It also commended the State Department for placing 10 countries on its "countries of particular concern" list, the worst violators of religious freedom where governments are either actively persecuting religious minorities or are powerless to stop religiously-motivated sectarian violence and terrorism.
Those countries are China, Burma, Eritrea, North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Seven more countries should be added to the CPC list, the commission maintained: Central African Republic, Nigeria, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Egypt, and Vietnam.
The U.S. has authority to take action against the countries on the CPC list to hold them accountable for their violations of religious freedom. However, the agency is also permitted to waive action against CPC designees in certain cases, and they have done so for four countries, USCIRF noted.
This has undermined the very purpose of the list, they added, and gives "little incentive for CPC-designated countries to make improvements," so the waivers should be time-restricted.
One of the actions the U.S. can take is to "negotiate a binding agreement" with one of these countries to pressure them to improve their human rights situation. The U.S. should do so with Burma and Vietnam, USCIRF added.
Ultimately, the report "shows that the world is experiencing a religious freedom crisis that directly challenges U.S. interests around the world," Smith stated.
However, he added, "the decision to downplay attacks on religious believers in Vietnam, Pakistan, India, and Cuba while expanding diplomatic, economic or military ties with these countries is tragic for those who suffer abuses every day."
Vietnam and Pakistan are both countries that should be on the CPC list but aren't, he said.
In Pakistan, Christians and other religious minorities are not sufficiently protected from religiously-motivated violence, the report said.
And in Vietnam, the government meddles too much in religion out of "national security and social unity" concerns, the report added, forcing all religions to register and harassing the religious groups that do not.
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Meanwhile in Cuba, "religious freedom conditions and human rights conditions overall deteriorated" there after the U.S. re-opened formal diplomatic ties with Cuba, Smith added, and the State Department should have been harder on them in the report.
While the U.S. continues to dialogue with India, religious freedom must be a vital part of the conversation, Smith said, because "the Administration cannot shy away from the fact that in India religious minorities face ongoing violence, forced conversations, and discrimination with little serious governmental efforts made to stop it."
Matt Hadro was the political editor at Catholic News Agency through October 2021. He previously worked as CNA senior D.C. correspondent and as a press secretary for U.S. Congressman Chris Smith.