The US has designated Pakistan and China amongst eight other nations that are of “particular concern for violation of religious freedom”, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has mentioned.
Pakistan and China along with Myanmar, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan had been placed in the list for engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom”, Mr Pompeo mentioned in a statement on Monday.
The State Department placed the Comoros, Cuba, Nicaragua and Russia on a Special Watch List (SWL) for governments that have engaged in or tolerated “severe violations of religious freedom”.
“Religious freedom is an unalienable right, and the bedrock upon which free societies are built and flourish. Today, the United States — a nation founded by those fleeing religious persecution, as the recent Commission on Unalienable Rights report noted — once again took action to defend those who simply want to exercise this essential freedom,” Mr Pompeo mentioned.
The US also designated al-Shabaab, al-Qaida, Boko Haram, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Houthis, ISIS, ISIS-Greater Sahara, ISIS-West Africa, Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin and the Taliban as ”Entities of Particular Concern”.
Mr Pompeo mentioned the US did not renew the prior ”Entity of Particular Concern” designations for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and ISIS-Khorasan due to the total loss of territory formerly controlled by these terrorist organisations.
“While these two groups no longer meet the statutory criteria for designation, we will not rest until we have fully eliminated the threat of religious freedom abuses by any violent extremist and terrorist groups,” he mentioned.
Mr Pompeo mentioned Sudan and Uzbekistan have been removed from the Special Watch List primarily based on substantial, concrete progress undertaken by their respective governments more than the previous year.
“Their courageous reforms of their laws and practices stand as models for other nations to follow,” he mentioned.
Notably, the State Department did not accept the USCIRF recommendation that India, Russia, Syria and Vietnam be also designated as CPCs.