USCIRF Spotlight Podcast

Since 2012, USCIRF has recommended Tajikistan for designation as a Country of Particular Concern for the government’s egregious, ongoing, and systematic violations of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB). Among the particularly severe violations of religious freedom occurring in the country, the Tajik government regularly detains and imprisons individuals for their peaceful religious activities based on arbitrary “extremism” charges. FoRB victims largely include independent Muslims who deviate from the state’s preferred interpretation of Hanafi Sunni Islam. Other FoRB victims have included Ismaili Shi’a Muslims. Recently, Muzzafar Davlatmirov, a prominent Pamiri Ismaili Shi’a Muslim cleric who was imprisoned in 2022, died in custody while serving his sentence. On this episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, Vice Chair Asif Mahmood speaks with Bakh Safarov, founder of Central Asia Consulting, about FoRB Victims in Tajikistan, including the situation of Pamiri Ismaili Shi’a Muslims.  

Pakistan’s Ahmadiyya Muslim community continues to be severely and systematically persecuted by the government. The Pakistani government has enacted a series of discriminatory laws and ordinances that restrict Ahmadiyya Muslims’ ability to observe their faith, including identifying as Muslim. In the first half of 2025, spikes in targeted violence against the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Pakistan have contributed to a growing climate of fear. Authorities have increasingly prevented Ahmadiyya Muslims from sacrificing animals during Eid and have conducted “preventative arrests” ahead of the religious holiday.  On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Commissioner Stephen Schenck speaks with Amjad Khan, a lawyer and spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, on the current situation for Ahmadiyya Muslims in Pakistan.With Contributions from:Veronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Specialist, USCIRF

Cuba and Nicaragua have ranked among the world’s most repressive governments toward religious freedom for years. In 2025, exiles and civil society organizations reported continuing severe restrictions on religious communities, including the banning of religious processions, surveillance and harassment of clergy, and legal constriction of religious groups. In some regards, the level of repression is escalating, considering indicators such as the re-imprisonment in June of a freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) victim previously released in January and the deaths of two religious freedom defenders in Nicaraguan custody in August. USCIRF has designated both nations as Countries of Particular Concern since its 2023 Annual Report. On this episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, Commissioner Maureen Ferguson speaks with Anna Lee Stangl, joint Director of Advocacy and Latin America team leader at Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), about the violations facing religious communities in Cuba and Nicaragua. Read USCIRF's 2025 Annual Report Chapters on Cuba and Nicaragua. With Contributions from:Veronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Specialist, USCIRF

The Eritrean government does not recognize religious communities other than the Tewahedo Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Evangelical Lutheran churches, along with Sunni Islam. As a result, there are dozens religious minorities including Jehovah’s Witnesses (including several religious leaders), Baptists, and Pentecostals currently incarcerated in Eritrea. Authorities pressure prisoners to renounce their faith and ban praying aloud, singing, preaching, and possessing religious books. In 1994, police abducted Jehovah’s Witness Negede Teklemariam for “conscientiously objecting to performing compulsory military service.” He remained in prison for 26 years without being formally charged. The government finally released him in 2020. In its 2025 annual report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate Eritrea as a Country of Particular Concern. On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Supervisory Policy Analyst Scott Weiner speaks with former Eritrean religious prisoner of conscience Negede Teklemariam about his experience being imprisoned for exercising his freedom of religion or belief. Scott is also joined by John McEachin of the Jehovah’s Witnesses as he discusses the general status of the Eritrean Witnesses community and possible policy changes that might offer them some relief. Read USCIRF’s 2025 Annual Report Chapter on Eritrea and USCIRF’s most recent Eritrea Country Update.

The U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, often referred to as the IRF Ambassador, plays a vital role in the U.S. government’s promotion of international religious freedom. Pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA), the IRF Ambassador is mandated to head the Office of International Religious Freedom, or IRF Office, at the State Department. Additional duties include serving as the principal adviser to the President and Secretary of State on matters involving religious freedom abroad and representing the United States on IRF matters diplomatically. In April, President Trump nominated Mark Walker as the next IRF Ambassador. As religious persecution increases globally, it is urgent that the Senate confirm an IRF ambassador to ensure this issue remains a priority in U.S. foreign policy and globally.  On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Chair Hartzler and Vice Chair Mahmood speak with former IRF Ambassadors David Saperstein and Samuel Brownback to reflect on the impact of this position and share recommendations for the next Ambassador.  Read USCIRF’s Factsheet on Key IRF-Related Positions, along with USCIRF’s Factsheet on IRFA to learn more about the legislation establishing the IRF Ambassador position. With Contributions from:Veronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Specialist, USCIRF

China has perpetrated gross religious freedom violations against religious groups of recognized religions through its “sinicization of religion” policy. However, the government also persecutes many religious groups of unrecognized religions and spiritual movements, such as Falun Gong and Church of Almighty God, under the Article 300 of the Criminal Law. Article 300, which was adopted in 1997, punishes individuals who organize or participate in “any superstitious sect, secret society, or cult organization” (xie jiao). There are currently more than 20 groups the government recognizes as “cults” under Article 300. Increasingly, the government has also used this criminal statute to target religious groups belonging to recognized religions, particularly Protestant house churches. On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Commissioner Mohamed Elsanousi speaks with Massimo Introvigne, Editor-In-Chief of religious liberty magazine Bitter Winter, to discuss Article 300 and its impacts on religious freedom in China.Read USCIRF's 2025 Annual Report Chapter on China. With Contributions from:Veronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Specialist, USCIRF

Religious freedom concerns are increasing in Sudan’s current brutal civil war. There are increasing reports of attacks on places of worship and other incidents that violate freedom of religion or belief. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have entrenched Sudan in the war since April 2023. The subsequent four years of instability and violence have created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, placing civilians across religious, ethnic, and tribal distinctions under intense threat. Both sides have committed atrocities that the previous U.S. administration determined to be war crimes in December 2023 and as genocide in January 2025.   On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Chair Vicky Hartzler speaks with Sudanese human rights lawyer and CSW Sudan Specialist, Mohaned Elnour to discuss his experience working in human rights, specifically religious freedom and belief, in the country. The audience will hear firsthand the complex dynamics communities currently face in Sudan.  Read USCIRF’s 2025 Annual Report Other Global Developments and USCIRF’s most recent Sudan Issue Update. With Contributions from:Veronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Specialist, USCIRF

The Nigerian federal government enforces blasphemy laws that include a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment for acts “persons consider as a public insult on their religion.” Twelve Nigerian state governments also enforce their own more stringent blasphemy laws to prosecute and imprison individuals perceived to have insulted religion, including Christians, Muslims, and humanists. There are now four Nigerians incarcerated and convicted of blasphemy, including two religious leaders. In 2021, police arrested humanist Mubarak Bala for “insulting the Prophet,” and in 2022, a court sentenced him to decades in prison. Following an international outcry, an appeals court reduced his sentence to five years and released him in 2024. Mr. Bala, formerly the president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, is living abroad while his sentence in under appeal. In its 2025 annual report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern. On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Commissioner Mohamed Elsanousi speaks with humanist Mubarak Bala to discuss his experience of prosecution and imprisonment under Nigeria’s blasphemy laws and how these laws impact religious freedom and belief in the country. Read USCIRF’s 2025 Annual Report Chapter on Nigeria and USCIRF’s most recent Nigeria Country Update.With Contributions from:Veronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Specialist, USCIRF

One of the most important elements of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 is the requirement for the U.S. Secretary of State to designate the world’s worst violators of religious freedom as Countries of Particular Concern and to enact accountability measures as a result of those designations. Subsequent legislation created a Special Watch List for other countries with significant violations and created a new category of Entities of Particular Concern for nonstate actors that commit such violations and control territory. However, the State Department last released its designations nearly two years ago, in December 2023—and they are now set to expire later this year. On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck joins Deputy Director of Research and Policy Kurt Werthmuller to discuss the importance of the State Departments CPC, SWL, and EPC designations, as well as to share reflections on his time as USCIRF Chair over the previous year. Read USCIRF’s 2025 Annual Report—including its current CPC, SWL, and EPC recommendations—and the U.S. legislation behind these designations.With Contributions from:Kurt Werthmuller, Deputy Director of Research and Policy, USCIRFVeronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Specialist, USCIRF

China has been described as the “most prolific,” “sophisticated, far-reaching, and comprehensive” perpetrator of transnational repression in the world. It has targeted many religious communities in diaspora, including Uyghur Muslims, Protestant Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners, and members of the Church of Almighty God. Specific transnational repression tactics used by the Chinese government include stalking, harassment, intimidation or threats, assault, kidnapping, forcing or coercing the victim to return to China, and threatening or detaining family members in China. In its 2025 annual report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate China as a Country of Particular Concern.  On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Chair Vicky Hartzler joins Supervisory Policy Advisor Mingzhi Chen to discuss the impact of China’s transnational repression on religious freedom.  Read USCIRF’s 2025 Annual Report Chapter on China and USCIRF’s most recent factsheet on Sinicization of Religion: China’s Coercive Religious Policy. With Contributions from:Mingzhi Chen, Supervisory Policy Advisor, USCIRFVeronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Specialist, USCIRF

The governments of Central Asia—that is Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan—influenced by decades of Soviet rule, maintain similar legislation to combat “extremism.” Each of these governments uses these laws beyond just addressing legitimate security threats to penalize individuals engaged in peaceful religious activities. Enforcement measures have included harassment, fines, forced renunciations of faith, detainment, imprisonment, and, at times, torture and extrajudicial killings. On today's episode, Jasmine Cameron, the Europe and Eurasia Senior Legal Advisor at the American Bar Association, and Edward Lemon, the President of the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs, join USCIRF Commissioner Asif Mahmood. They discuss the international standards for protecting core human rights while addressing security concerns and the ways in which extremism laws in Central Asia violate such standards. They also share how Central Asian states abuse extremism legislation to penalize peaceful religious activities through transnational repression. Finally, they offer recommendations for the U.S. to support religious freedom in Central Asia. Read USCIRF’s Issue Update on the Abuse of Extremism Laws in Central Asia for more information on this topic. To learn more about religious freedom in Central Asia, read USCIRF’s 2025 Annual Report. With Contributions from:Veronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Specialist, USCIRF

At the end of 2024, over thirteen years since the onset of Syria’s protracted civil war, the country’s political landscape dramatically shifted when a rebel coalition toppled the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Religious freedom conditions had suffered over the course of the civil war under a variety of state and nonstate actors. Now, in the months since the fall of the Assad regime, freedom of religion or belief faces ongoing nationwide challenges as Damascus continues its political transition under members of U.S.-designated terrorist organization HTS, itself a violator of religious freedom. Meanwhile, Turkey’s military strikes and support for Islamist militias pose additional threats to diverse religious communities in the north and east. In its 2025 Annual Report USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State add Syria to the Special Watch List for severe violations of religious freedom. On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, Former USCIRF Chair and current President of the IRF Secretariat Nadine Maenza will join USCIRF Commissioner Maureen Ferguson to discuss findings from Ms. Maenza’s recent travel to Syria, including Damascus, where several religious communities face ongoing threats to religious freedom as Syria continues its transition.  Read USCIRF’s 2025 Annual Report chapter on Syria and 2022 factsheet on Religious Freedom in Syria Under Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and listen to USCIRF’s 2022 Spotlight episode on HTS’s religious freedom violations. With Contributions from:Veronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Specialist, USCIRF

The religious freedom situation in Azerbaijan remains highly restricted. The government subjects virtually all religious practices to intrusive state oversight. Shi'a Muslims who do not operate within the government's preferred boundaries have faced imprisonment on dubious charges. Armenian religious sites in Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions remain threatened since Azerbaijan regained control. In its 2025 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State maintain Azerbaijan on the Special Watch List for severe violations of religious freedom. On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Chair Stephen Schneck, Commissioner Mohamed Elsanousi, and Commissioner Vicky Hartzler join Director of Research and Policy Guillermo Cantor to discuss their recent travels to Azerbaijan.Read USCIRF’s 2025 Annual Report Chapter on Azerbaijan and USCIRF’s most recent Azerbaijan Country Update.With Contributions from:Guillermo Cantor, Director of Research & Policy, USCIRFVeronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Specialist, USCIRF

In recent years, USCIRF has reported declining religious freedom conditions in India, as the government continues to enforce and strengthen legislation that disproportionately impacts religious minorities, including anti-conversion and cow slaughter laws. These laws often target Muslim and Christian communities. In its 2025 annual report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate India as a Country of Particular Concern. On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Chair Stephen Schneck joins Senior Policy Analyst Sema Hasan to discuss the decline of religious freedom in India with particular focus on legislation. Read USCIRF’s 2025 Annual Report Chapter on India and USCIRF’s most recent India Country Update.With Contributions from:Sema Hasan, Senior Policy Analyst, USCIRFVeronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Specialist, USCIRF

On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Chair Stephen Schneck joins Senior Strategic Advisor Elizabeth Cassidy to reflect on his trip to the United Kingdom. Marked by a special relationship, the United States, and the United Kingdom, aim to place a special focus on international religious freedom. Chair Schneck discusses USCIRF’s key engagements held with government and civil society actors and highlights the UK’s leadership role in the space.  Read USCIRF’s 2024 Annual ReportWith Contributions from:Elizabeth Cassidy, Senior Strategic Advisor, USCIRFVeronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Associate, USCIRF

Ten years ago, the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) launched a campaign of mass atrocities to achieve the religious and ethnic cleansing of religious minority groups in Iraq and Syria. In 2016, the U.S. State Department determined ISIS’s atrocities against Yazidis, Christians, and Shi’a Muslims constituted crimes against humanity and genocide. Ten years on, survivors face multiple threats to their religious freedom, security, and existence within their homelands.Today, Ambassador David Saperstein, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, and the Hon. Frank Wolf, former U.S. Representative (R-VA 10th) and former Commissioner at the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), join USCIRF Senior Policy Analyst Susan Bishai. They share their firsthand insight into the United States’ response to ISIS’s genocide and crimes against humanity, as well as offer recommendations for the U.S. to support religious freedom for the surviving communities, ten years on.Listen to USCIRF’s first podcast in this series commemorating the tenth anniversary of ISIS’s genocide. Read USCIRF’s 2024 Annual Report Chapter on Iraq and view USCIRF's Hearing on Religious Minorities & Governance in Iraq.With Contributions from:Susan Bishai, Senior Policy Analyst, USCIRFVeronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Associate, USCIRF

Ten years ago, the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) launched a campaign of mass atrocities to achieve the religious and ethnic cleansing of Yazidis, Assyrian-Chaldean-Syriac Christians, Shi’a and Sunni Muslim Turkmens, Shabaks, and other religious minorities in Iraq and Syria. In 2016, the U.S. State Department determined ISIS’s atrocities against Yazidis, Christians, and Shi’a Muslims constituted crimes against humanity and genocide. In 2019, an international coalition defeated ISIS’s last territorial hold in Iraq and Syria. However, ten years on, survivors face multiple threats to their religious freedom, security, and existence within their homelands.Jamileh Naso, President, Canadian Yazidi Association; Nadia Cavner, Philanthropist and Advocate for Assyrians; and Dr. Ali Akram Albayati, Co-Founder, Turkmen Rescue Foundation join USCIRF Senior Policy Analyst Susan Bishai to discuss religious minorities’ ongoing struggles to rebuild in the region.Read USCIRF’s 2024 Annual Report Chapter on Iraq and view USCIRF's Hearing on Religious Minorities & Governance in Iraq.With Contributions from:Susan Bishai, Senior Policy Analyst, USCIRFVeronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Associate, USCIRF

The French government has prohibited French athletes from wearing religious garb while competing at the Paris 2024 Olympics. As such, French athletes who wish to wear religious garb are forced to choose between adhering to their sincerely held religious beliefs and competing at the highest level of sport. This tight regulation of religious expression is not unusual in France, where the government has enacted similarly strict restrictions on wearing religious garb in public spaces. France has also seen a proliferation of antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred, as well as governmental anti-cult efforts negatively impacting religious organizations.  On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, Supervisory Policy Analyst Scott Weiner and Researcher Luke Wilson discuss the French government’s worrying restrictions on wearing religious garb in the public sphere.  With Contributions from:Scott Weiner, Supervisory Policy Analyst, USCIRFLuke Wilson, Researcher, USCIRFVeronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Associate, USCIRF

In 1998, Republicans and Democrats came together to pass the International Religious Freedom Act, creating USCIRF as an independent government Commission led by a bipartisan group of nine Commissioners appointed by both political party leaders in Congress, and by the president. Twenty-five years later, USCIRF’s Commissioners continue to lead the non-partisan staff to monitor egregious religious freedom violations around the world and to make independent policy recommendations to the President, Secretary of State, and Congress.On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Chair Stephen Schneck and Vice Chair Eric Ueland join us to discuss USCIRF's bipartisan nature and its unique framework to ensure international religious freedom remains a bipartisan issue in U.S. foreign policy. Read USCIRF’s 2024 Annual Report With Contributions from:Stephen Schneck, Chair, USCIRFEric Ueland, Vice Chair, USCIRFJamie Staley, Acting Director of Research & Policy, USCIRFVeronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Associate, USCIRF

One of USCIRF’s key functions is to make recommendations to the State Department about which countries we think should be designated as Countries of Particular Concern or CPCs, based on our independent research and analysis. Every year we await the State Department’s announcement of its religious freedom designations to assess how they match up with USCIRF’s recommendations. On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Chair Abraham Cooper and Vice Chair Frederick A. Davie join us to discuss the State Department’s most recent CPC designations—specifically the countries we think should have been added to this list including India, Nigeria, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Syria. Read USCIRF’s Press Release on the 2023 State Department IRF DesignationsWith Contributions from:Abraham Cooper, Chair, USCIRFFrederick A. Davie, Vice Chair, USCIRFElizabeth Cassidy, Director of Research & Policy, USCIRFVeronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Associate, USCIRF