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US Commission: Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan Violate Religious
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Freedom
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=121231B:3919ACA Report says
leaders or governments of those countries control faith, threatening
freedom of religion The U.S. Commission on International Religious
Freedom says sectarian and religiously motivated violence persists in
Pakistan and that the government's response continues to be
insufficient.

The Commission's annual report says in Uzbekistan, restrictive laws on
religion severely limit the ability of religious communities to
function, and the government controls the manner in which the Islamic
faith is practiced.

The report says President Saparmurat Niyazov's monopoly of power and
absolute control in Turkmenistan render any independent religious
activity in the country impossible.

Afghanistan, where the former Taleban regime was once designated as a
particularly severe violator, has been added to a watch list of
countries that violate religious freedom. Also on the list is
Bangladesh where religious extremism threatens freedom of religion.

Though not on the watch list, the commission says it is closely
monitoring the situation in India and Sri Lanka.


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