Panel urges US to press Saudi, Vietnam, Eritrea on religious rights

WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (AFP) — A US advisory panel has urged the government to impose sanctions on Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Eritrea for violating religious rights in their countries.

In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made public Monday, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended that Saudi and Vietnamese officials responsible for religious rights violations be barred from entering the United States.

The commission also recommended a travel ban to the United States against Saudi officials responsible for “propagating globally an ideology that explicitly promotes hate, intolerance and human rights violations.”

It proposes that the government dedicate at least one million dollars over two years to promote freedom of religion in Vietnam.

In the case of Eritrea, the panel recommends that the US government redirect development aid to programs promoting democracy and human rights.

The commission, created under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, is charged with advising the president, secretary of state and Congress on how best to promote religious rights in the world.

Last year, the US State Department for the first time named ally Saudi Arabia as well as Eritrea and Vietnam, “countries of particular concern” in its annual report on religious freedom, to a list that previously included China, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea and Sudan.