Egypt called a top religious liberty violator

Egypt should be added to an infamous list of the world's worst violators of religious liberty, a bipartisan commission told the United States government April 28.

In issuing its annual report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended for the first time in its nearly 13-year history the designation of Egypt as one of the "countries of particular concern" (CPCs). The State Department has designated eight countries as CPCs: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan.

Incidents of "severe religious freedom violations engaged in or tolerated by the [Egyptian] government have increased dramatically since the release of last year's report, with violence, including murder, escalating against Coptic Christians and other religious minorities," USCIRF Chairman Leonard Leo said in a statement released with the 2011 report.

The February resignation of President Hosni Mubarak in response to a popular uprising by Egyptians has not brought an improvement, Leo said.

"In his waning months, religious freedom conditions were rapidly deteriorating," he said at a Washington, D.C., news conference accompanying the report's release. "And since his departure, we've seen nothing to indicate that these conditions have improved."

USCIRF -- a nine-member panel that advises the White House, State Department and Congress on the condition of religious freedom overseas -- recommended the State Department maintain CPC status for the eight countries already bearing that designation. In addition to Egypt, the panel recommended -- as it had the two previous years -- the addition of Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam to the CPC list.

The State Department, however, has not designated CPCs since President Obama took office in January 2009. Then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice issued the most recent CPC list only days before Obama's inauguration.

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