Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Washington (Fides Service) - Religious freedom is in serious danger in many countries of Asia according to a report issued by the US state department on violation of religious freedom and the difficulties encountered by communities of believers in the world today.
On its “black list of repression” the report, in its sixth edition, includes Saudi Arabia but it has dropped Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Other countries harshly criticised for violent oppression of religious minorities besides Saudi Arabia are Myanmar, China, Iran, North Korea and Vietnam in Asia and Sudan and Eritrea in Africa.
“Government are there to protect human rights not to restrict them - US secretary of State Colin Powell said when he presented the report - too many people in the world are still deprived of the basic right to freedom of religion”.
The report says that some religious communities suffer because of totalitarian regimes. Others because governments deliberately refuse to protect religious minorities from discrimination and violence on the part of the rest of society.
According to the report in China “there are numerous believers in prison, who are maltreated and tortured because of their faith”, while it warns that North Korea “a Stalinist regime under which religious freedom simply does not exist, may have the highest number of people detained in prison because of their religious beliefs”.
The military regime in Myanmar, the report says, systematically represses human rights and refuses to let religious minorities build places of worship.
According to the report “there is no religious freedom” in Saudi Arabia and it deplores the fact that “this fundamental right is for Sunni Muslims only, it is denied to anyone who follows another religion”.
Eritrea and Vietnam are also on the list. The report criticises the government of Eritrea for allowing only four officially recognised groups to practice their faith and for “spying, molesting, arresting and detaining” members of other religions.
With regard to Vietnam the report says that the United States has repeatedly called on that government to “release religious prisoners, to outlaw forced renunciation of faith, stop physical abuse of believers and to reopen of hundreds of closed churches”, in various parts of the country.
Positive examples mentioned in the report include Georgia and Turkey whose governments have taken steps to increase religious tolerance. And Iraq, on the black list until last year because of religious oppression under Saddam Hussein, where the new government is taking steps to respect religious freedom.
(PA) (Agenzia Fides 16/9/2004 lines 35 words 365)
