U.S. Studies Religious Persecution
By GEORGE GEDDA
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) _ A U.S State Department report released Thursday found
evidence of widespread religious persecution in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan,
all under varying degrees of authoritarian rule, and also uncovered
religious discrimination in some democratic countries, including Israel
and India.
The report, covering 194 countries and territories, is the first of what
will become and annual assessment of the state of religious freedom around
the world. The most serious violators could eventually face economic
sanctions.
The study stressed that religious persecution is not confined to a
particular faith. "Throughout the world, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus,
Jews, Muslims, and other believers continue to suffer for their faith,"
it said.
While the report did not rank the countries based on the degree to which
they limit freedom, the excesses attributed to the Iraqi government stood
out.
"(President) Saddam Hussein has for decades conducted a brutal campaign
of murder, summary execution and protracted arbitrary detention against
the religious leaders and adherents of the Shiite Muslim population,"
the report said.
It said Iraqi security forces have murdered senior Shiite clerics,
desecrated mosques and holy sites, arrested tens of thousands of Shiites
and forcibly prevented Shiites from practicing their religion."
Shiites in Afghanistan also suffered persecution and killing at the hands
of the Taliban-led government in Kabul. Afghan police also impose "severe
physical punishment and imprisonment" for deviations from codes of worship
and dress," the report said.
It said Iran is intent on eradicating the Baha'is through prolonged
detention and imprisonment, confiscation and desecration of graveyards and
other holy places. It added that other religious minorities in Iran also
suffer officially sanctioned religious discrimination.
In general, the report made clear that democratic countries are far more
tolerant of religious diversity than are countries run by totalitarian or
authoritarian regimes. The report credits India, for example, for respecting
constitutional provisions guaranteeing freedom of religion.
But it said, tension between Muslims and Hindus in India, and to a lesser
extent between Hindus and Christians, "continue to pose a challenge to the
concepts of secularism, tolerance and diversity on which the state was
founded," the report said. It added that state and local governments only
partially respect religious freedom. The report also said there have been
numerous reports of human rights abuses carried out by the mostly Hindu
security forces against the predominantly Muslim population in the region
of Kashmir controlled by India.
As for India's rival, Pakistan, the report said discriminatory legislation
has encouraged an atmosphere of "religious intolerance, which has led to
acts of violence by extremists against members of religious minorities,
including Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis and Zikris."
In democratic Israel, the report said the country's 20 percent Arab
population does not receive the same quality of education, housing,
employment opportunities and social services as Jews.
©Copyright 1999, Associated Press
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