In June, Tillerson and the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, appeared together to release a report on human trafficking. Tuesday’s report on religious freedom also got a high-level rollout.
Tillerson said 80% of the world population faces restrictions on or hostility to the free practice of religious beliefs.
He singled out seven countries for egregious practices, including U.S. allies Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Turkey and Pakistan, as well as Iran, China and Sudan.
He declined to say if the report would change White House efforts to change policy to cut in half the number of refugees allowed into the country, from 100,000 to 50,000.
Michael Kozak, senior advisor at the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, said Department of Homeland Security officials would use data in the report to help evaluate refugee applications.
“Unfortunately, every year, there are way, way, way more refugees than what any one country can take in,” he added.
The report also voiced concern for the repression of Shiite Muslims by Islamic State but also by Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Muslim countries, saying they deserved greater protection.
Critics highlighted the disconnect between the report’s concern for religious repression and White House efforts to ban travel from a half-dozen Muslim-majority nations earlier this year.
“Does US still have moral influence on this topic?” Farah Pandith, who served as State’s special representative to Muslim communities from 2009 to 2014, asked on her Twitter account. “US must b example 2 fortify report.”
The report cited improvement in the tolerance of religious minorities in Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Tunisia.
Article Appeared @http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-fg-tillerson-religious-freedom-20170815-story.html