The State Department on Thursday announced Pakistan had been added to a “special watch list” due to its treatment of religious minorities within the country’s borders.
Pakistan was added to the list under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 last month, with the announcement citing the country’s “severe violations of religious freedom.”
The department also announced that Secretary of State Rex Tillersonmoved to redesignate Myanmar, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as countries of “particular concern.”
The law was passed during Bill Clinton‘s administration as part of an effort to make religious freedom a key objective of U.S. foreign policy.
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