Religion News Service
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 15, 2004: The U.S. State Department on Wednesday (Sept. 15) for the first time included Saudi Arabia on a list of eight “countries of particular concern” for not allowing religious freedom, a potential stumbling block for relations between the United States and its Persian Gulf ally. The department’s sixth annual report on international religious freedom also added Eritrea and Vietnam to the roster of those countries guilty or tolerant of “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.” Countries that remained on the list were Burma, China, Iran, North Korea and Sudan. Iraq, which had been on the list under Saddam Hussein’s regime, was removed.
Designation on the “CPC” list does not carry immediate sanctions, and returning countries faced little more than diplomatic pressure. Still, human rights advocates say being listed among “the worst of the worst” is a significant signal. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent watchdog group chartered by Congress in 1998, had urged Powell to also add Pakistan and Turkmenistan to the CPC list in its May report. The panel was divided on whether India should also be listed.
HPI adds: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issues a report each year which is largely concerned with the rights of Christians to proselytize in other countries. Its recommendations have no impact on US policy unless specifically adopted by the Department of State. India, with its long history of religious freedom, is brought in for criticism each year. This year, it was cited for “significant improvements” in religious freedom. Still, it was cited for “state neglect” for persecution of minority religions along with Bangladesh, Egypt, Georgia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Nigeria and Sri Lanka.