Georgia. Before the transfer of power in November, local police and security officials at times failed to protect nontraditional religious minority groups. The Georgian Orthodox church enjoys a tax-exempt status not available to other religious groups and lobbied Parliament and the government for laws that would grant it special status and restrict the activities of missionaries from nontraditional religions. Some members of nontraditional faiths were restricted in their worship by threats, intimidation, and the use of force by ultra-conservative Orthodox extremists whom the previous Government at times failed to control. On a number of occasions under the previous government, local police and security officials harassed non-Orthodox religious groups, particularly local and foreign missionaries, including members of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baptists, Evangelicals, Pentecostals, and Hare Krishnas. Because of the continuing violence against them, Jehovah’s Witnesses have refrained from public meetings in favor of gathering in private homes. For six weeks, protesters blockaded a home in Tbilisi to prevent Russian-speaking Pentecostals from attending worship services in the home. The USG repeatedly asked officials in the previous government to arrest the leader of the violent movement against minority religious groups, a de-frocked Orthodox priest, Basili Mkalavishvili. The new government arrested him in March, which has improved the situation noticeably for minority religious groups.
Guatemala. There is no government policy of discrimination, but a lack of resources and political will to enforce existing laws and to implement the Peace Accords limits the free expression of indigenous religious practice. Indigenous leaders note that Mayan culture does not receive the official recognition that it is due. The Government has not provided mechanisms for indigenous control of or free access to ceremonial sites considered sacred within indigenous culture. Individuals seeking to practice traditional religious ceremonies in sacred sites must pay an entrance fee or request permission far in advance from the Historical Anthropological Institute (a division of the Ministry of Culture). The Government's use of sacred sites as revenue-generating tourist destinations is considered by some indigenous groups to be an affront to their spiritual rights. In October 2001, the Government swore in the Commission for the Definition of Sacred Places to address such issues. However, the Commission has not taken action to address these indigenous concerns since its inception.
India. The status of religious freedom improved in a number of ways, yet problems remain in some areas. During most of the period covered by this report, the central Government was led by a coalition called the National Democratic Alliance. The leading party in the coalition was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu nationalist party with links to Hindu extremist groups that have been implicated in violent acts against Christians and Muslims. The BJP-led government sometimes did not act effectively to counter societal attacks against religious minorities and attempts by state and local governments to limit religious freedom. This failure resulted in part from the legal constraints inherent in the country's federal structure, and in part from shortcomings in the law enforcement and justice systems. Tensions between Muslims and Hindus, and to an extent between Christians and Hindus, were a problem. Attacks on religious minorities occurred in several states. Some extremists saw ineffective investigation and prosecution of attacks on religious minorities as signals that such violence could be committed with impunity. There are anti-conversion laws in several states. In late May, a new coalition, the United Progressive Alliance, came to power and pledged to respect the country’s traditions of secular government and religious tolerance, and to pay particular attention to the rights of religious minorities.
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