Country of Particular Concern

Country of Particular Concern (CPC) is a designation by the United States Secretary of State (under authority delegated by the President) of a country responsible for particularly severe violations of religious freedom under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998 (H.R. 2431) and its amendment of 1999 (Public Law 106-55). The term "particularly severe violations of religious freedom" means systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom, including violations such as:

• a) Torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment;
• b) Prolonged detention without charges;
• c) Causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction or clandestine detention of those persons; or
• d) Other flagrant denials of the right to life, liberty, or the security of persons. Nations so designated are subject to further actions, including economic sanctions, by the United States.