Designate India as ‘country of particular concern’: US panel on religious freedom

• United States designates 12 countries, including China, Pakistan and Myanmar, as “countries of particular concern”
• This is the fourth time in a row that the Commission has found “severely deteriorating” religious freedoms in India
• We will also regularly engage countries about our concerns regarding limitations on freedom of religion or belief: Secretary of State Antony Blinken

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has criticized the US State Department for omitting India from the list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC). Apart from India, the rights group also raised concern for not including Nigeria in the list of CPC.

The USCIRF said it appeared inexplicable that the State department did not include India in its latest designations of “Countries of Particular Concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), added the authorities have turned a blind eye to both countries’ particularly severe religious freedom violations.

“There is no justification for the State Department’s failure to recognize Nigeria or India as egregious violators of religious freedom, as they each clearly meet the legal standards for designation as CPCs. USCIRF is tremendously disappointed that the Secretary of State did not implement our recommendations and recognize the severity of the religious freedom violations that both USCIRF and the State Department have documented in those countries,” said USCIRF Chair Nury Turkel. “The State Department’s own reporting includes numerous examples of particularly severe religious freedom violations in Nigeria and India.”

“There is no justification for the State Department’s failure to recognize Nigeria or India as egregious violators of religious freedom, as they each clearly meet the legal standards for designation as CPCs,” it said.

In line with the IRFA, the US State Department designated countries including Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as CPCs.

The USCRIF notably in its 2022 annual report recommended the re-designation of the 10 CPC countries, and also recommended CPC designation for Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Syria, and Vietnam.

The State Department placed Algeria, the Central African Republic (CAR), Comoros, and Vietnam. USCIRF recommended in its 2022 annual report that Algeria and CAR be placed on the SWL. It is to be noted that Azerbaijan, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan be included as well.

“USCIRF welcomes the State Department’s recognition of the worsening situations in both Cuba and Nicaragua this year. We also appreciate the State Department’s inclusion this year of CAR and Vietnam on its Special Watch List(SWL). While we believe conditions in Vietnam meet the CPC standard, we hope the State Department’s SWL designation will encourage the Vietnamese government to take concrete steps to address longstanding religious freedom concerns,” said USCIRF Vice Chair Abraham Cooper.

– INDIA NEWS STREAM