Religion Under Attack More Than Ever as International Religious Freedom Act Turns 20

Sam Brownback speaks at the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the International Religious Freedom Act hosted by the Religious Freedom Institute in Washington on Nov. 9, 2018. Margaret Wroblewski/RFI

WASHINGTON—Twenty years after the International Religious Freedom Act was passed, religious freedom is under fire more than ever.

Six countries were added in 2017 to the State Department’s list of nations of particular concern for violating religious freedoms; the 2016 report had 10 listed. In 2000, when the first report was published after the International Religious Freedom Act was passed in 1998, there were just three countries cited.