US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Friday that the US has designated countries including China, Iran and Russia as countries of concern for serious violations under the Religious Freedom Act.
In a statement, Brinken said countries designated as countries of particular concern, including North Korea and Myanmar, had engaged in or tolerated serious violations of religious freedom.
Algeria, Central African Republic, Comoros and Vietnam have been added to the watch list.
Several groups were also named as groups of particular concern, including the Wagner Group, which is affiliated with the Kremlin, a civilian paramilitary group operating in Syria, Africa and Ukraine. According to Blinken, the Wagner Group was designated because of its activities in the Central African Republic.
“All over the world, governments and non-state actors are harassing, threatening, imprisoning, and killing individuals,” Blinken said in a statement. I will not stand by.”
He added that Washington welcomes the opportunity to meet with all governments to outline concrete steps for delisting.
Washington is stepping up pressure on Iran over a brutal crackdown on protesters. During a demonstration marking one of the most audacious challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution, a woman waved and burned her headscarf, which is required under Iran’s conservative dress code.
More than 300 people have been killed and 14,000 arrested so far, according to the United Nations. The protests began after Masa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, died in custody on September 16 after being detained for “improper clothing.”
UN experts also called on Iran, which is a majority Shia Muslim, to end the persecution and harassment of religious minorities and stop using religion to curb the exercise of fundamental rights.
The Baha’i community is one of the most persecuted religious minorities in Iran, and has seen a notable increase in arrests and targeting this year, which UN experts say has been linked to Christian converts and atheists. It calls it part of a wider policy targeting dissenting beliefs and religious practices, including
The United States has expressed serious human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in western China, home to 10 million Uighurs.
Human rights groups and Western governments have long condemned Beijing’s human rights abuses against its predominantly Muslim minority, including forced labor in concentration camps.
The United States has accused China of genocide. Beijing categorically denies any abuse.
Other countries designated as countries of particular concern were Cuba, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
The United States’ Religious Freedom Act of 1998 designates states of particular concern to the President, who assigns the function to the Secretary of State, that are deemed to be systematically and persistently violating religious freedom. I am obliged to do so.
The law gives Blinken various policy responses, including sanctions and waivers, but they are not automatic.
