News
Sunday, May 04, 2008
US religious rights panel wants Pakistan, Vietnam blacklisted
* US Commission on International Religious Freedom says Pakistan government’s response towards violence against minorities ‘inadequate’
WASHINGTON: A United States religious freedom watchdog on Friday asked the State Department to include Pakistan, Vietnam and Turkmenistan in its global blacklist of countries violating religious freedom, AFP reported. In its recommendation to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom also wanted Myanmar, China and North Korea to be kept in the department’s “countries of particular concern” blacklist, together with Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Eritrea and Uzbekistan. The independent commission, established through the US law to monitor religious freedom across the globe, also kept Afghanistan and Bangladesh on its watchlist, together with Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia and Nigeria. The 10-member panel was divided on whether to downgrade predominantly Muslim Iraq, where widespread persecution of Christians has been reported, from the watchlist to blacklist states, saying it needed more time to make the decision. The commission makes an annual recommendation to the State Department ahead of its compilation of its annual report on international religious freedom. The panel wanted Vietnam to be re-included in the department’s blacklist, saying the government continued to imprison and detain dozens of individuals advocating for religious freedom reforms in the communist-led state. Vietnam was removed from the list in November 2006. In Pakistan, the commission said it did not see major improvements in religious freedom even though the country had gone through a democratic transition following landmark elections. Inadequate response: Pakistan should be blacklisted because of inadequate government response to sectarian violence against Shias, Ahmadis, Christians and Hindus, the commission told Reuters. “Despite the dramatic events in Pakistan in the past year, the commission finds that all of the serious religious freedom concerns, including violence, on which it has previously reported, persist,” AFP quoted panel as saying. The panel said concerns over Indonesia remained, citing communal violence and the government’s “inability or unwillingness to curb it” as well as what it called the forcible closures of places of worship of religious minorities. It also referred to the growing political power and influence of religious extremists “who harass and sometimes instigate violence” against moderate Muslim leaders and members of religious minorities. “There are persistent fears that Indonesia’s commitment to secular governance, ethnic and religious pluralism, and a culture of tolerance will be eroded by some who promote extremist interpretations of Islam,” it said. agencies
Courtesy Daily Times