{"id":5367,"date":"2021-05-12T20:10:51","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T17:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/?p=5367"},"modified":"2021-08-18T10:45:53","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T07:45:53","slug":"u-s-embassy-in-georgia-about-jehovahs-witnesses-in-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/u-s-embassy-in-georgia-about-jehovahs-witnesses-in-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Embassy in Georgia about Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"

MR PRICE:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today.\u00a0 I\u2019m very pleased to have the opportunity to introduce Secretary Blinken, who will speak to the Department\u2019s\u00a0International Religious Freedom Report<\/a>.\u00a0 We will then hear from Office of International Religious Freedom senior official Dan Nadel, who will be happy to take your questions on this year\u2019s report.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Without further ado, I will turn it over to Secretary Blinken.<\/p>\n

SECRETARY BLINKEN:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Ned, thank you very much.\u00a0 Good morning, everyone.\u00a0 So let me start, first of all, by wishing everyone a good morning, and\u00a0Eid Mubarak<\/em>\u00a0to all who are celebrating.<\/p>\n

Before talking about the report, I want to just take a minute to discuss what is happening in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.\u00a0 We\u2019re deeply concerned about what we\u2019re seeing there.\u00a0 Images that came out overnight are harrowing and the loss of any civilian life is a tragedy.\u00a0 I\u2019ve asked Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Hady Amr to go to the region immediately to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.\u00a0 He will bring to bear his decades of experience and, in particular, he will urge on my behalf and on behalf of President Biden a de-escalation of violence.\u00a0 We are very focused on this.<\/p>\n

The United States remains committed to a two-state solution.\u00a0 This violence takes us further away from that goal.\u00a0 We fully support Israel\u2019s legitimate right to defend itself.\u00a0 We\u2019ve condemned and I condemn again the rocket attacks in the strongest possible terms.\u00a0 We believe Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live with safety and security and we\u2019ll continue to engage with Israelis, Palestinians, and other regional partners to urge de-escalation and to bring calm.<\/p>\n

Now, let me turn back to what brings us together this morning, and that is the report.\u00a0 Today, the State Department is releasing the\u00a02020 International Religious Freedom Report<\/a>.\u00a0 We\u2019ve produced this document every year for 23 years.\u00a0 It offers a comprehensive review of the state of religious freedom in nearly 200 countries and territories around the world, and it reflects the collective effort of literally hundreds of American diplomats around the world and our Office of International Religious Freedom here in Washington, led by Dan Nadel, and he\u2019ll be taking some questions from you today on the report.<\/p>\n

Let me just say a few words about why this report matters.\u00a0 Religious freedom is a human right; in fact, it goes to the heart of what it means to be human \u2013 to think freely, to follow our conscience, to change our beliefs if our hearts and minds lead us to do so, to express those beliefs in public and in private.\u00a0 This freedom is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.\u00a0 It\u2019s also part of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.\u00a0 Our country\u2019s commitment to defending freedom of religion and belief goes back centuries.\u00a0 It continues today.<\/p>\n

Religious freedom, like every human right, is universal.\u00a0 All people, everywhere, are entitled to it no matter where they live, what they believe, or what they don\u2019t believe.\u00a0 Religious freedom is co-equal with other human rights because human rights are indivisible.\u00a0 Religious freedom is not more or less important than the freedom to speak and assemble, to participate in the political life of one\u2019s country, to live free from torture or slavery, or any other human right.\u00a0 Indeed, they\u2019re all interdependent.\u00a0 Religious freedom can\u2019t be fully realized unless other human rights are respected, and when governments violate their people\u2019s right to believe and worship freely, it jeopardizes all the others.\u00a0 And religious freedom is a key element of an open and stable society.\u00a0 Without it, people aren\u2019t able to make their fullest contribution to their country\u2019s success.\u00a0 And whenever human rights are denied, it ignites tension, it breeds division.<\/p>\n

As this year\u2019s International Religious Freedom Report indicates, for many people around the world this right is still out of reach.\u00a0 In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, 56 countries, encompassing a significant majority of the world\u2019s people, have high or severe restrictions on religious freedom.<\/p>\n

To name just a few examples from this year\u2019s report, Iran continues to intimidate, harass, and arrest members of minority faith groups, including Baha\u2019i, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, Sunni and Sufi Muslims.<\/p>\n

In Burma, the military coup leaders are among those responsible for ethnic cleansing and other atrocities against Rohingya, most of whom are Muslim, and other religious and ethnic minorities around the world.<\/p>\n

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In Russia, authorities continue to harass, detain, and seize property of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses as well as members of Muslim minority groups on the pretense of alleged extremism.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In Nigeria, courts continue to convict people of blasphemy, sentencing them to long-term imprisonment or even death.\u00a0 Yet the government has still not brought anyone to justice for the military\u2019s massacre of hundreds of Shia Muslims in 2015.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia remains the only country in the world without a Christian church, though there are more than a million Christians living in Saudi Arabia.\u00a0 And authorities continue to jail human rights activists like Raif Badawi, who was sentenced in 2014 to a decade in prison and a thousand lashes for speaking about his beliefs.<\/p>\n

And China broadly criminalizes religious expression and continues to commit crimes against humanity and genocide against Muslim Uyghurs and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups.<\/p>\n

Today, I\u2019m announcing the designation of Yu Hui, former office director of the so-called Central Leading Group Preventing and Dealing with Heretical Religions, of Chengdu, for his involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely, the arbitrary detention of Falun Gong practitioners.\u00a0 Yu Hui and his family are now ineligible for entry into the United States.<\/p>\n

I could go on; the examples are far too numerous.<\/p>\n

More broadly, we\u2019re seeing anti-Semitism on the rise worldwide, including here in the United States as well as across Europe.\u00a0 It\u2019s a dangerous ideology that history has shown is often linked with violence.\u00a0 We must vigorously oppose it wherever it occurs.<\/p>\n

Anti-Muslim hatred is still widespread in many countries, and this, too, is a serious problem for the United States as well as in Europe.<\/p>\n

We have work to do to ensure that people of all faiths and backgrounds are treated with equal dignity and respect.<\/p>\n

\n

As this report notes, some countries have taken positive steps forward, and that, too, deserves comment.\u00a0 Last year, the civilian-led transitional government in Sudan repealed apostasy laws and public order laws that had been used to harass members of religious minority groups.\u00a0 Uzbekistan\u2019s government has released hundreds of people who have been imprisoned because of their beliefs.\u00a0 Just this past Saturday, Turkmenistan released 16 Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses who are conscientious objectors and refused to serve in the military.\u00a0 We understand the authorities will now offer conscientious objectors alternative ways to meet national service requirements.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We want to see more progress like that, and so our promise to the world is that the Biden-Harris administration will protect and defend religious freedom around the world.\u00a0 We will maintain America\u2019s longstanding leadership on this issue.\u00a0 We\u2019re grateful for our partners, including likeminded governments, the UN Human Rights Council, and networks like the International Religious Freedom of Belief Alliance and the International Contact Group of Freedom of Religion or Belief.\u00a0 We\u2019ll continue to work closely with civil society organizations, including human rights advocates and religious communities, to combat all forms of religiously motivated hatred and discrimination around the world.<\/p>\n

Thank you very, very much and we look forward to being able to get into the report in more detail.\u00a0 I\u2019ll take a couple of questions before I take off.<\/p>\n

MR PRICE:<\/strong>\u00a0 Wonderful.\u00a0 Francesco?<\/p>\n

QUESTION:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you, Secretary Blinken.\u00a0 It\u2019s now clear that your calls for de-escalation haven\u2019t been heard or at least haven\u2019t been enough to stop it until now.\u00a0 We\u2019re now beyond an escalation.\u00a0 Why are you just sticking to these calls to de-escalation and restraint?\u00a0 What can you do further and to prevent a full-out, full-scale war?\u00a0 And also, have you personally talked or tried to talk to the Palestinian leadership, to President Abbas or others?\u00a0 And if not, why?\u00a0 And who on the U.S. side has been in touch with whom on the Palestinian side?\u00a0 Thank you.<\/p>\n

SECRETARY BLINKEN:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yeah, thank you.\u00a0 A few things that are I think very important here.\u00a0 We are deeply engaged across the board \u2013 the State Department, the White House, senior officials \u2013 with the Israelis, with Palestinians, with other countries and partners in the region to call for and push for de-escalation.\u00a0 To be very clear, again, we strongly condemn the rocket attacks coming out of Gaza that are targeting innocent Israeli civilians, and Israel has a right to defend itself.\u00a0 Palestinians have a right to live in safety and security, and the most important thing going forward now is to take down the violence, to de-escalate, and that\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re working toward.<\/p>\n

Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor, has been engaged with his counterpart; I\u2019ve talked to Foreign Minister Ashkenazi; Wendy Sherman, the deputy secretary of state, has been engaged as well; and as I mentioned just a short while ago, we are sending our senior official responsible for Israeli and Palestinian affairs to the region.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been engaged with all parties, including the Palestinians, and that will continue.\u00a0 But the most important thing now is for all sides to cease the violence, to de-escalate, and to try to move to calm.<\/p>\n

MR PRICE:<\/strong>\u00a0 Kylie.<\/p>\n

QUESTION:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you for doing this, Secretary.\u00a0 Beyond engagement and calls for de-escalation, I just want to reiterate:\u00a0 Is there anything more that the U.S. can do at this point?<\/p>\n

And my second question is:\u00a0 More than 50 people have been killed in Gaza, including more than a dozen children.\u00a0 So given those casualties, do you think the Israeli response has been proportional?<\/p>\n

SECRETARY BLINKEN:<\/strong>\u00a0 So first, in terms of what we\u2019re doing, the most important thing that we can do right now is exactly what we\u2019re doing, which is to be engaged across the board and pushing on de-escalation not only with Israelis and Palestinians but also with other partners who are amplifying our voice.\u00a0 And as I said, we\u2019re sending a senior diplomat to the region to work on this, so that \u2013 I think that piece is very important and our voice, our diplomacy from senior officials across the administration, I hope will help have an impact.<\/p>\n

There is first a very clear and absolute distinction between a terrorist organization, Hamas, that is indiscriminately raining down rockets \u2013 in fact, targeting civilians \u2013 and Israel\u2019s response defending itself that is targeting the terrorists who are raining down rockets on Israel.\u00a0 But whenever we see civilian casualties, and particularly when we see children caught in the crossfire losing their lives, that has a powerful impact.\u00a0 And I think Israel has an extra burden in trying to do everything it possibly can to avoid civilian casualties, even as it is rightfully responding in defense of its people.\u00a0 And as I said, the Palestinian people have the right to safety and security, and we have to I think all work in that direction.<\/p>\n

So the single most important thing right now is de-escalation.\u00a0 We will continue to carry that message to our partners and to \u2013 in Israel, to the Palestinians, and to partners in the region.\u00a0 Thanks very much.<\/p>\n

MR PRICE:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary.<\/p>\n

SECRETARY BLINKEN:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you. {https:\/\/ge.usembassy.gov<\/a>}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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