Moscow was last year on the list, less worrying, “countries under surveillance”. Nigeria, which had been registered on black list in 2020, was removed.
Le Monde with AFP
The United States has revised, Wednesday, November 17, their blacklist of countries “particularly of concern” in terms of religious freedom, including Russia. Nigeria, which had been entered on this list last year, has been removed, according to a statement by the head of the American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, who must go this week in this African country.
Other designated countries “for perpetrating or tolerating flagrant, 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. Algeria, the Comoros, Cuba and Nicaragua are placed on the intermediate list of “under surveillance”.
“The United States will not turn away from their commitment to plead for freedom of religion or belief for all and in every country,” said Blinken.
“In too many places around the world, we continue to see governments harassing, stopping, threatening, incarcerating and killing people simply for their desire to live in agreement with their belief.”
“Persecutions” for Jehovah’s Witnesses
The minister does not specify in his communiqué which is criticized for the countries put to the index. But its designations rely on the annual report on religious freedom written by its services. The last, published in May, notes, with respect to Russia, “a diversion of the law on extremism on the part of the government to restrict the peaceful activities of religious minorities”. In particular, it is state of “persecutions” for Jehovah’s Witnesses.
“Religious and non-governmental organizations reported that the authorities continued to aim for investigations, to stop, incarcerate, to torture or physically abuse persons, or to seize their property, because of their religious faith, including members of groups that the government classifies as extremists and prohibited “, including Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Islamist Hizb Ut-Tahrir movement, according to this report.
Russia was the previous year on the American list of countries under surveillance. Its registration on the blacklist intervenes at a time when the tension topics between Washington and Moscow multiply, despite the appeasement desire posted by the presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin at their June summit in Geneva.
In recent days, the United States warned Russia about military movements at the Ukrainian border or for its “influence” with Belarus in the migrant crisis at the gates of the European Union, and Have strongly denounced a Russian anti-catellite missile shot judged “dangerous and irresponsible”. The US President has also criticized the absence of his Russian counterpart at e Conference of the Parties (COP) for the United Nations climate. These two great rival powers, whose relations are at the lowest since the end of the Cold War, continue to argue on the workforce of their embassies, after several waves of diplomatic expulsions.