The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has released a ground-breaking report that takes a look at blasphemy laws around the world and compares them to international human rights standards.
The report covers instances of the blasphemy laws in 71 countries which include countries like Paksitan and Indonesia, known for harsh punishments like the death penalty to countries like Canada and Switzerland which have minor penalties like fines. Among the six countries which were ranked the worst in terms of blasphemy laws, Iran topped the list while Pakistan ranked second, followed by Yemen, Qatar, Somalia, and Egypt.
USCIRF scored the countries based on Severity of the Penalty, Freedom of Religion, whether the State protected or preferred certain Religion Protections, Freedom of Expression and Discrimination Against Groups.
Of the 71 states studied, 59 or 83 percent sanction blasphemy with imprisonment. Iran and
Pakistan, the two countries with the highest-scoring laws for Severity of the Penalty, include
the death penalty as punishment for “insulting the Prophet.”.
The full report can be found here.