WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- A U.S. government panel listed 13 countries Friday as `` egregious '' violators of religious freedom . Homeless Pakistani Christians protest last month in Islamabad for protection of Christian minorities . The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 's annual report named Myanmar , North Korea , Eritrea , Iran , Iraq , Nigeria , Pakistan , China , Saudi Arabia , Sudan , Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan , and Vietnam . It recommended that the Obama administration designate them as `` countries of particular concern '' or CPC . The group has issued a watch list that includes Afghanistan , Belarus , Cuba , Egypt , Indonesia , Laos , Russia , Somalia , Tajikistan , Turkey , and Venezuela , countries that do n't rise to the level of a CPC but need to be monitored . `` Unfolding events in Pakistan make clear the relevance of this theme to the 2009 Annual Report . At the time of writing , emboldened Taliban-associated extremists had advanced to within 60 miles of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad , '' the report said . `` In the areas they already control , these groups are imposing draconian restrictions on human rights and religious freedom and engaging in brutal acts against individuals , particularly women and local police , who refused to accede to their repressive policies . '' The federal commission is bipartisan , and its commissioners are appointed by the president and members of Congress . A CPC designation gives Secretary of State Hillary Clinton `` a range of specific policy options to address serious violations of religious freedom . '' It requires the secretary `` to enter into direct consultations with a government to find ways to bring about improvements in the respect for religious freedom . '' The report covers the period May 2008 through April . The commission was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 . `` While sanctions are a possible policy option , the secretary may decide to develop a binding agreement with the CPC government on specific actions that it will take to end the violations that gave rise to the designation or take a commensurate action , '' the commission said . `` The secretary may determine that pre-existing sanctions are adequate or waive the requirement of taking action in furtherance of the Act . ''
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom lists 13 nations . It recommends administration designate 13 as ` ` countries of particular concern '' and gives secretary of state policy authority to address serious violations .