Nine countries—Burma, China, Iran, Iraq, Laos, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Turkmenistan—are among the world’s worst religious-freedom violators, according to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.

In an August 16 letter to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell, the commission recommended the U.S. government designate these countries as “countries of particular concern,” thus making them subject to diplomatic and economic sanctions.

The commission, an independent body set up in 1998 to advise the United States government on the status of religious freedom internationally, also recommended that Afghanistan’s Taliban regime be re-categorized from “a country of particular concern” to “a particularly severe violator” of religious freedom.

Religious freedom violations in both Sudan and China have increased during the past year, the commission notes. The letter cites the violent crackdown on members of the Falun Gong sect in China, as well as the arrest of members of an underground Roman Catholic group.  In Sudan, “religious-freedom violations were intertwined with other human rights and humanitarian abuses,” including the government bombing of civilian and humanitarian targets, the commission reports.

The commission also cites “credible firsthand sources” who have described ongoing torture and execution of religious believers in North Korea.

In Turkmenistan, the government continues its harassment, arrest and, in some instances, torture, of religious believers, including Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists, Baptists, and Baha’is, says the commission.

“This is an important recognition of the gross violations of religious freedom taking place around the world,” says Jonathan Gallagher, United Nations Liaison for the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide.  “The ability to live according to the dictates of conscience is the most basic of human rights. But for many people, merely expressing their religious beliefs is a daily act of courage.”

The Adventist Church works closely with other organizations, including the United Nations and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, to promote and defend religious liberty as a fundamental right for all people of faith, says Gallagher.

John Graz, public affairs and religious liberty director for the Adventist Church, has also welcomed the commission’s recommendations. 

“The commission has once again demonstrated its commitment to objectivity by naming traditional American allies, such as Saudi Arabia, as ‘countries of particular concern,’” says Graz. “This adds to the report’s credibility.”

In September, Graz will release the Adventist Church’s World Report—an annual report on the religious freedom difficulties faced by Adventists and other faith groups in some of the 205 countries in which the Adventist Church is active.  Information from the report will help other international agencies as they attempt to present a clearer picture of the status of religious freedom around the world, says Graz.