Jamaica persecuting Rastas - report

WASHINGTON (CMC):

The United States says several Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, including Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Haiti and The Bahamas, are engaged in discriminatory practices against Rastafarians, voodoo practitioners and Muslims.

In its International Religious Freedom Report for 2012, the Department of State says while there were no reports of abuses of religious freedom in Haiti, some members of the voodoo and Muslim communities "complained they did not enjoy the same legal protections as Christians".

Voodoo, which is widely practised in Haiti, is often blended with elements of other religions, usually Catholicism.

The report the leader of a prominent multi-denominational group reported that half the Haitian population practises some form of voodoo and that leaders and civil society representatives have expressed concern that the passage of a constitutional amendment in May could criminalise the practice of voodoo and lead to increased discrimination.

But the report says government officials, including the prime minister, immediately responded to these concerns and stressed that the new amendment would not limit the freedom of religious expression.

It says government officials noted that a 2003 presidential decree recognising voodoo as a religious practice remained in force.

Reluctant to recognise Islam

The report says that some Muslim religious leaders claimed that the Haitian government was reluctant to recognise Islam, and that Muslims married in a religious ceremony did not receive the same government recognition accorded to Christians who married in the Church.

The Muslim leaders complained that religious ceremonies could obtain government recognition only through a civil court.

According to the State Department, the press reports a "growing number" of Muslims in Haiti since the January 12, 2010 earthquake.

In Jamaica, the State Department says there were reports of societal discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice, stating that Rastafarians alleged the overwhelmingly Christian population discriminated against them, "although there were signs of increasing acceptance".

"Rastafarians said that elements of their religion, such as wearing dreadlocks and smoking marijuana, presented serious barriers to their ability to find employment and achieve professional status in the official economy," the report states.

It cites a Rastafarian group, the Church of Haile Selassie I, which it said is seeking religious incorporation "for the 15th year without success".

"Some parliamentarians maintained Parliament should continue to deny incorporation because church members used marijuana, which was illegal, in religious services," the report states, adding that "the church asserted this was not the case and indicated it used legal herbs".

The report also says that Rastafarians continued to allege that law-enforcement officials unfairly targeted them.