According to the latest report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (UCRIF), religious liberty around the world is “under escalating attack.” The Arab Spring, which brought regime changes in several Middle Eastern countries, also brought increased oppression of the religious minorities in these areas, especially Christians. Both direct state oppression and the “failure to prevent or punish violence against vulnerable religious minorities” are cited as growing problems.

In its report, the UCRIF advocated that the U.S. State Department designate 16 nations as “Countries of Particular Concern” where “particularly severe” persecution takes place-- Burma, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam. Nine more countries made UCRIF’s Watch List which exhibit “negative trends that could develop into severe violations,” and include Afghanistan, Belatus, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Laos, Russia, Somalia, and Venezuela.

For more details on this report, you can click here to read Forbes’ contributor Doug Bandow’s article titled “A Global Assault on Religious Liberty”.