2015 US Report on Religious Freedom: "380 Religious Minorities Imprisoned in Iran"
On Wednesday, August 10, the US State Department published its annual report on religious freedom in the world, in which, as in previous years, it emphasized the continued restrictions imposed on religious minorities in various countries, including Iran.
The US government report on the continued restrictions imposed on religious minorities in various countries, including Iran, relies on documented cases, but at the beginning it points to the persistence of religious and sectarian prejudice in every corner of the world and states that all countries are committed to respecting religious freedom and people's religious beliefs.
In a press conference, US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken began the 2015 report on the state of religious freedom in the world with the brutal killing of a 19-year-old Afghan citizen named Farkhunda Malekzada by a group of fanatics in Kabul. He listed other cases of violations of religious freedom in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan, while emphasizing the role of non-state actors such as the Islamic State group in suppressing people of other faiths.
Mr. Blinken said: "Previously, the US State Department's reports were limited to the actions of governments, but now terrorist groups such as ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, and Boko Haram have also been added to the list of major violators of religious freedom."
In the section on religious restrictions in Iran, the US State Department report first mentions the execution of twenty people on charges of "enmity against God" and says that among those executed were Sunni Kurdish Iranians.
In addition, a number of other Sunni prisoners, including clerics of this religion, are awaiting execution.
The US government report, citing the Iranian Human Rights Documentation Center, says that by the end of last year, at least 380 religious minorities were imprisoned in the Islamic Republic's prisons, of which about 250 were Sunnis, 82 Baha'is, 26 Christian converts, 16 Sufis, and two Zoroastrians.
The US State Department, citing representatives of the Baha'i faith, stated in its annual report that the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran continues to prevent Baha'i religious gatherings and the normal activities of their institutions, persecutes Baha'i believers, and does not recognize their ownership of their property.
The report also states that regarding Christians, and especially Christian converts, Iranians in exile say that the persecution and arrest of these converts is being carried out at a disproportionate level.
While presenting the annual report on the state of religious freedom in the world last year, Anthony Blinken emphasized that the United States firmly believes in religious freedom for all people.
"In the 21st century, the true assets of countries lie in their human resources and their ability to use those resources and respect freedom," he said.
The US Deputy Secretary of State added: "Countries that are able to fully utilize this potential of their people and invest in the health, well-being, and diversity of their societies will prosper in the 21st century."
The US government's annual report also includes a section dedicated to restrictions and violations of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia, and it refers to cases in which the authorities' intolerance towards other religious believers is strongly condemned.
The report also briefly mentions cases of violations of citizens' religious rights in more than twenty countries around the world, and at the same time states that in 2015, the second largest Catholic church was opened in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Source: Radio Farda
