Source: Dawn
http://www.dawn.com/2008/10/25/nat11.htm
Religious minorities in different parts of the world continue to be persecuted and discriminated against for their beliefs, with some living in “perpetual threat,” according to an independent United Nations expert, who added that the problem is prevalent across a wide range of countries.
“At national levels, I see that religious minorities continue to suffer, and the more despotic a regime, the more suffering of religious minorities,” Asma Jahangir, Special Rapporteur on the freedom of religion or belief, said in an interview with the UN News Centre.
At the same time, she pointed out that violations of this basic human right do not just occur in countries with certain types of political systems. “One would have imagined that such incidents only take place in countries which have been unfortunately left behind, where political systems and social values have remained stunted,” she stated. “But these also take place in countries which have very good democratic credentials and which have progressed both socially and politically.”