Table of Contents
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?
US blacklists 10 countries, including China and Pakistan, for ‘severe religious freedom violations’ US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the countries – China, Pakistan, Iran, North Korea, Eritrea, Mynamar, Saudi Arabi, Sudan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan – were designated as “Countries for Particular Concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.
INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT OF 1998
The Act was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on October 27, 1998. Narendra Modi is the only person ever banned under this law
U.S STATEMENT
“In far too many places across the globe, individuals continue to face harassment, arrests, or even death for simply living their lives in accordance with their beliefs,” Pompeo said in a statement. “The United States will not stand by as spectators in the face of such oppression. Protecting and promoting international religious freedom is a top foreign policy priority of the Trump Administration.”
NOTES
In January 2018, the US had placed Pakistan on special watchlist for “severe violations of religious freedom”. On 11 December 2018 Pakistan was put on the blacklist. The US has removed Uzbekistan from the list, but placed it on the watchlist. Comoros and Russia have also been added to the special watch list. Among militant organisations, the Islamic State group, the Taliban, al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al-Shabab, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, the Houthis and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province have been designated as “Entities of Particular Concern”.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
The downgrade means that Pakistan could be hit with U.S. sanctions, although Pompeo waived those penalties in the U.S. national interest.
NOTES
U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback said the decision to designate Pakistan was largely the result of criminal blasphemy laws in the country. He said half of the world’s population of prisoners jailed for blasphemy are in Pakistan.
PAKISTAN’S RESPONSE
Pakistan rejected the “unilateral and politically motivated pronouncement”, and suggested the US introspect over the “exponential rise” of Islamophobia and antiSemitism in America.
PAKISTAN’S RESPONSE
Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari – US ignoring religious intolerance in India
PAKISTAN’S RESPONSE
“The timing of the US move smacks of pure political blackmailing because it comes in the wake of Pakistan opening the Katarpur corridor to ease access for the Sikhs of India,” the statement reads.
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