WASHINGTON, Sept 15: The United States on Wednesday accused Saudi Arabia of severe violations of religious freedom in a rare official rebuke of a close ally and key oil supplier that potentially could lead to sanctions.
"Freedom of religion does not exist" in Saudi Arabia, the US State Department said in an annual report on religious freedom around the world that included the country for the first time among a list of eight countries "of particular concern".
"The (Saudi) government prohibits public non-Muslim religious activities," it said. "Non-Muslim worshippers risk arrest, imprisonment, lashing, deportation, and sometimes torture for engaging in religious activity that attracts official attention."
Wednesday's surprise designation allows for a range of sanctions on Saudi Arabia, but there was no expectation any would be applied on the world's largest oil supplier. "Rather, it's just our way of sending a clear signal to the Saudis that this is a serious issue for us, a problem, and that we want to talk to them about allowing tolerance of religious beliefs and other practices," said a State Department official.
Besides Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Eriteria were also classified as "countries of particular concern" for the first time in the US report. The report maintained China, Myanmar, Iran, North Korea and Sudan in the category among alleged violators of religious freedom.
Iraq, which was included in the category together with the five countries in 2003, was removed from the list this year in keeping with the department's precedent not to report on "our own governance."
The reporting period ends on June 30, 2004, which roughly coincided with the date of the transfer of power from the Coalition Provision Authority to the Iraqi interim government.
The report also maintained Myanmar, China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam as "totalitarian regimes" restricting religious freedom in their societies. The department said that Cuba and the five Asian nations regarded some or all religious groups as enemies of the state and that the practice of religion was often seen by them as a threat to power. US law mandates that the State Department issue an annual report on the status of religious freedom around the world. -AFP
