(RTTNews) - US ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom Suzan Johnson Cook will visit a number of countries, including Afghanistan, China, Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, which face challenges in protecting religious freedom.
Cook announced her plan at a news conference on Tuesday after the release of 13th Annual Report on International Religious Freedom.
The United States designated eight nations - Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Uzbekistan -- as "Countries of Particular Concern," whose governments have "engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom."
The report, released by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, documents in full detail the violations that have prompted these designations.
Cook said she is eager to work with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and other partners to discuss best practices and exchange ideas on how to best protect freedom of religion.
A meeting of experts will be convened later this year, with participants from around the world and from a wide variety of faiths and religions.
We'll talk about how to counter offensive expression through education, interfaith dialogue, and public debate and how to prohibit discrimination, profiling, and hate crimes, she told reporters. And we will share ways of combating hate without compromising the universal right to free expression, because everyone must have the right to believe as well as the right to manifest their belief, she added.
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