Analysis Washington, D.C.
The Obama administration isnt afraid to call out Republicans for playing politics on Capitol Hill, or Wall Street for runaway profits or insurance companies for health care woes.
But why, when it comes to protecting religious freedom abroad, is the State Department so hesitant to name names?
Watchdogs say the State Department missed a key opportunity to put teeth into its annual assessment of global religious freedom, which was released by Secretary of State John Kerry Monday.
Continuing a pattern begun under President George W. Bush, the report does not include a new list of countries of particular concern, or CPCs the diplomatic term for countries that either actively suppress religious freedom or dont do enough to protect it.
The list varies little from year to year North Korea, Iran, China and a handful of others are routinely cited as the worst offenders. But the new report contains no worst-of-the-worst list that would single out offenders for sanctions or other punishment.
The lack of new CPC designations in the report is a big flaw, according to Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., the dean of religious liberty watchdogs on Capitol Hill.
As religious freedom conditions continue to deteriorate globally, it is more important than ever that the State Department use this vital tool to press governments to end abuses, protect their citizens and respect this fundamental human right, said Wolf and two other congressmen who fired off a letter to Kerry on Monday.
Their concern was echoed by others who monitor religious liberty abroad, including the U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom, the independent body created by Congress that each year puts out its own list of worst violators.
Knox Thames, USCIRFs director of policy and research, said the commission believes that the 1998 law that mandates the State Department report also requires new designations of CPCs annually. The current CPC list dates from 2011.
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