China, North Korea, and Pakistan have been designated as "Countries of Particular Concern" by the United States for participating in and tolerating "particularly severe violations of religious freedom," news agency PTI reported. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated in announcing the Religious Freedom Designations that strengthening religious or belief freedom has been a major goal of US foreign policy since Congress established and adopted the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998.
Blinken announced last week that as part of that "enduring commitment," he has designated Burma, China, Cuba, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as "Countries of Particular Concern for having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom." In Islamabad, Pakistan's Foreign Office disputed the US's "biassed" designation of it as a "country of particular concern" on Monday.
According to the Foreign Office, Pakistan is a diversified society with a strong legacy of interfaith cooperation, and it has taken extensive efforts to promote religious freedom and defend minority rights in accordance with its Constitution.
"We categorically reject Pakistan’s designation as 'a Country of Particular Concern' by the US State Department. We are deeply dismayed that the designation is based on biased and arbitrary assessment, detached from ground realities," the FO was quoted by PTI in its report.
According to the statement, Pakistan is adamant that the modern challenges of religious intolerance, xenophobia, and Islamophobia can be best addressed via constructive engagement and concerted efforts based on mutual understanding and respect.
In a similar vein, Pakistan has engaged the US bilaterally, and its reservations regarding the designation have been addressed to the US side, according to the FO.
Blinken also added Algeria, Azerbaijan, the Central African Republic, the Comoros, and Vietnam to the Special Watch List for committing or tolerating serious abuses of religious freedom.
Al-Shabab, Boko Haram, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Houthis, ISIS-Sahel, ISIS-West Africa, al-Qa'ida offshoot Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin, and the Taliban were listed as "Entities of Particular Concern." The senior US ambassador also stated that severe breaches of religious freedom occur in non-designated nations.
"Governments must end abuses such as attacks on members of religious minority communities and their places of worship, communal violence and lengthy imprisonment for peaceful expression, transnational repression, and calls to violence against religious communities, among other violations that occur in too many places around the world,” Blinken said.
He went on to say that the threats to religious freedom across the world are structural, systematic, and deeply established. "But with thoughtful, sustained commitment from those who are unwilling to accept hatred, intolerance, and persecution as the status quo we will one day see a world where all people live with dignity and equality,” Blinken said.