Last week (Sept. 6), the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a 28-page report (full text) titled Revisiting the CPC Designation. The report evaluates the effectiveness of the provisions of the International Religious Freedom Act that call for designating as Countries of Particular Concern those nations where the government has engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom. The Report says in part:
Key informant interviews and independent discourse analysis reveal that the CPC designation mechanism is far more effective at condemning religious freedom violations than promoting changes to policy.....
In its 25-year history, IRFA has played a significant role in elevating international religious freedom as a U.S. foreign policy priority and galvanizing a global effort to advance this fundamental human right. The CPC designation mandate, including its requirement for subsequent actions, represents a core component of that policy effort. When appropriately utilized, it has energized action across the IRF ecosystem. Maintaining this energy has been critical in cases of success; this is true both within the U.S. foreign policy sphere and with violator states. When the United States is able to make a sustained, coherent, and adaptive case for religious freedom, U.S. interlocutors take note. The CPC designation tool is the enforcement mechanism that undergirds these efforts.
However, its use can be improved through more consistent application, integration into U.S. bilateral relationships, and documentation of changes to freedom of religion or belief. Too often, the application of IRFA has failed to produce genuine change to advance religious freedom. The repeated use of sanctions waivers backed by vague justifications and the repurposed application of preexisting sanctions dilute the effectiveness of the CPC designation. The indefinite suspension of sanctions or other punitive measures for religious freedom violators, whether due to inertia or competing policy priorities, impedes accountability for religious freedom violators. When waivers must be issued, as the act permits, the State Department should provide clear justifications and timelines.
Baptist Press reports on USCIRF's findings.
