Author: Press Trust of India
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: September 15, 2011
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pak-omission-from-religious-freedom-list-glaring-us-panel/846857/0
A US commission on religious freedom on Wednesday
expressed disappointment on the omission of countries like Pakistan and Vietnam
from the list of nations designated as of particular concern on religious
freedom by the State Department.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton designated
eight countries of particular concern - Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North
Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan - for having been long-term, chronic
and egregious violators of religious freedom.
The US Commission on International Religious
Freedom (USCIRF) said six other countries - Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan,
Turkmenistan, and Vietnam - too had been included in the list which it recommended
to the State Department early this year.
"The Commission welcomes the first CPC
designations of the Obama administration, but is concerned that no new countries
were added to the list," said Leonard Leo, USCIRF Chair. "Repeating
the current list continues glaring omissions, such as Pakistan and Vietnam.
Since CPC designations can be made at any time, we respectfully urge Secretary
Clinton to consider the six additional countries we recommended for designation,"
Leo said.
Earlier in the day, Assistant Secretary of
State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour, Michael Posner said the Pakistan
government had not reformed a blasphemy law that has been used to prosecute
religious minorities and, in some cases, Muslims who promote tolerance or
to settle personal vendettas.
"This year, there have also been several
assassinations of those who called for reform of the blasphemy laws, including
Punjab Governor Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti, the minister for minorities,"
Posner said. "The Government of Pakistan has taken steps to address these
rising concerns. For example, in March, Shahbaz Bhatti's brother, Paul, was
appointed a special adviser on religious minorities to the prime minister,"
he said. "In July, the government also created a ministry of national
harmony, which will have oversight for protecting religious minorities at
a national level," Posner added.
In its report, the State Department said,
despite some government steps to protect religious minorities, the Pakistani
government largely failed to take measures that could prevent societal intolerance
and violence against religious minorities and Muslims promoting tolerance.
"The government of Pakistan rarely prosecuted
perpetrators of extremist attacks, deepening climate of impunity. The public
discourse on the blasphemy laws intensified, which increased the government's
reluctance to address them, and it distanced itself from a bill introduced
by a member of the ruling party to amend the blasphemy laws," it said.
