The U.S. State Department has designated North Korea as a “Country of Particular Concern” for violating religious freedom for the 16th consecutive year.
 
The department revealed the designation in its International Religious Freedom Report for 2016 released on Tuesday.  
 
The report cited investigations by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights and nongovernmental organizations on the North’s religious freedom violations. The report also covered testimonies by North Korean escapees and media reports.
 
The report said even though the North’s constitution provides for freedom of religious beliefs, “there was an almost complete denial by the government of the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.”
 
The report also said that the North’s government “continued to deal harshly with those who engaged in almost any religious practices through executions, torture, beatings, and arrests.”
 
The State Department describes the status of religious freedom in every country every year in its International Religious Freedom Report. The department submits the reports in accordance with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.
 

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