A State Department report on religious persecution identifies, among other countries, U.S. allies.

Afghanistan’s courts punish non-Muslims for practicing their faith, the report notes.

Pakistan metes out death sentences for blasphemy. Attacks on religious minorities or tolerant Muslims are rarely investigated, let alone prosecuted.

Blasphemy and religious “defamation” laws make for long prison sentences and whippings for people in Saudi Arabia judged to have insulted the Prophet Muhammad.

Sometimes governments fail to distinguish terrorism from peaceful religious practice, such as in Bahrain, Russia, Iraq and Nigeria.

Other governments that traditionally have denied religious liberty and regularly persecute people who seek to practice their faith are China, North Korea, Iran and Eritrea.

Egypt was singled out for its “failure to curb rising violence against Coptic Christians and its involvement in violent attacks,” including one incident in which Egyptian security forces attacked protesters, killing 25 people and injuring 350, most of whom were Coptic Christians.

Religious minorities find themselves in greater danger since the Arab Spring as several countries make the transition from dictatorship to democracy.

Speaking on religious freedom, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it is “about the right of people to think what they want, and say what they think, and come together in fellowship, without the state looking over their shoulder.

“These rights give our lives meaning and dignity, whatever religion we belong to — or if we belong to no religion at all. Like all human rights, they are our birthright. They are not granted to us by any government. Rather, it is the responsibility of governments to protect them.”

As the report shows, many are persecuted for their faith.

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