I had no idea this list existed. Very interesting Saudi Arabia's on it. Rather supports the decline of our relationship with them, per Debka.
I can think of others, certainly.
Administration’s List of Religious Freedom Violators Excludes Pakistan, Despite Blasphemy Laws
By Patrick Goodenough
September 16, 2011
Complete story:
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/administration-s-list-religious-freedom-violators-excludes-pakistan-despite-blasphemy
(CNSNews.com) – Almost 32 months after taking office, the Obama administration has for the first time designated “countries of particular concern” (CPCs) for religious persecution.
But despite urging from religious freedom advocates, it did not add several countries accused of egregious violations. Instead, it designated the same eight countries that were named as CPCs the last time such designations were made, four days before President Bush left the White House.
The countries designated this week as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released the annual report on international religious freedom were Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan.
CPC designation and the annual report are requirements under the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), which was designed to make the promotion of religious freedom around the world part of U.S. foreign policy.
Countries designated as CPCs – because their governments perpetrate or condone “systematic, ongoing, and egregious” abuses – face U.S. actions, including sanctions and diplomatic pressure to encourage improvements, although punitive actions may be waived.
The IRFA also established an independent, bipartisan body, the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), to advise the executive and legislative branches.
USCIRF Chairman Leonard Leo commended the State Department’s International Religious Freedom Office and ambassador-at-large for religious freedom Suzan Johnson Cook for their efforts, and he urged the administration to follow the release of the annual report “with vigorous U.S. diplomatic activity to seek improvements with respect to this fundamental human right.”
But Leo voiced disappointment that the administration had not heeded the commission’s recommendation to add to the CPC list Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam.
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