Author:
Publication: Daily News
Brief From Catholic World News
Date: September 5, 2000
WASHINGTON, DC, Sep.
5, 00 (CWNews.com) - The US State Department issued its second annual report
on religious freedom around the world on Tuesday with the list of offenders
not changing substantially.
Among the worst offenders
against religious freedom were China, Sudan, and Afghanistan, but also
included for rebuke were US allies Saudi Arabia, Germany, and France.
China's crackdown on the Falun Gong spiritualist sect earned the harshest
criticism, while Sudan was noted for its harsh restrictions on non-Muslims
and military attacks on Christian civilians in its pursuit of rebels in
the country's civil war.
Last year, the Clinton
administration chose not to use sanctions provided by Congress in the law
ordering the annual reports against the worst offenders-- China, Iran,
Iraq, Myanmar, and Sudan. US officials said they do not expect any
change from that policy this year.
Germany was added to
list because it labels the Church of Scientology a dangerous cult and imposes
restrictions on the group. France's 1996 law labeling 173 groups
as cult included groups which were "merely unfamiliar or unpopular," the
report said.
