The constitution stipulates everyone is free to choose his or her faith. It makes the state responsible for ‘‘protecting” the religious interests of its people and Roman Catholicism the state religion. The law prescribes criminal penalties for religious discrimination or “debasement” of any religion. The government granted the Muslim community a residency permit for one imam and a short-term residency permit for an additional imam during Ramadan. The government participated in a public commemoration of the Holocaust in Auschwitz on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of its liberation.
The group European Action advocated freedom to question and deny the Holocaust. In March a Liechtenstein member of European Action referred to the Holocaust as “the lie of the century” during a presentation in Switzerland. The independent Liechtenstein Institute, a nongovernmental organization, noted the same level of online right-wing extremism, including anti-Semitism, in 2014, the last year for which data were available, as in 2013.
The U.S. embassy in Bern, Switzerland, which is responsible for diplomatic relations with the country, encouraged the promotion of religious freedom in discussions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, focusing primarily on access to religious education and religious services. Embassy staff discussed religious freedom issues, such as the prohibition on ritual animal slaughter and the extent of societal discrimination, with civil society organizations, including Amnesty International, the Islamic Community of Liechtenstein, and the Liechtenstein Friends of Yad Vashem.