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US RELIGIOUS FREEDOM -- {USAGM}

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  • US RELIGIOUS FREEDOM -- {USAGM}
  • May 16, 2023
  • Content Type Program
  • Language English
  • Transcript/Script US RELIGIOUS FREEDOM TV HEADLINE: US: China, Iran, Russia, Myanmar Top Violators of Religious Freedom TEASER: Blinken singled out China for committing 'genocide and crimes against humanity' regarding Muslim Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region PUBLISHED: Tuesday, 05/16/2023 at 00:01 EDT BYLINE: Nike Ching   CONTRIBUTOR:             DATELINE: State Department  VIDEOGRAPHER:       PRODUCER: Bakhtiyar Zamanov SCRIPT EDITORS: Page, Sharon Shahid, Mia Bush VIDEO SOURCES: AFP, VOA, Zoom PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _x_ TRT: 2:24 VID APPROVED BY: pcd TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES: ))         ((INTRO)) [[An annual U.S. government report finds religious freedom under assault throughout the world, notably in what the State Department calls Countries of Particular Concern —China, Iran, Russia, Myanmar — among others. VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching has more.]] ((NATURAL SOUND FOR A SECOND))    ((NARRATOR)) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken presented the annual International Religious Freedom Report on Monday, voicing concerns that authoritarian governments continued to violate basic rights in 2022. ((Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State))    “Governments in many parts of the world continue to target religious minorities using a host of methods, including torture, beatings, unlawful surveillance and so-called reeducation camps.” ((NARRATOR)) Blinken cited China for committing “genocide and crimes against humanity” against Muslim Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region. Ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom Rashad Hussain also weighed in. ((Rashad Hussain, US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom)) “The People’s Republic of China seized, imprisoned and banished predominantly Muslim Uyghurs to reeducation camps.” ((NARRATOR)) Beijing has rejected international condemnation, saying the massive detention camps are vocational education centers. But the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom says those camps are “concentration camps,” a view that the commission says is also shared by the U.S. Congress. [[Radio track: Nury Turkel chairs the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. He spoke to VOA via Zoom.]] ((Nury Turkel, US Commission on International Religious Freedom)) ((Mandatory courtesy: Zoom)) “Reeducation camps sounds very, very harmless. So, they [Chinese officials] are using that term to justify 21st-century genocide in modern-day, industrial-scale concentration camps. As we speak, 2 to 3 million Uyghur people are still languishing. ...These camps are concentration camps. That's the sense of Congress.” ((NARRATOR)) Iran, Russia, the military regime in Myanmar and the Taliban in Afghanistan are also cited for violations. Meanwhile, the State Department report says real progress has been made in some parts of the world, such as in the Central African Republic, where the country’s special criminal court continues to prosecute cases of religious-based violence against civilians. ((Nike Ching, VOA News, Washington))
  • NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
  • Network VOA
  • Location (dateline) State Department
  • Embargo Date May 15, 2023 22:35 EDT
  • Byline Nike Ching, VOA News
  • Brand / Language Service Voice of America - English
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