New Reports on Religious Freedom in Indonesia and Vietnam

In its 2019 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate Vietnam as a “country of particular concern” (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act due to its systemic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom. USCIRF placed Indonesia on its Tier 2 list for violations that meet one or two of these classifications. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new reports:

2019 Vietnam Country Update – This is a report about the implementation of Vietnam’s Law on Belief and Religion based on information obtained during a September 2019 USCIRF Commissioner Delegation visit. It explains how the mandatory registration process and the complicated approval processes under the law have impeded the ability of some religious groups to practice their faith.

Blasphemy Allegations in a Polarized Indonesia – This report provides an overview of blasphemy laws and prominent trends in blasphemy allegations within Indonesia. The cases demonstrate that blasphemy accusations can arise out of a myriad of motivations and that the government of Indonesia is doing little to address the proliferation of cases. In fact, the government of Indonesia may expand the scope of blasphemy in its new Criminal Code. The report concludes with recommendations for the U.S. government and Congress.

Source: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze and report on threats to 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.