In passing the Act, Congress noted that, at that time, more than half of the world's population lived under regimes that severely restricted or prohibited citizens from freely observing their religious beliefs. In addition, the Act describes government-sponsored and government-tolerated violations to religious freedom that people faced, including slander campaigns; confiscation of property; denial of the right to assemble; and prohibitions against publishing, distributing, or possessing religious literature. According to the Act, religious believers in many countries also faced severe and violent forms of religious persecution, such as imprisonment, torture, beatings, mass resettlement, and death for their peaceful belief in, change of, or practice of their faith.