U.S. State Department Releases International Religious Freedom Report

September 15, 2004

Source: U.S. Department of State

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/

On September 15, 2004 the U.S. Department of State released the International Religious Freedom Report for 2004. The report singles out Burma, China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam as totalitarian regimes that seek to control religion among their citizens. The report also lists countries in which there is government-sponsored discrimination or persecution of religions not recognized by the state, as well as countries where the government is neglectful of persecution of religious minorities within their countries. The report also gives a nod to certain countries that have shown "significant improvements in the promotion of religious freedom;" countries listed in this category are Afghanistan, Georgia, India, Turkey and Turkmenistan. The entire report is available on the State Department's website. The Executive Summary gives a relatively brief overview of the report findings.