"We have seen in our monitoring of religious freedom worldwide how blasphemy laws, in both theory and practice, harm individuals and societies. In commissioning the study found in the following pages, USCIRF sought to ascertain the prevalence of blasphemy laws worldwide and measure how the content of these laws adheres to basic principles of international law. The findings are sobering indeed. According to the study: • Blasphemy laws are astonishingly widespread. Seventy-one countries, spread out across many regions, maintain such statutes. • Every one of these blasphemy statutes deviates from at least one internationally recognized human rights principle. Most of these laws fail to respect fully the human right of freedom of expression. • All five nations with blasphemy laws that deviate the most from international human rights principles maintain an official state religion. • Most blasphemy laws studied were vaguely worded, as many failed to specify intent as part of the violation. The vast majority carried unduly harsh penalties for violators. • Most blasphemy laws were embedded in the criminal codes and 86 percent of states with blasphemy laws prescribed imprisonment for convicted offenders. Some blasphemy statutes even imposed the death penalty. Clearly, blasphemy laws, in both conception and scope, remain problematic. We trust that this report will draw greater attention to the problem, provoke further discussion about the challenges and encourage constructive attempts to reform or repeal blasphemy measures." (Page 1)