"Egregious" Violators of Religious Freedom

In an annual report released on Friday, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan panel, designated 13 countries as "egregious" violators of religious freedom, recommending that the Obama administration consider these "countries of particular concern." Those 13 countries: Myanmar, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

The designation "country of particular concern," (CPC) through the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, gives the Secretary of the State some policy options to address violators of religious freedom:

"While sanctions are a possible policy option, the secretary may decide to develop a binding agreement with the CPC government on specific actions that it will take to end the violations that gave rise to the designation or take a commensurate action," the commission said. "The secretary may determine that pre-existing sanctions are adequate or waive the requirement of taking action in furtherance of the Act."