The blacklist includes countries that do not allow religious freedom.
The United States announced on Wednesday that it added Russia to its blacklist of countries “of particular concern” in terms of religious freedom.
On the contrary, Nigeria, which had been included in this list last year, was withdrawn, according to a statement from the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, which is expected this week in that African country.
The other countries listed for “having perpetrated or tolerated gross, systematic and persistent violations of religious freedom” are the same as in 2020: Saudi Arabia, Burma, China, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Cuba, Nicaragua, Algeria and the Comoros are on the intermediate list of “under surveillance” states.
“The United States will not deviate from its commitment to uphold freedom of religion and belief for each and every country,” Blinken said.
“In many places in the world, we continue to see governments harass, detain, threaten, imprison and kill people simply because of their willingness to live up to their beliefs.”
This latest annual report by US diplomacy on religious freedom in Russia highlighted “the misuse of the anti-extremism law to restrict the peaceful activities of religious minorities.”
Among those groups classified by Russia as extremists and therefore banned are the Christian group Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Muslim Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Tensions between Russia and the United States have recently escalated despite optimistic statements by Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin at a summit in June.
The issues of confrontation are diverse and range from the Russian military activities near Ukraine, the absence of Putin at the COP26 climate conference or the continuous cyberattacks. (I)
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