U.S. Agency releases Annual Report Rome, May 03, 2013 (Zenit.org) Father John Flynn, LC | 0 hits

On Tuesday the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its 2013 annual report.

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, stated Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, USCIRFs Chair, on releasing the report.

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 report explained.

The report covers the year ending on January 31, 2013. It noted that the State Department has issued waivers for Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan, thereby omitting any measures against those countries for their violations of religious freedom.

Moreover, there have been no new presidential actions, CPC designations, and the State Department has relied on pre-existing sanctions, the report stated.

Turning to some of the countries with particularly egregious violations of religious freedom USCIRF commented that with regard to Burma and the political reforms that have taken place, so far there is little progress in matters of faith. There continue to be severe restrictions on religious worship and education and religious groups still face many obstacles in their activities.

In China, the report commented that the government continues to perpetrate particularly severe violations of the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief.

Ongoing violations

Egypt, Eritrea, and Iran also continue to severely violate religious freedom. Regarding Iran the report said that: The government of Iran continues to engage in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, including prolonged detention, torture, and executions based primarily or entirely upon the religion of the accused.

More:

The State of Religious Freedom