US report on int'l religious freedom to be released today

The US' annual official report on international religious freedom will be released, a State Department spokesperson has said.

The Congressional-mandated report would describe the status of religious freedom in every country for the year 2015.

This is for the first time that the State Department would be commenting on the status of religious freedom in India with a first full year under the Modi government.

"The report covers government policies violating religious belief and practices of groups, religious denominations, and individuals, and US policies to promote religious freedom around the world," State Department Spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters yesterday.

In the absence of Secretary of State John Kerry, the annual report would be released by the Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The US Department of State submits the report in accordance with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, Trudeau said.

In its last report for the year, the State Department had noted that there had been restrictions on "free expression" on basis of religion in India.

"Authorities continued to enforce laws designed to protect "religious sentiments" which, according to observers, at times had the effect of limiting free expression related to "religion," the report said, adding that some government officials made discriminatory statements against members of religious minorities.

"In some cases, local police failed to respond effectively to communal violence, including attacks against religious minorities, although local officials used broad authorities to deploy police and security forces to control outbreaks of religiously motivated violence," the State Department said.