Country of Particular Concern is a designation by the United States Secretary of State (under authority delegated by the President) of a nation guilty of particularly severe violations of religious freedom under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998 (H.R. 2431) and its amendment of 1999 (Public Law 106-55). The term “particularly severe violations of religious freedom” means systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom, including violations such as 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 denials of the right to life, liberty, or the security of persons. Nations so designated are subject to further actions, including economic sanctions, by the United States. Freedom of religion is the individuals right or freedom to hold whatever religious beliefs he or she wishes, or none at all. ... The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Public Law 106-55) was passed to promote religious freedom as a US Foreign policy and to advocate on the behalf of the individuals viewed as persecuted in foreign countries on the account of religion. ...

Issuing recommendations as to countries it believes should be designated as countries of particular concern for their religious liberty violations is the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, an agency created by IRFA to monitor the state of religious freedom around the world and provide policy recommendations to the president, the secretary of state and US Congress. Its recommendations are not always followed by the Secretary of State. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is a US government agency created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to monitor the status of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international instruments... The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States of America. ...

The Commission has recommended that the following countries be designated as CPCs:

Burma

China

Eritrea

Iran

North Korea

Pakistan

Saudi Arabia

Sudan

Turkmenistan

Uzbekistan

Vietnam (Removed in 14th, November 2006)

External links

• US State Department Office of International Religious Freedom
• CPC page at the USCIRF website