The fundamental human right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion is violated in one out of every three countries (31 per cent), that is, in 61 out of 196 nations, according to a report published last week by the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International. And almost 4.9 billion people, or 62 per cent of the world’s population, live in countries where religious freedom is heavily restricted.

The 2023 World Religious Freedom Report (RFR) underlines the accelerating threats and trends against this right, revealing that persecution on grounds of faith has worsened overall, while impunity has increased.

The study covers the period between January 2021 and December 2022, and is the only non-governmental report that analyses compliance and violations worldwide, for all religions, of the right as laid out in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The report finds that discrimination and persecution are clearly noticeable in 61 countries, and that in 49 of these it is the government that persecutes or even murders its own citizens on religious grounds with scarcely any reaction from the international community. Even majority religious communities are now under threat.

Regina Lynch, recently appointed as executive president of ACN International, explains that the main purpose of this report is to “motivate people to get involved and help those suffering from religious persecution through prayer, sharing information, speaking up for victims, engaging politicians and keeping informed about reality on the ground in different parts of the world”.

“The ACN Religious Freedom in the World Report seeks only to collate information and provide analysis about the abuse of this fundamental human right. It is a tool. The tool is only as good as those who take it up, share it with others and work to effect change,” Lynch says.

The countries marked in red are those suffering most from persecution, hate crimes and religiously motivated violence, while those marked in orange are countries where discrimination, hate crimes and religiously motivated violence are rife. Photo: ACN

Religious persecution has worsened

According to the RFR map, 28 states are marked in red as “hot countries” (indicating persecution), denoting the most dangerous places in the world for practising religion freely, and 33 are orange, indicating high levels of discrimination. In 47 of these countries, the situation has worsened since the last report was published, whereas things only improved, in terms of religious freedom, in nine of them.

One of the main conclusions of ACN’s report is that minority religious communities are in an increasingly dire situation, and in some cases, face the threat of extinction due to a combination of terrorism, attacks on their cultural heritage and more subtle measures such as the proliferation of anti-conversion laws, manipulation of electoral rules and financial restrictions. However, there are also cases of majority religious communities being persecuted, such as in Nicaragua and Nigeria.

Over the past two years, the report also notes the global increase of the power of authoritarian governments and fundamentalist leaders who seek to exercise limitless power. This has a deadly effect on religious freedom. Impunity has become a constant around the world, and in 36 countries (18 per cent) attackers are rarely, if ever, prosecuted for their crimes.

The silence on the part of the international community contributes to this culture of impunity for regimes considered to be strategically important for the West, such as China and India, which end up not being subjected to international sanctions for their violations of religious freedom, the report says. The same applies to countries such as Nigeria and Pakistan.

Main findings

Africa continues to be the most violent continent, with an increase in jihadist attacks making religious freedom even more alarming.

Almost half of the ‘hot countries’ on the RFR map, that is 13 out of 28, are in Africa. The concentration of jihadist activity is especially evident in the Sahel region, around Lake Chad, Mozambique and Somalia, and is spreading to neighbouring countries.

China and North Korea remain the two countries in Asia with the worst record of human rights violations, including religious freedom, with the state exercising totalitarian control through surveillance and extreme measures of repression against the population.

The RFR also pays close attention to India, where persecution levels have been on the rise. Incidents of forced religious conversion, abductions and sexual violence (including sexual slavery) remain largely ignored by local law enforcement, as is the case in Pakistan where young Christian and Hindu girls are often abducted and subjected to forced marriages.

The RFR also highlights the serious internal crises that are occurring in Muslim communities.

On one hand, many young Muslims continue to be attracted to Islamist terrorist networks, but on the other, especially in the Middle East, there are signs of a widespread secularisation. In Iran, for example, 47 per cent of the population claimed no religious affiliation and only 32 per cent identified as Shiite.

Cancel culture

The RFR draws attention to concerns over increasing limits to freedom of thought, conscience and religion in countries that belong to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Over the past two years, the West has shifted from a climate of “polite persecution” towards those who want to openly live and express their faith to one of a “cancel culture” with strong social pressure to conform to current ideological trends.

On a positive note, the report points out an increase in interreligious dialogue initiatives, and the return to unrestricted religious celebrations in many countries after COVID 19 lockdowns.

The full report may be obtained from ACN (Malta) by calling 2148 7818 or by sending an e-mail to admin@acnmalta.org.