More than 2,000 victims of religious persecution named

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom compiled 2,000-plus names on its Freedom of Religion or Belief Victims List, but the watchdog agency acknowledges the names of millions of others who face persecution and oppression remain unknown.

Nevertheless, commission leaders said they created the database to “put a human face” on the global issue of religious repression.

The commission announced May 5 it surpassed the 2,000 mark in its database. The list includes victims who have been detained, imprisoned, placed under house arrest, disappeared, been forced to renounce their faith, or been tortured for practicing their religious belief or advocating for religious freedom.

“Shockingly, people all across the world face prosecution, prison time, state-sanctioned extrajudicial acts, and other forms of punishment for peacefully exercising their freedom of religion or belief and defending others’ rights to religious freedom,” Commission Chair Nury Turkel said.

“By documenting these cases, USCIRF shares the horrific stories of not only those individuals experiencing severe violations of their fundamental right to freedom of religion or belief, but also of the millions of others who are forced to live under the tyranny of religious repression.”

The list includes Hkalam Samson, former president of the Kachin Baptist Convention, who was sentenced on Good Friday to six years in prison in Myanmar for his human rights advocacy; and Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo, pastor of Monte de Sion Independent Church in Palma Soriano, who is serving a seven-year sentence in Cuba for participating in peaceful protests.

It also includes:

• Mykhailo Reznikov, a Ukrainian Baptist pastor detained by Russian military in occupied Mariupol in March 2022 while he was searching for food for members of his church. His whereabouts are unknown.
• Wang Shunping, a Chinese Christian detained last August for “organizing and sponsoring an illegal gathering”—an event for young people that included prayer, Bible study and music lessons. His current status is unknown.

“The U.S. government must support victims and their families, push for the release of religious prisoners of conscience, and hold accountable those governments and officials that perpetrate or tolerate these egregious religious freedom violations,” said Abraham Cooper, vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

“USCIRF will continue to put a human face on these largely unknown victims and call for justice for those individuals targeted on the basis of their religion or belief.”