Commission Issues List of Countries Violating Religious Freedom - Canada Not Included

The latest list of countries violating religious freedom has been released by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2005

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today announced its 2005 recommendations to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on “countries of particular concern,” or CPCs. The 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) requires that the United States designate as CPCs those countries whose governments have engaged in or tolerated systematic and egregious violations of the universal right to freedom of religion or belief. The Commission’s recommendations for 2005 include, for the first time, Uzbekistan. In addition, the Commission reaffirmed its 2004 recommendations that the Secretary of State designate the following countries as CPCs: Burma, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), Eritrea, Iran, Pakistan, People’s Republic of China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam. India was removed from the Commission’s recommended list of CPC countries.

The Commission also has established a Watch List of countries where conditions do not rise to the statutory level requiring CPC designation but which require close monitoring due to the nature and extent of violations of religious freedom engaged in or tolerated by the governments. Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, and Nigeria remain on the Commission’s Watch List, and Bangladesh has been added this year. Laos and Georgia were removed from the Watch List, although concerns about religious freedom in both these countries persist and the Commission continues to monitor them closely. In addition, the Commission is closely monitoring the situations in Afghanistan, India, Iraq, and Russia.

My Comments:
I notice Canada doesn't appear on the list. But perhaps our "neighbor" to the north should be added.

After all, Canada is currently prosecuting Catholic Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary for speaking out in a pastoral letter against Prime Minister Paul Martin's bill to legalize homosexual "marriage". The Bishop's statements that the Catholic Church considers "homosexual acts to be intrinsically disordered and gravely sinful" have caused the government to seek to "silence the Church and marginalize it" by trying Bishop Henry for alleged human rights violations.

For more on this story, see also:

Religious freedom under attack in Canada

"It’s about Children, Stupid!" Says Bishop Fred Henry on Homosexual "Marriage"

A Shepherd Speaks

Bishop Fred Henry pulls no punches