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The Biden administration on Friday placed a well-known Russian paramilitary organization on a list of religious freedom violators alongside a number of notorious terrorist organizations, TURAN's Washingon correspondent reports.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced he had designated the Wagner Group as an “entity of particular concern” for its activities in the Central African Republic. Also on the list are Taliban, Boko Haram, al-Shabab and two factions of ISIS.
“Our announcement of these designations is in keeping with our values and interests to protect national security and to advance human rights around the globe,” Blinken noted. "The United States will not stand by in the face of these abuses," he added.
When it comes to countries, Blinken kept on the blacklist all Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) from 2021 -- China, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. He also added Cuba and Nicaragua to its CPC list, both of which previously had been on the Department’s Special Watch List (SWL).
As for the current Special Watch List, Blinken placed Algeria, the Central African Republic, Comoros, and Vietnam.
In the meantime, the list stops short, ignoring a recommendation by the autonomous U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom which recommended in its 2022 Annual Report that along with Algeria and CAR, countries such as Azerbaijan, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan also be placed on the SWL.
Alex Raufoglu
Washington D.C.
Politics
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On November 15, animal rights activist Kamran Mammadli was detained while staging a protest at the COP29 climate conference. Mammadli was protesting the shooting of street dogs in Azerbaijan. He raised a sign above his head that read: "Azerbaijani authorities are shooting dogs on the streets!" He also shouted: "Resign those who teach youth to be sycophants under the guise of volunteerism!"
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Arrested Abzas Media journalists were pressured in Baku pretrial detention center No. 1.
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On November 15, the Tbilisi City Court heard the merits of the complaint filed by the head of the Azerbaijani website Azel.TV, Afgan Sadygov, against the denial of political asylum in Georgia.
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The United States has been working with Azerbaijan for a long time on energy issues and fossil fuel emissions, particularly focusing on technologies that reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and help transition to clean energy, the U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm stated at a press conference on November 15 during COP29 in Baku, in response to a question from Turan about how the U.S. can assist Azerbaijan in its transition to renewable and green energy.
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