Washington D.C., Mar 23, 2012 / 03:04 am
Egypt is still among the world's worst violators of religious freedom, according to a U.S. commission whose 2012 report has named it as a “country of particular concern” for the second year in a row.
“In Egypt, an epicenter of the Arab Spring, hope turned to dismay, as human rights conditions, particularly religious freedom abuses, worsened dramatically under military rule,” the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom stated in its report released March 20.
The report covers the period from April 1, 2011 – two months after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigned – to Feb. 29, 2012. Other countries cited for violations during the same period include Burma, China, Iraq, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkey, and Vietnam.
During the reporting period, the commission found that Egyptian authorities “continued to prosecute and sentence citizens charged with blasphemy and allowed official media to incite violence against religious minority members, while failing to protect them or to convict responsible parties.”