USCIRF Releases New Report about Persecution of Ahmadiyya Muslims

October 18th, 2021 | USCIRF

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new report on persecution of Ahmadiyya Muslims in several countries.

Ahmadiyya Persecution Factsheet – This factsheet documents and contextualizes recent religious freedom violations against Ahmadiyya Muslims, shining a light on the worrying trend of growing state persecution of members of this community. Ahmadiyya Muslims face persecution and discrimination in a range of Muslim-majority countries, including Algeria, Pakistan, and Malaysia, the three examples highlighted in this factsheet. In these countries, authorities have targeted Ahmadis through hate speech and speech inciting violence against them, denied them citizenship, restricted their rights to worship, and prosecuted them for practicing their faith, including by charging and convicting them of blasphemy. Some states prohibit Ahmadis from declaring their faith publicly, criminalize them for identifying as Muslim, and prohibit them from calling their houses of worship mosques. States have also tolerated violence and hate speech against Ahmadis from nonstate actors.

In its 2021 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S State Department designate Pakistan as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations. USCIRF also recommended that the State Department place Algeria and Malaysia on its Special Watchlist for severe violations of religious freedom.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is 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. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].