Commission faults U.S. efforts to protect religious liberty abroad

Published: 2004-02-20

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- After five years of prodding, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom still faults the federal government's efforts to protect religious liberty abroad. In its annual recommendations of countries that should be given the harshest designation for violations of religious freedom, the commission commends the U.S. government for making some progress, but complains that, of 11 nations it considers egregious violators of religious rights, six have not yet been included by the State Department among "countries of particular concern." "The designation of countries of particular concern (CPC) is one of the most important human rights acts taken by the U.S. government," notes commission chairman Michael K. Young in this year's recommendations. The commission urged the State Department to add Eritrea, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan and Vietnam to its list that already includes Burma (Myanmar), China, North Korea, Iran, Iraq and Sudan. The designation is supposed to trigger specific diplomatic and economic sanctions. The Feb. 10 report said changing circumstances warrant removing Iraq from the list. A minority opinion of the commission signed by four of the nine members would have left India off the list as well because the government seems to actively fight for religious freedom more often than not.

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