State Department's New Format For Human Rights Report Triggers Partisan Debate On Religious Liberty

On May 24, the State Department released the 2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in a new streamlined format that includes a country-specific executive summary and examples of the significant human rights problems reported in each country.  The report can be accessed for each country, or a customized report across any number of countries by human rights topic can be created online. A report by CNS News this week illustrates, however, that the new format has become part of the partisan battle over the Obama administration's commitment to religious liberty. In the new format, for each country under the section on "Respect for Civil Liberties," the subtopic of "Freedom of Religion" reads:  See the Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report at http://www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/rpt/"  According to CNS, some are claiming that this move is part of an effort by the Obama administration to downplay international religious freedom, and particularly to hide violence directed at Christians and other minorities in Muslim nations in Africa and the Middle East since the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011.  The cross-referenced State Department religious freedom report only covers the period through December 2010.