The Secretary of State's designation of “countries of particular concern” and “special watch list” countries for religious freedom violations pursuant to Section 408(a) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Pub. L. 105-292), as amended (the Act), notice is hereby given that, on December 18, 2019, the Secretary of State, under authority delegated by the President, has designated each of the following as a “country of particular concern” (CPC) under section 402(b) of the Act, for having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. The Secretary simultaneously designated the following Presidential Actions for these CPCs:

In addition, the Secretary of State has designated the following countries as “special watch list” countries for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom: Comoros, Cuba, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Russia, Sudan, and Uzbekistan.

The Secretary of State's designation of “entities of particular concern” for religious freedom violations. Pursuant to Section 408(a) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Pub. L. ( printed page 71065) 105-292), notice is hereby given that, on December 18, 2019, the Secretary of State, under authority delegated by the President, has designated each of the following as an “entity of particular concern” under section 301 of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2016 (Pub. L. 114-281), for having engaged in particularly severe violations of religious freedom: al-Nusra Front, al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula, al-Qa'ida, al-Shabab, Boko Haram, the Houthis, ISIS, ISIS-Khorasan, and the Taliban.