"The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has monitored and reported on religious freedom conditions in Afghanistan for more than two decades, but 2021 was particularly difficult. Following U.S. withdrawal from the country, the Taliban took control on August 15, 2021. The Taliban’s victory was calamitous for many reasons, including the detrimental effect it had on religious freedom. USCIRF has long raised concern that the Taliban’s brutal application of its extremist interpretation of Sunni Islam violates the freedom of religion or belief of all Afghans who do not adhere to that interpretation, including Muslims and adherents of other faiths or beliefs. With the Taliban’s return to power, religious freedom conditions in Afghanistan, and the overall human rights situation, significantly deteriorated in 2021. Religious minorities faced harassment, detention, and even death due to their faith or beliefs. The one known Jew and most Hindus and Sikhs fled the country. Christian converts, Baha’is, and Ahmadiyya Muslims practiced their faith in hiding due to fear of reprisal and threats from the Taliban. Years of progress toward more equitable access to education and representation of women and girls disappeared. Throughout 2021, USCIRF consistently called attention to the escalating persecution of religious minorities in the country, including in two virtual events, two podcast episodes, and a factsheet. Given the sharp decline in religious freedom conditions witnessed in the country in 2021, USCIRF recommends in this Annual Report that the U.S. Department of State designate Afghanistan under the Taliban’s de facto government as a “country of particular concern” (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA). The last such recommendation by USCIRF was in 2001, right before the ousting of the previous Taliban regime that controlled most of the country starting in 1996. Even before its return to power, the Taliban presented a grave threat to religious freedom, including in 2020 and the first half of 2021. The group committed violent attacks, excluded religious minorities, and punished residents in areas under their control in accordance with their extreme interpretation of Islam. The government of Afghanistan, under then President Ashraf Ghani, faced difficulties maintaining territorial control and security, impacting the safety of religious minority communities. Given these conditions, USCIRF in its 2021 Annual Report recommended that the Taliban be designated as an “entity of particular concern” (EPC) under IRFA and that Afghanistan be placed on the State Department’s Special Watch List (SWL), a lesser category than CPC. The State Department has designated the Taliban as an EPC every year since its first set of EPC designations in 2018, most recently in November 2021. The State Department caveated that this designation was based on information analyzed as of August 15, 2021, before the Taliban’s takeover as the de facto governing authority. The crisis in Afghanistan should serve as a collective call to action to ensure the protection of the most vulnerable religious communities around the globe. Beyond Afghanistan, this report sounds the alarm regarding the deterioration of religious freedom conditions in a range of other countries and provides policy recommendations to the U.S. government to respond to violations occurring in these places. This year, these countries include the Central African Republic (CAR), which USCIRF removed from last year’s annual report following improvements in religious freedom conditions, after previously reporting on the country since 2015. During 2021, Central African authorities and their partners committed egregious and ongoing violations of religious freedom in CAR—including targeted abductions, torture, and killings of Muslims—which led USCIRF to reinstate its recommendation to place CAR on the SWL. USCIRF is also concerned about the potential for backsliding in countries that did not meet the CPC or SWL standard this year, particularly Sudan, where the October 2021 military takeover threatens recent advancements in religious freedom protections made by the civilian-led transitional government. USCIRF continues to monitor the situation in Sudan closely. In all contexts where the freedom of religion or belief is violated or under threat, we urge the U.S. government to actively promote this fundamental right and protect persecuted religious communities. About This Report Created by IRFA, USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. government advisory body, separate from the U.S. Department of State, that monitors and reports on religious freedom abroad and makes policy recommendations to the president, secretary of state, and Congress. USCIRF bases these recommendations on the provisions of its authorizing legislation and the standards in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and other international documents. USCIRF’s mandate and annual reports are different from, and complementary to, the mandate and annual reports of the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom. USCIRF’s 2022 Annual Report assesses religious freedom violations and progress in 27 countries during calendar year 2021 and makes independent recommendations for U.S. policy. The key findings, recommendations, and analysis in this report are based on a year’s research by USCIRF, including hearings, meetings, and briefings, and are approved by a majority vote of Commissioners. Under the statute, each Commissioner has the option to include a statement with his or her own individual views. Although USCIRF was not able to travel in 2021 to observe religious freedom conditions abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic, USCIRF was able to meet virtually with various stakeholders to further substantiate reports received throughout the year. The report’s primary focus is on two groups of countries: first, those that USCIRF recommends the State Department should designate as CPCs under IRFA, and second, those that USCIRF recommends the State Department should place on its SWL. The report also includes USCIRF’s recommendations of nonstate actors for designation by the State Department as EPCs under IRFA. In addition, the report analyzes the U.S. government’s implementation of IRFA during the reporting year and provides recommendations to bolster overall U.S. efforts to advance freedom of religion or belief abroad. It also includes a section discussing key trends and developments in religious freedom globally during the reporting period, including in countries that are not recommended for CPC or SWL status. This year, that section covers topics including the COVID19 pandemic and religious freedom, blasphemy and hate speech law enforcement, transnational repression of religious freedom, religious intolerance in Europe, deterioration of religious freedom conditions in South Asia, and political upheaval raising religious freedom concerns. Finally, the report’s last section highlights key USCIRF recommendations that the U.S. government has implemented since USCIRF’s previous annual report. In this report, USCIRF uses the terms “religious freedom,” “freedom of religion,” and “freedom of religion or belief” interchangeably to refer to the broad right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief—including the right to nonbelief—protected under international human rights law. Standards for CPC, SWL, and EPC Recommendations IRFA defines CPCs as countries where the government engages in or tolerates “particularly severe” violations of religious freedom. It defines the State Department’s SWL for countries where the government engages in or tolerates “severe” violations of religious freedom. Under IRFA, particularly severe violations of religious freedom mean “systematic, ongoing, [and] egregious violations . . . , including violations such as—(A) torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; (B) prolonged detention without charges; (C) causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction or clandestine detention of those persons; or (D) other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the security of persons.” Although the statute does not specifically define severe violations of religious freedom, in making SWL recommendations USCIRF interprets it to mean violations that meet two of the elements of IRFA’s systematic, ongoing, and egregious standard (i.e., that the violations are systematic and ongoing, systematic and egregious, or ongoing and egregious). To meet the legal standard for designation as an EPC, a nonstate group must engage in particularly severe violations of religious freedom, as defined above, and must also be “a nonsovereign entity that exercises significant political power and territorial control; is outside the control of a sovereign government; and often employs violence in pursuit of its objectives.” The Annual Report highlights the countries and entities that, in USCIRF’s view, merit CPC, SWL, or EPC designation; it is intended to focus U.S. policymakers’ attention on the worst violators of religious freedom globally. The fact that a country or nonstate group is not covered in this report does not mean it did not violate religious freedom during the reporting year. It only means that based on the information available to USCIRF, the conditions during that year did not, in USCIRF’s view, meet the high threshold— the perpetration or toleration of particularly severe or severe violations of religious freedom—required to recommend the country or nonstate group for CPC, SWL, or EPC designation. In the case of a nonstate group, it also could mean that the group did not meet other statutory requirements, such as exercising significant political power and territorial control. USCIRF monitors and has concerns about religious freedom conditions abroad, including violations of freedom of religion or belief perpetrated or tolerated by governments and entities not covered in this report. The full range of USCIRF’s work on a wide variety of countries and topics can be found at www.uscirf.gov. USCIRF’s 2022 CPC, SWL, and EPC Recommendations For 2022, based on religious freedom conditions in 2021, USCIRF recommends that the State Department: • Redesignate as CPCs the following 10 countries: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan; • Designate as additional CPCs the following five countries: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Syria, and Vietnam; • Maintain on the SWL the following three countries: Algeria, Cuba, and Nicaragua; • Include on the SWL the following nine countries: Azerbaijan, CAR, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan; • Redesignate as EPCs the following seven nonstate actors: al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, the Houthis, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) (also referred to as ISIS-West Africa), and Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM). The conditions supporting the CPC or SWL recommendation for each country are described in the relevant country chapters of this report. The conditions supporting the EPC recommendations for Boko Haram and ISWAP are described in the Nigeria chapter and for HTS in the Syria chapter. For al-Shabaab, the Houthis, ISGS, and JNIM, the EPC recommendations are based on the following conditions: Although al-Shabaab’s territorial control continued to shrink, the group actively operated in the southern and southcentral regions of Somalia in 2021. The terrorist group carried out a series of deadly attacks in Somalia and in neighboring Kenya against both Muslims and non-Muslims. Reportedly, the group carried out amputations, floggings, and executions of Muslims who disagreed with its interpretation of Sunni Islam. In Lamu County, Kenya, a priest reported that the group attacked Christians and destroyed a church. In 2021, the Houthi movement, formally known as Ansar Allah, expanded its territorial holdings throughout Yemen. In March 2021, Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi accused the United States of “seeking to establish Baha’i, Ahmadiyya and atheist [communities] in Yemen in order to undermine Islam.” The group forced Yemenis living in Houthi-controlled areas to take indoctrination “trainings,” even when these trainings were contrary to their religious beliefs. Prison officials also forced detainees to take Islamic religious trainings as a condition for their release, even when the detainees were not Muslim. The group’s slogan, posted widely throughout Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, includes the phrase “a curse on the Jews,” and the tiny remaining Jewish community faced ongoing and severe repression from Houthi authorities. Houthi authorities continued to detain Jewish prisoner of conscience Libi Marhabi despite a court order for his release. Houthi authorities also continued to prosecute Baha’is released from prison in 2020 and blocked Baha’i bank accounts in March 2021. Christians, especially converts, were also persecuted by Houthi authorities. In 2021, Houthi authorities detained two Christian convert priests and arrested a Christian man on charges of apostasy and promoting Christianity. In 2021, militant Islamist groups ISGS and JNIM continued to control territory in parts of Mali and Niger. While reporting during the calendar year is sparse, these groups likely continued trends of executing individuals with differing religious beliefs, restricting religious practice and preaching, and imposing harsh punishments based on a singular interpretation of Islamic law. Violations of Human Rights on the Basis of Religion USCIRF’s mission is to advance international freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) by independently assessing and unflinchingly confronting threats to this fundamental right. Within this conception, USCIRF is committed to addressing human rights violations perpetrated based on the coercive enforcement of interpretations of religion and has done so since it was created by Congress in 1998. USCIRF fulfills this commitment through its reporting, advocacy, and policy recommendations to the president, secretary of state, and Congress. Some foreign governments enforce laws and policies that permit or condone violations of human rights of minority groups and other vulnerable communities on the basis of religion. Under international human rights law, however, religion is not a legitimate justification for egregiously violating individuals’ fundamental rights. As explained by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee—the body of independent experts charged with interpreting provisions of the ICCPR—the existence of a state or majority religion cannot result in the impairment of the rights of individuals under the ICCPR. International law requires states to respect FoRB and other human rights for everyone, equally. Thus, states must not coercively enforce religious interpretations on individuals or communities who do not adhere to those interpretations. Individuals and religious communities enjoy the right to hold and follow diverse views on religious precepts free from government interference. Governments are accountable to international human rights standards guaranteeing FoRB and other fundamental human rights to all. To that end, USCIRF has provided qualitative and quantitative information in its annual reports, publications, and other work (see Appendix 4) highlighting problematic laws and policies of foreign countries that permit or condone violations of human rights of minority groups and other vulnerable communities on the basis of religion. Some of USCIRF’s key recent activities on this topic are discussed below. Throughout 2021, USCIRF published products and held public events that provide examples of states’ abuses of human rights on the basis of religion. USCIRF’s Country Update: Iran, released in August 2021, detailed how the Iranian government uses religion as a basis for violating the rights of its citizens, including by executing members of its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) community. USCIRF’s September 2021 Country Update: Saudi Arabia described Saudi authorities’ enforcement of the government’s interpretation of Sunni Islam and the country’s guardianship system, which severely limits women’s rights. These themes were further explored in USCIRF’s December 2021 hearing on “State-Sanctioned Religious Freedom Violations and Coercion by Saudi Arabia and Iran.” Additionally, USCIRF released a factsheet on Religious Minorities in Afghanistan in October 2021, outlining the Taliban’s imposition of its strict interpretation of Sunni Islam that violates the freedom of religion or belief of Afghanistan’s religious minorities and others who do not share the same religious beliefs. USCIRF further highlighted the impact of the coercive application of these beliefs on religious minorities and other vulnerable Afghans during the “USCIRF Conversation: Update on At-Risk Religious Communities in Afghanistan” event held in October 2021. Also in October, USCIRF released a factsheet on Religious Freedom Violations in the Republic of Chechnya describing how the Chechen dictatorship maintains hegemony through the imposition of a purported “traditional” version of Islam, including by conducting violent purges of the LGBTI community and witch hunts that often target elderly women. In November 2021, USCIRF published Country Update: Malaysia addressing how the implementation of religion-based law in Malaysia’s dual court system can violate religious freedom and related rights. In this report, USCIRF details the use of these religious laws to target members of vulnerable groups, such as Malaysia’s Muslim LGBTI community. USCIRF also conducted research on the coercive enforcement of interpretations of religion by nonstate actors, particularly EPCs. In November 2021, USCIRF published a report on EPCs and Religious Freedom, which outlines the human rights responsibilities of EPCs and other armed nonstate actors. USCIRF also released reports on Violent Islamist Groups in the Central Sahel and Violent Islamist Groups in Northern Nigeria, which address the imposition of a strict interpretation of Shari’a by EPCs and other violent Islamist groups in these areas and its impact on human rights. USCIRF continued to highlight the ways in which the enforcement of blasphemy or apostasy laws, which are based on religious interpretations, undermines human rights—including freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression—and often targets vulnerable religious and other communities. Commission reports on this topic published in 2021 include Country Update: Egypt, Factsheet on Religious Freedom Violations in Kano State, Nigeria, and Factsheet on Ahmadiyya Muslims. At the end of 2021, USCIRF’s FoRB Victims List showcased 73 victims targeted under blasphemy or apostasy laws. USCIRF’s 2021 work on other problematic laws based on religious interpretations included the March factsheet on The Use of Shari’a as Religious Justification for Capital Punishment against LGBTI Persons discussing how such laws violate the human dignity and rights of LGBTI persons and embolden societal hostility, discrimination, and violence against them. In addition to the work described above, USCIRF also raises awareness on these issues through its public hearings, briefings, and other events, which seek to highlight the Commission’s research and recommendations and showcase diverse panelists offering a variety of perspectives. In May 2021, for example, USCIRF hosted an event with Nasreldin Mufrih, Sudan’s then Minister of Religious Affairs, where he provided an update on how the country’s transitional government was addressing the previous regime’s violations of human rights based on religion. These efforts were further discussed in USCIRF’s Policy Update on Sudan, released in November 2021. In February, a USCIRF event focused on ways the U.S. government can protect and assist refugees and asylum seekers, including those fleeing the coercive enforcement of religion. During 2021, USCIRF’s podcast series, Spotlight, offered in-depth analysis about developments that have implications for religious freedom and other human rights. Examples of episodes that discuss the official imposition of religious norms include Pakistan’s Laws that Enable Islamist Extremism, Hazara Community Threatened in Afghanistan, Enforcing Blasphemy Laws Have Dire Consequences, Religious Restrictions in Iran, and Governments Using Shari’a to Impose Death Sentences on LGBTI Persons. Information on all of USCIRF’s activities can be found at https://www.uscirf.gov/..."