December 03, 2022
The USA on Friday designated China, Iran and Russia, amongst others, as international locations of specific concern below the Spiritual Freedom Act over extreme violations, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated.
Blinken in an announcement stated these designated as international locations of specific concern - which additionally embody North Korea and Myanmar - engaged in or tolerated extreme violations of spiritual freedom.
Algeria, the Central African Republic, Comoros and Vietnam had been positioned on the watch listing.
A number of teams, together with the Kremlin-aligned Wagner Group, a personal paramilitary group that's energetic in Syria, Africa and Ukraine, had been additionally designated as entities of specific concern. The Wagner group was designated over its actions within the Central African Republic, Blinken stated.
"All over the world, governments and non-state actors harass, threaten, jail, and even kill people on account of their beliefs," Blinken stated within the assertion.
"The USA is not going to stand by within the face of those abuses."
He added that Washington would welcome the chance to fulfill with all governments to stipulate concrete steps for removing from the lists.
Washington has elevated stress on Iran over the brutal crackdown on protesters. Girls have waved and burned headscarves - necessary below Iran's conservative gown codes - through the demonstrations that mark one of many boldest challenges to the Islamic Republic because the 1979 revolution.
The United Nations says greater than 300 folks have been killed to date and 14,000 arrested in protests that started after the Sept. 16 loss of life in custody of 22-year-old Kurdish lady Mahsa Amini after she was detained for "inappropriate apparel."
United Nations consultants have additionally referred to as on majority Shi'ite Muslim Iran to cease persecution and harassment of spiritual minorities and finish the usage of faith to curtail the train of basic rights.
The Baha’i neighborhood is among the many most severely persecuted non secular minorities in Iran, with a marked enhance in arrests and focusing on this yr, a part of what the U.N. consultants referred to as broader coverage of focusing on dissenting beliefs or non secular practices, together with Christian converts and atheists.
The USA has expressed grave issues about human rights within the western Chinese language area of Xinjiang, which is residence to 10 million Uyghurs.
Rights teams and Western governments have lengthy accused Beijing of abuses in opposition to the primarily Muslim ethnic minority, together with pressured labor in internment camps.
The USA has accused China of genocide. Beijing vigorously denies any abuses.
The opposite international locations designated as international locations of specific concern had been Cuba, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
The U.S. Spiritual Freedom Act of 1998 requires the president – who assigns the perform to the secretary of State – to designate as international locations of specific concern states which might be deemed to violate non secular freedom on a scientific and ongoing foundation.
The act offers Blinken a variety of coverage responses, together with sanctions or waivers, however they aren't computerized.