Watchdog Rips State Dept. Decision to Give Nigeria, India a Pass on Religious Freedom, Again

Patrick Goodenough | December 5, 2022

 

The State Department’s decision to exclude Nigeria and India from a blacklist of countries where severe religious persecution is occurring has drawn a sharp rebuke from a statutory watchdog, which called the decision “inexplicable.”

In its second set of annual “country of particular concern” (CPC) designations under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), the Biden State Department overruled the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommendations on Nigeria and India.

“There is no justification for the State Department’s failure to recognize Nigeria or India as egregious violators of religious freedom, as they each clearly meet the legal standards for designation as CPCs,” said the commission’s chair Nury Turkel. 

He noted that the State Department’s own annual report on international religious freedom, published last June, included “numerous examples of particularly severe religious freedom violations in Nigeria and India.”...........To Read More.....

• State Dept. Explains Omission of India and Nigeria as Countries of Concern for Religious Freedom Violations

My Take - I guess all those dead bodies don't count in their assessment?