(MENAFN- Pajhwok Afghan News) KABUL (Pajhwok): The United States has added Pakistan to its blacklist of countries that violate religious freedom and mistreat minorities, the State Department said on Tuesday.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he had designated Pakistan among €œcountries of particular concern€ in a congressionally-mandated annual report.
A year earlier, the secretary had put Pakistan on a special watch list €œIn far too many places across the globe, individuals continue to face harassment, arrests or even death for simply living in accordance with their beliefs.€
Pompeo said in a statement from the State Department: €œThe United States will not stand by as spectators in the face of such oppression.€.
China, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan remained for another year on the list of countries of particular concern.
Pompeo also put on the watch list Russia for its treatment of Jehovah's Witnesses - the Christian group known for proselytisation.
He said the US had serious concerns about Pakistan€™s oppression of religious minorities. The goal of adding Pakistan to the blacklist was to press the country into respecting minorities, he added.
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