulnerable."

As Christian activists and watchdog organizations have claimed for years that Christians are being targeted for violence by radicalized herdsmen and Islamic extremist groups, some advocates internationally have questioned whether violence against Christians has reached the standard for a genocide declaration. 

However, the State Department reports that the NGO Muslim Rights Concern estimates that 32,000 Muslims were killed in the previous three years because of terror attacks in the country's north. 

Saudi Arabia's legal system is largely based on sharia law as interpreted by the Hanbali school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. As the U.S. State Department's report on Saudi Arabia notes, "Freedom of religion is not provided for under the law." 

The law criminalizes "anyone who challenges, either directly or indirectly, the religion or justice of the King or Crown Prince," the report notes. 

On March 12, 2022, Saudi Arabia executed 81 men, including 41 Saudi Shia, seven Yemenis and one Syrian. The State Department states that the execution was the largest known mass execution in the country's history. Shia Muslims account for a minority of the country's population and are often subject to discrimination.

"On March 18, following the March 12 execution of 81 individuals, Sheikh Saleh bin Humaid, a member of the [Council of Senior Scholars], delivered a Friday sermon at the Grand Mosque in Mecca praising the government's decision to execute those who 'violated sharia by attacking their own country, killing their compatriots, undertaking terrorist crimes,'" the State Department report states.

"He described those executed as 'traitors who broke their vows of allegiance, betrayed their leadership, their country and their religion, and threatened the security of this country and its holy sites."

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern at the time that the crimes did not meet the 'most serious crimes' threshold for capital punishment in international law and felt that some of the trials did not meet fair trial and due process guarantees.

On March 14, the government refused to surrender the bodies of the 41 Shia men to their families and banned funerals for them. Later, the government sought the death penalty for other Shia defendants, with some on trial for engaging in demonstrations and others for terrorism.

The U.S. government estimates that Shia Muslims account for 10% to 12% of Saudi Arabia's citizen population, while between 85% and 90% of the country's 21 million citizens are Sunni Muslims.

Saudi law also bans "the promotion of atheistic ideologies in any form" and "any attempt to cast doubt on the fundamentals of Islam." Other acts banned under the law include converting a Muslim to another religion and the public worship of any religion that is not Islam.

"The Basic Law of Governance establishes the country as a sovereign Arab Islamic state, the religion of which is Islam," the report reads. "The Basic Law defines the country's constitution as the Quran and the Sunna and states the 'decisions of judges shall not be subject to any authority other than the authority of the Islamic sharia.'"

While the law permits death as a punishment for blasphemy against Islam, a court has not sentenced an individual to death for blasphemy since 1992. Another punishment for blasphemy may include a lengthy prison sentence. 

"The government requires noncitizen legal residents to carry an identity card containing a religious designation of 'Muslim' or 'non-Muslim,'" the report continued. "Some residency cards, including some issued during the year, indicate other religious designations, such as 'Christian.'"

The Muslim minority faces lengthy prison sentences if they engage in political expressions or peaceful demonstrations. 

Saudi law also bans "the promotion of atheistic ideologies in any form" and "any attempt to cast doubt on the fundamentals of Islam." Other acts banned under the law include converting a Muslim to another religion and the public worship of any religion that is not Islam.

"The Basic Law of Governance establishes the country as a sovereign Arab Islamic state, the religion of which is Islam," the report reads. "The Basic Law defines the country's constitution as the Quran and the Sunna and states the 'decisions of judges shall not be subject to any authority other than the authority of the Islamic sharia.'"

While the law permits death as a punishment for blasphemy against Islam, a court has not sentenced an individual to death for blasphemy since 1992. Another punishment for blasphemy may include a lengthy prison sentence. 

"The government requires noncitizen legal residents to carry an identity card containing a religious designation of 'Muslim' or 'non-Muslim,'" the report continued. "Some residency cards, including some issued during the year, indicate other religious designations, such as 'Christian.'"

The Muslim minority faces lengthy prison sentences if they engage in political expressions or peaceful demonstrations. 

The State Department's report on Iran highlights the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman arrested by the Islamic Republic's "morality police" for wearing her hijab improperly, violating Iran's strict Islamic dress code. 

Amini's death on Sept. 16, 2022, sparked nationwide protests that resulted in security forces killing several protestors. The U.S. State Department report cited the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which reported that by the year's end, 512 protestors, including 69 children, had been killed by security forces. In addition, over 19,000 individuals were arrested or detained since the protests started in September 2022. 

The country's constitution defines Twelver Ja'afari Shia Islam as the official state religion, promising citizens certain rights "in conformity with Islamic criteria."

In 2021, parliament amended Iran's penal code to criminalize insulting "divine religions or Islamic schools of thought" and committing "any deviant educational or proselytizing activity that contradicts or interferes with the sacred law of Islam."

The U.S. government estimates that Christians constitute less than 1% of Iran's population, and Iran forbids non-Muslims from engaging in public persuasion or attempting to convert Muslims to their faith. 

"The penal code specifies the death sentence for moharebeh ('enmity against God,' which, according to the Oxford Dictionary of Islam, means in Quranic usage 'corrupt conditions caused by unbelievers or unjust people that threaten social and political wellbeing'), fisad fil-arz ('corruption on earth,' which includes apostasy or heresy), and sabb al-nabi," the report reads. 

Last month, Iran hanged two men arrested in 2020 for allegedly disrespecting the Islamic religion. Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli-Zare reportedly ran a Telegram channel called "Criticism of Superstition and Religion" and operated dozens of social media accounts "dedicated to atheism and desecration of the sanctities."

According to the BBC, the men were executed at the Arak Prison in central Iran. Mehrad and Fazeli-Zare were held in solitary confinement for the first two months following their arrests and were initially denied access to a lawyer. 

A 2022 report drafted by Iran Human Rights with the support of ECPM (Together Against the Death Penalty) found that Iran carried out 582 executions in 2022, a 75% increase from the previous year.

Originally published at The Washington Stand - reposted with permission.