Pakistan, nine other countries placed on US religious freedom blacklist

Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea and DPRK also on the list

The United States on Monday announced that Pakistan, along with nine other countries, has been categorised as “countries of part­ic­ular concern” (CPC) under its International Religious Freedom Act.

Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea and North Korea have also been designated as "countries of particular concern".

The announcement was made by Secre­t­a­ry of State Michael Pompeo and he also announced that Russia, Nicaragua, Cuba and Comoros have been placed on a special watch list for countries that engage in "severe violations of religious freedoms".

Today the U.S. designates Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, the DPRK, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as countries of concern under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 for engaging systematic, ongoing, egregious religious freedom violations.

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) December 7, 2020

Pakistan was designated in 2018 after years of US hesitation over concerns on the treatment of minorities. The country has been designated for the third consecutive year. However, India has been ignored and still not added to the list, despite its targeting of Muslims over cow slaughter allegations, occupied Kashmir lockdown and the citizenship act on communal lines. 

Pompeo said Washington is unwavering in its commitment to religious freedoms. "No country or entity should be allowed to persecute people with impunity because of their beliefs. These annual designations show that when religious freedom is attacked, we will act."

The U.S. is unwavering in its commitment to religious freedom. No country or entity should be allowed to persecute people with impunity because of their beliefs. These annual designations show that when religious freedom is attacked, we will act.

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) December 7, 2020

The commission’s 2020 report stated that Pakistan has designated as CPC for "engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA)".

It recommended that the US government "enter into a binding agreement, under Section 405(c) of IRFA, with the Pakistani government to encourage substantial steps to address religious freedom violations with benchmarks" including the "release blasphemy prisoners and other individuals imprisoned for their religion or beliefs".

It further recommended to Washington to "address extremist rhetoric often preceding attacks on minorities, while protecting freedom of expression, and remove from education curricula any content discriminatory to religious minorities".

The report, however, stated that “some high-profile acquittals” did take place in Pakistan over the last year. 

Pompeo also announced that Sudan and Uzbekistan from the list "based on significant, concrete progress” over the past year.  

This year's report also designated Al Qaeda, Somalia's Al Shabaab, Nigeria's BOKO Haram, Syria-based Hayat Tahrir al Sham, Yemen's Houthis, ISIS, ISIS-Greater Sahara, ISIS-West Africa, Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, and the Taliban