US religious freedom report released

US Secretary of State John Kerry said last week that those who practise a religious faith must “understand that they have no right to coerce others into submission, conversion or silence, or to literally take their lives because of their beliefs”, write Jonathan Luxmoore and James Roberts.

He was releasing the 2014 International Religious Freedom Report, covering up to 197 countries. It criticises Russia in Ukraine as well as Middle Eastern oppression. It was “a blatant defamation” to place Russia “on a par with countries such as Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia”, a Moscow spokesman said.