Today, the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice and Bellwether International released a new report titled, “Religious Prisoners of Conscience: An Advocacy Brief Prepared for the IRF Summit Community.” The report launch coincides with International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief.
The report is intended to provide the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit community with a useful resource to support advocacy efforts aimed at winning the freedom of Religious Prisoners of Conscience (RPOC) globally. It provides analysis of the current RPOC landscape, as well as an overview of the RPOC campaign led by Bellwether International and Lantos Foundation in the lead up to the 2025 IRF Summit.
Section I outlines the research conducted by Bellwether International to understand the current state of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) database of prisoners of conscience. Section II provides case studies and research findings from India, Pakistan, and Russia. Section III offers details about the campaign’s planning and execution and is presented as a comprehensive narrative to aid other civil society organizations seeking to become involved in the advocacy process for prisoners of conscience. Section IV provides policy recommendations for the IRF Summit network and USCIRF.
As the introduction states, “The story of Religious Prisoners of Conscience is a story of heartbreak and cruelty, but also one of remarkable courage and integrity. Each individual who is imprisoned on account of their beliefs is paying a terrible price to exercise what should be the most basic of human rights – namely, to live according to the dictates of their own conscience. We must never forget these individuals and we must never stop advocating for their freedom…It is our sincere hope that this report will serve as a starting point for further coordination between IRF Summit partners to help free the hundreds of religious prisoners of conscience around the world.”