The United States Government has again failed to list Nigeria among countries where religious violations reign.
THE WHISTLER reported that the administration of former US President, Donald Trump, had in December 2020 designated Nigeria among countries where citizens are persecuted for their religious beliefs.
But in 2021, President Joe Biden’s administration removed Nigeria from the list.
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In a statement published on the US Department of State website, Secretary of State, Antony Blinken designated several Arab, African and Asian countries for tolerating religious freedom violations.
“As part of that enduring commitment, I have designated Burma, the People’s Republic of China, Cuba, the DPRK, 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 addition, I have designated Algeria, Azerbaijan, the Central African Republic, Comoros, and Vietnam as Special Watch List countries for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom,” the statement partly reads.
The US Department also designated al-Shabab, Boko Haram, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Houthis, ISIS-Sahel, ISIS-West Africa, al-Qa’ida affiliate Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin, and the Taliban as ‘Entities of Particular Concern’.
In 2018, the United States Department of State had designated Boko Haram and others as entities of particular concern for engaging in terrorist activities in Nigeria.
Blinken explained that the designation aligned with a core objective of U.S. foreign policy ever since the Congress passed and enacted the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998.
The act advances freedom of religion or belief around the world.
“Significant violations of religious freedom also occur in countries that are not designated. 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,” the statement partly reads.