“Oman and Zanzibar Strengthen Bilateral Ties: Focus on Economic, Cultural, and Health Cooperation”
Muscat: The annual report released this week by the American Committee on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) indicated that the Sultanate had no reference to violations of religious freedoms, while the Committee classified 16 countries around the world as “countries of particular concern” (CPCs) for engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations.
Also, USCIRF placed 12 countries on its Tier 2 list, meaning the violations meet one or two, but not all three, of the elements of the systematic, ongoing, egregious test for CPC status.
In its statement, the Committee pointed out that CPCs are those States that commit systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of the law, or turn a blind eye to such violations. The report also noted numerous violations of religious freedoms around the world, and to other countries where there are grounds for concern for religious freedoms. On this subject, the Omani Committee for Human Rights said that the annual report issued by USCIRF which is free of any reference to the Sultanate in the violation of religious freedoms clearly confirms the efforts exerted by various governmental bodies, especially the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, to consolidate religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
The Sultanate was ranked first in the list of countries least affected by terrorism, according to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI), and fourth in the world as the best destination for expatriates according to an exploratory survey conducted by (Expat Insider). the law in the Sultanate criminalizes any kind of abuse of other religions. (Oman Observer)
