The US Committee on International Religious Freedom said in its annual report issued on Monday that Saudi Arabia was committing extremely serious violations of religious freedoms, as the report pointed to other abuses around the world, especially in China.
In its recommendations to the State Department, the committee identified 16 countries calling for its classification as "deeply worrying" countries on violations of religious freedoms: Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Russia, Syria, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
The committee held a press conference in the US Senate to announce the contents of its report on Monday as an independent body of federal government and submit its recommendations to the President, Congress and State Department.
In a statement, the Committee said that states that are deeply concerned about the violation of religious freedoms are those who commit systematic, persistent and shocking violations, or turn a blind eye to such violations.
The Commission noted that 10 of the countries listed in its recent recommendations were already classified by the US State Department as countries of serious concern in November 2018: Myanmar, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
"The arrest of more than one million Uighur Muslims in China," the report said.
At the same time, the Commission has placed 12 countries on the list of violations of the second degree, namely Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cuba, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia and Turkey. This list refers to countries where there are some, but not all, concerns.