The U.S. government's annual report on religious freedom warned that key allies such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are among countries 'of particular concern' for religious intolerance. In addition, religious freedom is threatened in Iraq and Afghanistan according to the report.
The report is produced annually by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. A total of 11 nations were listed as 'countries of particular concern' including Burma, China, Eritrea, Pakistan, North Korea, Iran, Sudan, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
Commission chairman Michael Cromartie sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice explaining that the panel is trying to draw attention to 'countries whose governments have engaged in or tolerated systematic and egregious violations of religious freedom.'
Cromartie told Rice, 'The situations in Afghanistan and Iraq serve to underscore the precarious state of this fundamental freedom.' He described Iraq and Afghanistan as two countries where 'the universal right to religious freedom is imperiled.'
Ironically, the report said that 'Religious extremism, even in official circles, is an increasing threat to democratic consolidation in Afghanistan.' The United States sent troops to Afghanistan in part because of the rigid intolerance of the Taliban regime.
The recent case in Afghanistan of a man who faced possible trial and execution for converting from Islam to Christianity was one such example sited by the report.
Sectarian violence in Iraq between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims was also cited as a problem. 'There has been an ongoing stream of violence and extremism in Iraq driven by religious intolerance,' the report said.
Saudi Arabia was given particularly harsh treatment by the report. It concluded that 'freedom of religion does not exist' in Saudi Arabia and that the Saudis financed 'extreme religious intolerance and hatred.'
The commission also criticized the Bush administration for failing to punish the Saudis for the violations in last year's report.
Other nations listed as being on the commission's 'watch list' were Bangladesh, Belarus, Cuba, Indonesia, Nigeria Egypt.
