Foreign Affairs

Religious Freedom Commission Demands State Department Include Afghanistan On Watchlist

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The State Department was criticized Monday for failing to include Afghanistan as a “country of particular concern,” according to a new report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

The report cited a number of attacks against religious minorities and noted that “continued promises” from both the U.S. and Afghani governments to protect believers of different faiths had failed to materialize. In light of this, USCIRF called on the State Department to recognize the seriousness of the issue and include Afghanistan on its CPC list.

“In 2022, religious freedom conditions in Afghanistan continued to deteriorate, as they have since the Taliban seized control of the country in August 2021,” the report read. “Its rigorous enforcement on all Afghans of its harsh interpretation of Shari’a violates the freedom of religion or belief of religious minorities…[and] actively targets, discriminates against, or outright denies the existence of many vulnerable religious minorities such as Christians.”

USCIRF explained that while Secretary of State Antony Blinken and “some members of Congress” had admitted to the “horrendous conditions” in Afghanistan for religious minorities, no “specific” policy had been introduced to stop or discourage it, according to the report. The commission also noted that the department does consider the Taliban an “entity of particular concern” due to its “severe violations of religious freedom,” but not Afghanistan “likely due to its nonrecognition of the Taliban as the de facto governing authority.”

USCIRF, nevertheless, recommended the department update its CPC list to include Afghanistan as well as  “[i]mpose targeted sanctions on Taliban officials,” according to the report. Including “protections for freedom of religion or belief” in future discussions between U.S. and Taliban officials was also listed as one of USCIRF’s proposed changes.

Additionally, the report suggested that some changes be made for Afghanis looking for refugee status.

“Expand the existing Priority 2 (P-2) designation granting U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) access for certain Afghan nationals and their family members to explicitly include Afghan religious minorities at extreme risk of religious persecution,” the report read.

The report comes just weeks after it was revealed that the Biden administration failed to cooperate with investigators probing the Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021. Inspector General John Sopko also recently admitted that he could not “guarantee” that taxpayer dollars were not being used to fund the Taliban.

The State Department did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.