The Priority of Religious Freedom in Human Rights Advocacy

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has released its annual report on religious oppression around the world, with Iran, Sri Lanka, Cuba, and Nicaragua singled out as areas of concern. The report exemplifies how the right to freedom of religious expression has come to play a significant role in US discussions about human rights. However, debates remain heated over whether protecting this right should ever mean violating others, and questions about how US foreign policy should balance protections for different kinds of rights came under a spotlight in 2019 when then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo created the “Commission on Unalienable Rights.”