International Religious Freedom Report International Religious Freedom Report
Released on September 15, 2004 by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, the The International Religious Freedom Report for 2004 is submitted to the Congress by the Department of State in compliance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. The law provides that the Secretary of State shall transmit to Congress each year "an Annual Report on International Religious Freedom supplementing the most recent Human Rights Reports by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters involving international religious freedom." This Annual Report includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide.
Specifics for the 2004 report can be accessed via the following links:
Preface, Acknowledgements, Introduction, and Executive Summary
Africa
East Asia and Pacific
Europe and Eurasia
Near East and North Africa
South Asia
Western Hemisphere
Appendices
Related Material
The 2004 report designates Saudi Arabia, Eritrea and Vietnam as new "Countries of Particular Concern" for particularly severe violations of religious freedom. The report also renamed Burma, China, Iran, North Korea and Sudan to the list.
The report also identifies countries that have achieved "significant improvement in the protection and promotion" of religious freedom, including Afghanistan, Georgia, India, Turkey and Turkmenistan.
In addition to the "Countries of Particular Concern," the report identifies many countries that restrict religious freedom through: totalitarian or authoritarian actions to control religious belief or practice, state hostility toward minority or non-approved religions, state neglect of societal discrimination against or persecution of minority religions, discriminatory legislation or policies prejudicial to certain religious, and denouncing certain religions by affiliating them with dangerous "cults" or "sects."
The report concludes with an overview of U.S. efforts to promote and support international religious freedom. The Executive Summary describes the work of U.S. officials around the world who advocate on behalf of religious freedom through dialog with government officials and religious leaders, sponsorship of events promoting religious freedom and support for religious freedom monitoring and advocacy groups. The United States in 2004 supported numerous initiatives in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, including in several of the "Countries of Particular Concern" such as China, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.
Because the right to freedom of religion is "enshrined as both a foundational American value and a universal principle," the report states that "promoting religious freedom continues to be an essential element of United States foreign policy."
3:31:44 PM 
|
