The International Religious Freedom Act prescribes that a section of the Executive Summary identify countries where "significant improvement in the protection and promotion" of religious freedom has occurred.
Afghanistan. The Constitution, ratified in January, helps secure religious freedom and equal rights for women and minorities that had been severely restricted under the Taliban regime. Article 7 commits the state to abide by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international treaties and conventions to which the country is a party; these documents include robust protections for religious freedom. Since the ratification of the constitution in January, there have been few instances of religious intolerance. There have been no more reported blasphemy cases or attacks on mullahs or mosques. The Government also encouraged Sikhs, Hindus, and other minorities to return, and there was a small but steady flow of returnees during the year. A curriculum and textbooks that emphasize general Islamic terms and principles steadily replaced the preaching of extremist views in schools. All Kabul schools and the surrounding provinces were using the new texts, which covered just under half of all provinces.
Georgia. The President, the National Security Council Secretary, and the Government Ombudsman have been effective advocates for religious freedom and have made numerous public speeches and appearances in support of minority religious groups. The Human Rights unit in the Legal Department of the Procuracy is charged with protecting human rights, including religious freedom. The Ministry of Internal Affairs (including the police) and the Procuracy in certain instances have become more active in the protection of religious freedom. After the transfer of power in November 2003, they pursued criminal cases against Orthodox extremists for their continued attacks against religious minorities. In March, the new government arrested the defrocked Orthodox priest, Basili Mkalavishvili, the leader of a violent movement of Orthodox believers who was responsible for hundreds of violent attacks against religious minorities. The USG and others in the international community had long urged this arrest, which has led to a noticeable improvement in lessening the harassment of minority Protestant believers.
India. The status of religious freedom improved in a number of ways during the period covered by this report, yet problems remained in some areas. By the end of its administration, the coalition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had adopted a more inclusive rhetoric regarding minorities and took some steps to decrease violence. In late May, a new coalition came to power that pledged to respect the country’s traditions of secular government and religious tolerance and to pay particular attention to the rights of religious minorities. Both new Prime Minister Singh and President Abdul Kalam have spoken out strongly against the riots in Gujarat state in 2002 that left at least 1,000 Muslims dead, and they have highlighted the need to provide equal justice and opportunities for religious minorities. The GOI has already taken some positive steps. Shortly after the elections, the state of Tamil Nadu announced the repeal of its anti-conversion law. There also has been some progress on conflict resolution in Gujarat. In April, the Supreme Court ordered the re-trial of the Best Bakery case, in which Hindu extremists killed 14 Muslims when the bakery was attacked by a large mob. As a way of ensuring the fairness of the process, the court ordered the trial to be moved from Gujarat to the jurisdiction of Mumbai. More recently, it ruled that the Gujarat government must re-open nearly 2000 cases stemming from the 2002 violence. In May, shortly after the elections, federal security forces were sent across the state to protect Muslim riot survivors and key witnesses in riot cases.
Article comments
1 - Jim Carruthers
Lemme see, uhm, working to bring back Cthulhu from the city of R'lyeh, and trying to organize an anarcho-syndicalist soccer league. And then there's the grow-op, but we don't talk about that. As for child-care, those thieving street urchins are almost as much bother as the revenue they bring in, so I'd have to call that a break-even.
2 - Eric Olsen
Say, do you know a guy named "Artful Dodger"?
3 - Jim Carruthers
But I do know about food, glorious food. But, yah, I might have seen him. Who wants to know?
4 - Eric Olsen
his mum misses him