{"id":15520,"date":"2016-08-16T09:02:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-16T09:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/the-us-talks-tough-on-religious-persecution---but-do-its-actions-match-99800\/"},"modified":"2016-08-16T09:02:00","modified_gmt":"2016-08-16T09:02:00","slug":"the-us-talks-tough-on-religious-persecution-but-do-its-actions-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/the-us-talks-tough-on-religious-persecution-but-do-its-actions-match\/","title":{"rendered":"The US talks tough on religious persecution – but do its actions match?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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Washington D.C., Aug 16, 2016 \/ 03:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Religious freedom advocates praised the State Department\u2019s annual International Religious Freedom report published last week, but insisted that words must be followed by action.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe at USCIRF applaud the State Department for the excellent work that went into this report and its efforts to encourage countries around the world to adopt policies that respect this fundamental right,\u201d stated Fr. Thomas Reese, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which advises the State Department.<\/p>\n

However, he added, the U.S. must \u201cnot miss this opportunity to strengthen our commitments with effective actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Administration must do more than occasionally raise issues of concern,\u201d stated Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who chairs the House subcommittee on global human rights.<\/p>\n

He added that \u201cthey must use targeted sanctions, visa denials, and other measures to address a global crisis and hold responsible individuals accountable for religious persecution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last Wednesday\u2019s religious freedom report, which documented abuses in 200 countries and territories as well as steps taken to protect the freedoms of various religions, marked anti-blasphemy laws as one of the top concerns for religious freedom.<\/p>\n

Around one-fourth of the world\u2019s countries have anti-blasphemy laws, the Ambassador at-Large for International Religious Freedom David Saperstein noted, citing Pew Research numbers. Such laws have a \u201cchilling, sometimes deadly effect,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

This is because such laws are routinely abused by governments or sectarian mobs to persecute religious minorities who are not members of the official or majority state religion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn many other Islamic societies, societal passions associated with blasphemy \u2013 deadly enough in and of themselves \u2013 are abetted by a legal code that harshly penalizes blasphemy and apostasy,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cFalse accusations, often lodged in pursuit of personal vendettas or for the personal gain of the accuser, are not uncommon. Mob violence as a result of such accusations is disturbingly common,\u201d it added. In Pakistan, for instance, there is no punishment for making a false accusation of blasphemy, and no evidence is required to bring an accusation to court.<\/p>\n

Also, governments use the harsh consequences of such laws to crack down on minority religions.<\/p>\n

Pakistan currently has the highest number of people on death row because of blasphemy convictions, including Asia Bibi, a mother of five who allegedly insulting the prophet Muhammad. She was accused by her neighbor of the crime in 2009 and convicted in 2010.<\/p>\n

USCIRF praised the State Department for bringing \u201cadditional attention to the pernicious consequences of blasphemy laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

It also commended the State Department for placing 10 countries on its \u201ccountries of particular concern\u201d list, the worst violators of religious freedom where governments are either actively persecuting religious minorities or are powerless to stop religiously-motivated sectarian violence and terrorism.<\/p>\n

Those countries are China, Burma, Eritrea, North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.<\/p>\n

Seven more countries should be added to the CPC list, the commission maintained: Central African Republic, Nigeria, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Egypt, and Vietnam.<\/p>\n

The U.S. has authority to take action against the countries on the CPC list to hold them accountable for their violations of religious freedom. However, the agency is also permitted to waive action against CPC designees in certain cases, and they have done so for four countries, USCIRF noted.<\/p>\n

This has undermined the very purpose of the list, they added, and gives \u201clittle incentive for CPC-designated countries to make improvements,\u201d so the waivers should be time-restricted.<\/p>\n

One of the actions the U.S. can take is to \u201cnegotiate a binding agreement\u201d with one of these countries to pressure them to improve their human rights situation. The U.S. should do so with Burma and Vietnam, USCIRF added.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the report \u201cshows that the world is experiencing a religious freedom crisis that directly challenges U.S. interests around the world,\u201d Smith stated.<\/p>\n

However, he added, \u201cthe decision to downplay attacks on religious believers in Vietnam, Pakistan, India, and Cuba while expanding diplomatic, economic or military ties with these countries is tragic for those who suffer abuses every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vietnam and Pakistan are both countries that should be on the CPC list but aren\u2019t, he said.<\/p>\n

In Pakistan, Christians and other religious minorities are not sufficiently protected from religiously-motivated violence, the report said.<\/p>\n

And in Vietnam, the government meddles too much in religion out of \u201cnational security and social unity\u201d concerns, the report added, forcing all religions to register and harassing the religious groups that do not.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in Cuba, \u201creligious freedom conditions and human rights conditions overall deteriorated\u201d there after the U.S. re-opened formal diplomatic ties with Cuba, Smith added, and the State Department should have been harder on them in the report.<\/p>\n

While the U.S. continues to dialogue with India, religious freedom must be a vital part of the conversation, Smith said, because \u201cthe Administration cannot shy away from the fact that in India religious minorities face ongoing violence, forced conversations, and discrimination with little serious governmental efforts made to stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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Washington D.C., Aug 16, 2016 \/ 03:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Religious freedom advocates praised the State Department’s annual International Religious Freedom report published last week, but insisted that words must be followed by action.<\/p>\n

“W…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nThe US talks tough on religious persecution - but do its actions match?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington D.C., Aug 16, 2016 \/ 03:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Religious freedom advocates praised the State Department’s annual International Religious Freedom report published last week, but insisted that words must be followed by action. “W...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/the-us-talks-tough-on-religious-persecution-but-do-its-actions-match\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The US talks tough on religious persecution - 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