SW News: A recent Pew Research Center study reveals that nearly a quarter of 198 countries and territories examined employed police and government force against religious groups that violated COVID-19 restrictions.
The latest study, which was released on November 29 and is part of Pew Research Center's latest report on religious freedom restrictions starting in 2020, demonstrates how public health measures taken in response to the pandemic affected religious groups during the year it struck the world.
The report found that in 69 countries, one or more religious groups defied public health measures imposed during the pandemic, including the US and Canada.
The Pew report revealed that four nations—India, Argentina, Italy, and the United States—have experienced pandemic-related social hostilities towards religious groups that involved physical harm or vandalism by private individuals or groups. According to the survey, “In over a quarter of nations, governments employed physical force like arrests and raids to compel religious groups to comply with COVID-19 public health policies.”
According to the research, at least 46 nations or territories utilized some form of force against religious groups. At least 40 countries or territories reported "detentions," 11 reported "physical assault," 10 reported "property destruction, seizure, or raids," four reported "displacements," and three reported "deaths" as a result of the use of force. Authorities used tear gas to disperse religious congregations that disobeyed lockdown orders in Comoros, Gabon, and Nepal.
The paper mentioned the arrest in April 2020 of 15 people for breaking the state's stay-at-home order while attending a rabbi's funeral in New Jersey, saying that the arrests "came after several mourners grew rowdy and belligerent as police tried to drive the gathering away."
According to the research, religious groups in 69 nations, including the United States and Canada, disobeyed public health regulations put in place during the pandemic. Several religious leaders in Canada were detained, imprisoned, and fined for maintaining limitations on in-person worship.