732 N. Capitol Street, NW, Suite #A714

Washington, DC 20401

202-523-3240

By Kirsten Lavery, Supervisory Policy Analyst and 

Elizabeth Cassidy, Director of Research and Policy

“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right 

includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone 

or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or 

belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

– Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18

Overview and Purpose

Freedom of religion is both America’s first freedom and a universal human right. Yet 

many people around the world live in countries where this right is denied or restricted. 

Twenty years ago, the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, as amended (IRFA),

was enacted to elevate religious freedom as a higher priority in U.S. foreign policy. 

IRFA provides that U.S. policy includes condemning violations of religious freedom 

and assisting other governments in the promotion of this right. IRFA created a range 

of government tools to implement this policy.

IRFA is centered on promoting religious freedom as recognized in international 

law. This means the right to believe or not believe as one’s conscience leads, and live 

out one’s beliefs openly, peacefully, and without fear. The international instruments 

mentioned in IRFA that enshrine this fundamental right include the Universal 

Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 

the Helsinki Accords, and the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance 

and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.

www.USCIRF.gov

@USCIRF

Media@USCIRF.gov

UNITED STATES COMMISSION on

INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

March 2021

FACTSHEET

INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS 

FREEDOM ACT (IRFA)

Gayle Manchin

Chair

Tony Perkins

Vice Chair

Anurima Bhargava

Vice Chair

Commissioners

Gary Bauer

James W. Carr

Frederick A. Davie

Nadine Maenza

Johnnie Moore

Nury Turkel

Erin D. Singshinsuk

Executive Director

USCIRF’s Mission

To advance international 

freedom of religion or 

belief, by independently 

assessing and unflinchingly 

confronting threats to this 

fundamental right.
USCIRF Factsheet: International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA): March 2021 2

Main Features of the Law

IRFA sought to make religious freedom a priority in U.S. foreign policy in a variety of ways, including by creating 

governmental institutions, requiring monitoring and reporting on religious freedom violations, and establishing 

consequences for the worst violators.

(1) Governmental institutions:

IRFA created governmental entities responsible for monitoring religious freedom conditions abroad and promoting

religious freedom in U.S. foreign policy, as outlined in the following table.

Government Entities Created by IRFA

Government Institution Description Primary Duties

Ambassador-at-Large 

for International 

Religious Freedom

A political appointee nominated by 

the President and confirmed by the 

Senate, to head an Office of International 

Religious Freedom at the State 

Department

1. Advance the right to freedom of religion abroad,

2. Integrate international religious freedom policies and

strategies into U.S. foreign policy efforts,

3. Advise the President and the Secretary State regarding

matters affecting religious freedom,

4. Represent the United States on religious freedom matters

diplomatically, 

5. Coordinate the United States’ international religious

freedom policies, and

6. Issue an annual report on religious freedom conditions in all

foreign countries.

U.S. Commission on 

International Religious 

Freedom (USCIRF)

An independent U.S. government 

advisory body

Led by nine part-time Commissioners 

appointed by the President and the 

leadership of both political parties in 

each house of Congress

The Ambassador-at-Large is an ex officio 

USCIRF Commissioner

1. Review religious freedom conditions globally,

2. Evaluate U.S. policy, 

3. Make recommendations for U.S. policy to the President,

Secretary of State, and Congress,

4. Track the implementation by the U.S. government of the

recommendations made by USCIRF, and

5. Issue an annual report setting forth USCIRF’s policy

recommendations.

Special Adviser to 

the President on 

International Religious 

Freedom 

An adviser within the White House 

National Security Council staff

1. Serve as a resource for executive branch officials,

2. Compile and maintain information on the facts and

circumstances of violations of religious freedom,

3. Make policy recommendations, and

4. Serve as a liaison with the Ambassador at Large for

International Religious Freedom, USCIRF, Congress, and as

advisable, religious non-governmental organizations.

(2) Monitoring and reporting:

IRFA also requires monitoring of and reporting on religious freedom conditions globally.

 State Department’s Annual Report: The U.S.

Department of State is required to prepare an annual

report on religious freedom conditions in each foreign

country (the IRF report). This report, which is in

addition to the department’s annual human rights

report, is required to be issued on or shortly after

May 1 each year.

IRFA further requires the State Department to

maintain country-by-country lists of prisoners and

issues of concern for use by executive and legislative

branch officials.

 USCIRF’s Annual Report: USCIRF is required to issue

its own annual report setting forth its independent

recommendations for U.S. policy. USCIRF’s report is

issued no later than May 1 of each year. It focuses on

select countries, generally those with the worst religious

freedom conditions, and provides USCIRF’s assessment

of the U.S. government’s international religious

freedom policy.

The 2016 Amendments to IRFA (known as the Frank

Wolf Act) also require that USCIRF, to the extent

practiable, make available online lists of prisoners and
3 USCIRF Factsheet: International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA): March 2021

other victims of certain violations by governments or 

nonstate actors USCIRF recommends be designated as 

the worst violators of religious freedom. Pursuant to this 

mandate, USCIRF created the Freedom of Religion or 

Belief (FoRB) Victims List.

(3) Consequences for violators:

IRFA creates a framework that requires the U.S. 

government to take action against countries and other 

actors that violate religious freedom. 

 Standards used to designate worst offenders: IRFA

requires the President—who has delegated this power

to the Secretary of State—to annually review the status

of religious freedom in each country and designate the

worst offenders and others of concern. These

designations must be made no later than 90 days after

the issuance of the IRF Report.

(A) Country of Particular Concern Standard: IRFA

requires the annual designation of “countries of

particular concern,” or CPCs. CPCs are defined as

countries whose governments either engage in or

tolerate “particularly severe violations” of

religious freedom during the reporting year.

Particularly severe violations of religious freedom

are defined as “systematic, ongoing, egregious

violations of the internationally recognized right

to freedom of religion”, such as torture or

degrading treatment or punishment.

USCIRF’s annual reports identify countries that it

concludes meets the CPC standard and

recommend that the State Department designate 

these countries as such.

USCIRF typically recommends more countries 

be designated as CPCs than the State Department 

will designate. Part of the discrepenacy is because 

USCIRF can focus on religious freedom conditions 

alone, without needing to balance other bilateral 

issues. USCIRF also has been more willing to 

find that countries meet the CPC threshold based 

on their governments’ toleration of particularly 

severe violations of religious freedom, while the 

State Department has focused its designations 

on governments that themselves engage in such 

violations.

(B) Special Watch List Standard: Pursuant

to USCIRF’s recommendation, the Frank Wolf

Act created the State Department’s Special Watch

List (SWL). The SWL applies to countries that do

not meet all of the CPC criteria, but nonetheless

have “engaged in or tolerated severe violations

of religious freedom” during the reporting year.

USCIRF’s annual reports identify countries

that it concludes meet the SWL standard and

recommends the State Department designate these

countries as such.

Neither IRFA nor the Frank Wolf Act defines the

term severe violations. IRFA defines and provides

examples of violations of religious freedom and

particularly severe violations of religious freedom,

which are listed in the following table.

Government tolerance of particularly severe violations

USCIRF has recommended that Nigeria be designated a CPC every year since 2009, based on USCIRF’s conclusion 

that the Nigerian government tolerates violence and discrimination on the basis of religion or belief. As sectarian 

violence between predominantly Muslim herders and Christian farmers increased, the Nigerian government has 

failed to implement effective strategies to prevent or stop such violence or to hold perpetrators accountable. In 

December 2020, the State Department designated Nigeria as a CPC for the first time.
USCIRF Factsheet: International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA): March 2021 4

Severity of Violations Defined in IRFA

IRFA Definition Examples in IRFA

Designation if country 

engages in or tolerates

Violations

“Violations of the 

internationally 

recognized right to 

freedom of religion 

and religious belief 

and practice, as set 

forth in international 

instruments” 

(IRFA §6402(16))

“(A) arbitrary prohibitions on, restrictions of, or punishment for—

(i) assembling for peaceful religious activities such as worship,

preaching, and prayer, including arbitrary registration requirements;

(ii) speaking freely about one’s religious beliefs;

(iii) changing one’s religious beliefs and affiliation;

(iv) not professing a particular religion, or any religion;

(v) possession and distribution of religious literature, including Bibles;

or

(vi) raising one’s children in the religious teachings and practices of

one’s choice; or

(B) any of the following acts if committed on account of an individual’s

conscience, non-theistic views, or religious belief or practice: detention, 

interrogation, imposition of an onerous financial penalty, forced labor, 

forced mass resettlement, imprisonment, forced religious conversion, 

beating, torture, mutilation, rape, enslavement, murder, and execution.”

None

Severe Violations

Not defined None provided Special Watch List (SWL)

Particularly Severe Violations 

“Systematic, ongoing, 

egregious violations 

of the internationally 

recognized right to 

freedom of religion” 

(IRFA §6402(13))

“(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.”

Countries of Particular 

Concern (CPC)

(C) Entity of Particular Concern Standard:

Consistent with USCIRF’s recommendation and

in recognition that some of the most egregious

religious freedom violators are nonstate actors,

the Frank Wolf Act created a new presidential

designation for “entities of particular concern,”

or EPCs, for nonstate actors that engaged in

particularly severe violations of religious freedom.

Nonstate actors are defined as a non-sovereign

entity that (a) exercises significant political

power and territorial control; (b) is outside the

control of a sovereign government; and (c) often

employs violence in pursuit of its objectives. The

President has delegated the power to make EPC

designations to the Secretary of State. In its annual

report, USCIRF also recommends nonstate actors

to be designated as EPCs. The State Department

has designated more EPCs than USCIRF has

recommended, based on the Department’s broader

interpretation of the requirement of exercising

control over territory.

 Responses to Violations: Along with naming of

violators, IRFA requires that the President—who

has again delegated this power to the Secretary

of State—take targeted responses to violations of

religious freedom.

For each foreign country that engages in or tolerates any

level of violations of religious freedom, the Secretary of

State must oppose such violations and promote freedom

of religion or belief in that country. IRFA includes a

menu of options for countries designated as CPCs,

and a list of actions for countries that violate religious

freedom but are not designated as CPCs.

The specific policy options available for CPC countries

include negotiating a bilateral agreement concerning the

cessation of violations, imposing sanctions of varying

severity, taking commensurate action, or issuing a

waiver. As a commensurate action, the Secretary of State

may determine that pre-existing sanctions are adequate,

referred to as “double hatted” sanctions.
5 USCIRF Factsheet: International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA): March 2021

CPC Actions

In 2020, the State Department designated 10 countries as CPCs. For the 10 designated countries, the State 

Department reimposed existing (“double hatted”) sanctions on five and issued waivers on taking any action for 

the other five. 

While the statute permits such waivers and double hatted sanctions, the Frank Wolf Act, consistent with USCIRF’s 

longstanding recommendation to limit waivers, notes that ongoing and persistent waivers of presidential actions 

do not fulfill the purpose of the law. USCIRF has expressed similar concern that using preexisting sanctions or 

indefinite waivers provides little incentive for CPC-designated governments to reduce or halt egregious religious 

freedom violations.

Choosing Presidential Actions for CPCs (IRFA §6442) 

Authority for 

Presidential Action

Presidential 

Action

Punitive options outlined in IRFA 

§6445(a)(9) - (15)

Commensurate 

Action

Any other action authorized by law if the 

action would further U.S. policy on religious 

freedom §6445(b)

Binding

Agreement

“When appropriate, make every reasonable 

effort to conclude a binding agreement 

concerning the cessation of such violations 

in countries with which the United States has 

diplomatic relations.” §644l(c)(i)(C)

Waiver The president may waive any presidential 

action if it furthers U.S. policy on religious 

freedom or if it is in the important national 

interest of the United States §6447

Secretary 

of State

USCIRF

Ambassador 

at Large

Special Adviser 

to the NSC

IRFA also provides a range of options for diplomatic action toward violator countries that are not CPCs, including 

those placed on the SWL. These actions include a private demarche, a public condemnation, the delay or cancellation of 

scientific or cultural exchanges, and the denial or delay of official state visits. While there is wide discretion in choosing 

the appropriate response to religious freedom violations, actions taken under IRFA cannot prohibit or restrict medicine, 

food, or humanitarian assistance.
USCIRF Factsheet: International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA): March 2021 6

Options for Presidential Actions 

(IRFA §6445)

Actions available in response to any religious 

freedom violations

1. A private demarche

2. An official public demarche

3. A public condemnation

4. A public condemnation within one or more

multilateral fora

5. The delay or cancellation of one or more

scientific exchanges

6. The delay or cancellation of one or more

cultural exchanges

7. The denial of one or more working, official, or

state visits

8. The delay or cancellation of one or more working

official or state visits

Actions available following a CPC designation

9. The withdrawal, limitation, or suspension of

United States development assistance

10. Denials of credit loans under OPIC or the

Export-Import Bank

11. The withdrawal, limitation, or suspension of

United States security assistance

12. Directing the U.S. executive directors of

international financial institutions to oppose and

vote against loans primarily benefiting the specific

foreign government, agency, instrumentality, or

official found or determined by the President to

be responsible for violations

13. Denials of exports under certain instruments such

as the Arms Export Control Act

14. Prohibiting U.S. financial institutions from making

loans or credit to the government, entities, or

officials responsible for violations under IRFA

15. Prohibiting the U.S. govemment from procuring

goods or services from the government, entities, or

officials responsible for violations

Regarding EPC designations, the Frank Wolf acts requires 

the President to take action “when practicable” to address 

severe violations of religious freedom committed by EPCs.

 Consequences for individual violators: IRFA also seeks

to ensure there are consequences for individual violators

of religious freedom.

(A) IRFA Visa Ban: IRFA makes inadmissible to the

United States foreign government officials who are

responsible for or directly carried out particularly

severe religious freedom violations.

(B) Other Targeted Sanctions: In addition to

IRFA’s provisions, two newer accountability

tools—the 2016 Global Magnitsky Human Rights

Accountability Act and a related 2017 executive

order, E.O. 13818—allow the President, who has

delegated authority to the Secretaries of State and

Treasury, to deny U.S. visas to or block the U.S.-

based assets of foreigners involved in corruption

or human rights abuses, including violations of

religious freedom. In addition, Section 7031(c)

of the State Department’s annual appropriations

law requires the secretary of state to make foreign

officials and their immediate family members

ineligible for U.S. entry if there is credible evidence

that such individuals have been involved in “a

gross violation of human rights.” Unlike the visa

ineligibility provision enacted in IRFA, visa bans

under this provision can be announced publicly.

(C) Designated Persons List: The Frank Wolf Act

now requires the State Department to establish,

maintain, and submit to Congress every 180 days

“designated persons lists” of foreign individuals

denied visas or subject to financial sanctions or

other measures for particularly severe violations of

religious freedom.

(4) Programs and training:

IRFA contains several additional provisions to ensure 

that religious freedom is a central element of U.S. 

foreign policy. IRFA requires that religious freedom 

be an element of U.S. foreign assistance, cultural 

exchange, and international broadcasting programs. 

It also provides that certain government employees, 

including State Department foreign service officers and 

U.S. immigration officials, receive training on religious 

freedom and religious persecution. Consistent with 

USCIRF’s recommendation, the Frank Wolf Act made 

this training mandatory.
UNITED STATES COMMISSION on INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

732 N. Capitol Street, NW, Suite #A714 

Washington, DC 20401 

202-523-3240

www.USCIRF.gov

@USCIRF

Media@USCIRF.gov

(5) Refugee and asylum issues:

In recognition that religious freedom violations can 

drive displacement, IRFA includes further provisions on 

U.S. refugee and asylum policy. In addition to requiring 

trainings on religious persecution for immigration 

officials, IRFA mandates the president to consider 

information about religious persecution as part of his 

annual determination of refugee admissions, and that 

immigration officials use the IRF Report as a resource 

in adjudicating refugee and asylum claims. IRFA also 

sought assessments of whether immigration officials were 

implementing Expedited Removal—a summary removal 

procedure that was new when IRFA was enacted—in a 

manner consistent with the United States’ obligations 

to protect individuals fleeing persecution, including 

by authorizing USCIRF to examine the issue. USCIRF 

issued reports on this topic in in 2005, 2007, 2013, and 

2016, documenting major problems that successive 

administrations have not addressed.

Professional Staff

Danielle Ashbahian

Senior Communications Specialist

Keely Bakken

Senior Policy Analyst

Dwight Bashir

Director of Outreach and Policy

Elizabeth K. Cassidy

Director of Research and Policy

Mingzhi Chen

Policy Analyst

Patrick Greenwalt

Policy Analyst

Gabrielle Hasenstab

Communications Specialist

Roy Haskins

Director of Finance and Operations

Thomas Kraemer

Director of Human Resources

Kirsten Lavery

Supervisory Policy Analyst

Niala Mohammad

Senior Policy Analyst

Jason Morton

Senior Policy Analyst

Mohyeldin Omer

Policy Analyst

Jamie Staley

Senior Congressional Relations Specialist

Zack Udin

Researcher

Nina Ullom

Congressional Relations Specialist

Madeline Vellturo

Policy Analyst

Scott Weiner

Supervisory Policy Analyst

Kurt Werthmuller 

Supervisory Policy Analyst

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the 

U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, 

the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief.