Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Commission on International Religious
Freedom (USCIRF), an independent federal advisory body created by the
International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) to monitor religious freedom
abuses abroad, today released its 2013 Annual Report.
The Report highlights the status of religious freedom globally and
identifies those governments that are the most egregious violators.
“The state of international religious freedom is increasingly dire due
to the presence of forces that fuel instability. These forces include
the rise of violent religious extremism coupled with the actions and
inactions of governments. Extremists target religious minorities and
dissenters from majority religious communities for violence, including
physical assaults and even murder. Authoritarian governments also
repress religious freedom through intricate webs of discriminatory
rules, arbitrary requirements and draconian edicts,” said Dr. Katrina
Lantos Swett, USCIRF’s Chair.
The 2013 Annual Report recommends that the Secretary of State
re-designate the following eight nations as “countries of particular
concern” or CPCs: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi
Arabia, Sudan, and Uzbekistan. USCIRF finds that seven other countries
meet the CPC threshold and should be so designated: Egypt, Iraq,
Nigeria, Pakistan Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam.
“The Annual Report ultimately is about people and how their governments
treat them. Violations affect members of diverse religious communities
around the world, be they Rohinghya Muslims in Burma, Coptic Christians
in Egypt, Buddhists, Uighur Muslims and Falun Gong in China, Baha’is in
Iran, Ahmadis and Christians in Pakistan, or Muslims in Islamic
countries such as Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan and in non-Muslim nations
like Russia. We recommend that the White House adopt a
whole-of-government strategy to guide U.S. religious freedom promotion
and that Secretary of State Kerry promptly designate CPCs, before
currently designated actions expire later this year,” said Lantos Swett. Continue at USCIRF
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