World

Religious Bullies: Iraq, Afghanistan

September 5, 2000 / 1:35 PM EDT / AP

A U.S. government report released Tuesday says a significant percentage of the world's population does not have the right to religious freedom, and it labels Iraq and Afghanistan among the worst offenders.

"Much of the world's population lives in countries in which the right to religious freedom is restricted or prohibited," the second annual State Department report says.

The situation exists even though 144 countries belonging to an international covenant that acknowledges the right of all citizens to religious freedom, according to the assessment.

In 1998, Congress required the State Department to issue an annual report on the state of religious freedom worldwide. The 2000 report covers the period from July 1, 1999, to June 30, 2000, and covers 194 countries and territories.

Some highlights:

Iraq -- For decades, the government has conducted a "brutal campaign of murder, summary execution, and protracted arbitrary detention against religious leaders and adherents of the majority Shiite population." Security forces murdered senior Shiite clerics, desecrated mosques and holy sites, arrested tens of thousands of Shiites and forcibly prevents Shiites from practicing their religion.
Afghanistan -- The government has engaged in persecution and killing, particularly against the Shiite minority. "The Taliban enforced its strict interpretation of Islamic Shari'a law, and, according to reports, public executions, floggings, and amputations took place weekly against those who violated the law."
China -- Government respect for religious freedom in China deteriorated as the persecution of several religious minorities increased. While membership in many faiths grew rapidly and government supervision of religious activity was minimal in some regions, "government officials in other regions imposed tight regulations, closed houses of worship, and activity persecuted members of some unregistered religious groups."
Myanmar -- The government continued to repress systematically members of both minority faiths and the majority Buddhist population. "Buddhist monks who promoted human and political rights were arrested, and some Buddhist monasteries were destroyed. Government security forces frequently employed coercion to induce Christian members of the Chin ethnic minority to convert to Buddhism."

The report also found varying degrees of repression in communist countries such as Cuba, North Korea and Vietnam. Among countries friendly to the United States, the report said religious discrimination exists in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel.

The study concluded there were "significant improvements" in Azerbaijan and Laos. In Azerbaijan, the report traced the changed situation to a presidential pledge last November to improve the status of religious minorities.

In Laos, the government released in mid-June a large number oChristians who had been imprisoned because of their faith, the report said.

It added that there were noteworthy improvements in 31 other countries.