US Releases Names of ‘Religious Intolerant’ Countries (Full List)
The United States Department of State has released names of countries it designed as religious intolerant. Chiefly among these countries are Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, Pakistan among others.
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This was disclosed in a statement issued by Antony Blinken, US secretary of state titled: "Religious Freedom Designations."
In December 2020, the US had listed Nigeria among countries blacklisted for “violating religious freedom”.
Source: UGC
However, a year later, Nigeria was removed from the list.
Blinken in a statement categorised the list according to the severity of the actions of the said countries.
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Religious intolerant countries according a release by US Department of States.
- Burma
- The Peoples Republic of China
- Cuba
- Eritrea
- Iran
- Nicaragua
- The DPRK
- Pakistan
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Tajikistan
- Turkmenistan
Special watch list
- Algeria
- The Central African Republic
- Comoros
- Vietnam
Entities of particular concern
- Al-Shabab
- Boko Haram
- Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
- The Houthis
- ISIS-Greater Sahara
- ISIS-West Africa
- Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin
- The Taliban
- The Wagner Group
Part of Blinken statement added:
"Our announcement of these designations is in keeping with our values and interests to protect national security and to advance human rights around the globe. Countries that effectively safeguard this and other human rights are more peaceful, stable, prosperous and more reliable partners of the United States than those that do not.
“We will continue to carefully monitor the status of freedom of religion or belief in every country around the world and advocate for those facing religious persecution or discrimination. We will also regularly engage countries about our concerns regarding limitations on freedom of religion or belief, regardless of whether those countries have been designated.
“We welcome the opportunity to meet with all governments to address laws and practices that do not meet international standards and commitments, and to outline concrete steps in a pathway to removal from these lists.”
US Senate passes landmark bill protecting same-gender marriage
Meanwhile, following the abolition of aborti*n by the United States Supreme Court, the US Senate, in a bid to avoid the dissolution of same-gender marriage, passed a bill protecting it.
The bill was passed on Tuesday, November 29, at the senate following a unanimous vote from both the ruling and opposition party lawmakers.
Confirming the passage of the bill, United States President Joe Biden said:
Source: Legit.ng
