US lays blame for religious repression

China is accused of repressing unofficial religions

The United States has accused six countries of being prey to totalitarian or authoritarian attempts to control religious belief or worship.

The six - China, Cuba, Laos, Burma, North Korea and Vietnam - were named as the worst offenders in the US State Department's annual report into religious freedom.

These inexcusable assaults on individual liberty and personal dignity cannot be justified in the name of any culture, in the name of any creed or in the name of any country

US Secretary of State Colin Powell

A second group, including Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, were criticised for being hostile to minority religions.

But Afghanistan, Egypt, Laos and parts of south-eastern Europe were praised for improvement in religious tolerance.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said the report "shines a much needed light on governments that flout international law and basic decency," by curbing people's rights to worship.

"These inexcusable assaults on individual liberty and personal dignity cannot be justified in the name of any culture, in the name of any creed or in the name of any country," he added.

Harsh criticism

The report has been produced annually since 1999, as required by Congress, although being listed as an offender carries no immediate punishment.

Six countries were singled out for being the worst for oppressing religion:

• China - Unapproved religious groups are kept under close watch and often harshly repressed in order to curb any threat to the authority of the government.
• Burma - The government continues to view religious freedom as a threat to national unity.
• Cuba - Worshippers in officially sanctioned churches are often subject to surveillance by government security forces.
• Laos - The government restricts all religions that fall outside Buddhism, especially Christianity.
• North Korea - There have been numerous reports that members of underground churches have been arrested, attacked or killed.
• Vietnam - Reports that Hmong Protestant Christians in the north-west have been forced to renounce their faith.

The report also pointed the finger of blame at Russia and a number of former Soviet states, singling out Belarus, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan for restricting the freedom of worship.

It noted that in Turkmenistan only two religions - Sunni Islam and Russian Orthodox Christianity - are legal.

Afghanistan has got better since the fall of the Taleban

The report added that Uzbekistan has some of the most restrictive registration requirements for religious groups and calls a new law on religion passed in Belarus earlier this month one of the most repressive in the region.

The law only allows for registration of religious groups if they have been present in the country for at least 20 years.

Improvements

But Afghanistan was praised for "significant improvement" following the overthrow of the Taleban.

"The new interim government has publicly stated a policy of religious tolerance. In the post-Taleban environment, religious minorities such as Shi'a, Hindus and Sikhs have all reported tolerance of their presence and practice," the report said.

The report also identified an improvement religious freedom in Egypt, with a "significant increase in public intercommunal dialogue".

In Laos, although marked out as having a poor overall record, there was a reported drop in religiously motivated arrests and forced renunciations of Christianity.

Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Romania were also reported to have improved their record on religious freedom.