Washington, D.C.- In Defense of Christians (IDC), the nation’s leading advocacy organization for Christians and religious minorities in the Middle East, commends the United States Department of State for releasing their 2019 Report on International Religious Freedom.
On June 10, the State Department released its annual report, in compliance with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, which entails country chapters initially prepared in U.S. embassies abroad and finalized by the Office of International Religious Freedom in Washington.
The report was produced under the direction of U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback with consultations from Office of International Religious Freedom Director Dan Nadel and Deputy Directors Stacy Bernard Davis and Khashayar Ghashghai.
“IDC commends Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Ambassador Brownback and the Office of International Religious Freedom for producing this report,” said IDC president Toufic Baaklini. “The report highlights Christian persecution at the state level in countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. It also affirms the urgent need to preserve Christian communities in countries such as Egypt, Iraq, and Syria. We encourage the State Department to accept the recommendations from the recent United States Commission on International Religious Freedom report and designate state violators of religious freedom with Country-of-Particular Concern status and apply meaningful action to incentivize improvement.”
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