US adds Pakistan to blacklist for 'religious freedom violations'

WASHINGTON: The United States said Tuesday it has added Pakistan to its boycott of nations that abuse religious opportunity, increase weight over its treatment of minorities.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he had assigned Pakistan among "nations of specific worry" in a congressionally ordered yearly report, which means the US government is obliged to apply strain to end opportunity infringement. 

Pompeo a year sooner had put Pakistan on an uncommon watch list — a stage shy of the assignment — in what had been viewed as a US strategy to squeeze Islamabad into changes. 

Pakistan does not merit 'even a dollar' in US help: Haley 

Be that as it may, the planning of the full assignment might jostle as it comes after Pakistan moved to determine its most prominent case, with the Supreme Court in October discharging Asia Bibi — a Christian lady waiting for capital punishment for a long time for lewdness. 

The legislature as of late charged a hardline minister, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, with fear based oppression and subversion after he drove rough dissents against Bibi's vindication. 

"In extremely numerous spots over the globe, people keep on confronting badgering, captures or even passing for essentially living their lives as per their convictions," Pompeo said in an announcement. 

"The United States won't remain by as observers even with such mistreatment," he said. 

Nine nations stayed for one more year on the rundown of Countries of Particular Concern — China, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. 

The United States expelled one nation from the rundown — Uzbekistan — yet kept it on the watch list. 

Pompeo likewise put on the watch list Russia, adding another thing of conflict to the connection between the two forces. 

Russia has progressively attracted concern the United States over its treatment of Jehovah's Witnesses, the heterodox Christian gathering known for conversion. 

Additionally on the watch list was the Comoros, the Indian Ocean archipelago that is solely Sunni Muslim