Pakistani Courts Continue to Issue ‘Blasphemy’ Death Sentences, But No US Blacklisting
(CNSNews.com) – For the 13th consecutive year, the executive branch continues to override expert recommendations to designate Pakistan an egregious violator of religious freedom, despite an annual State Department report highlighting numerous abuses, particularly those associated with the Islamic country’s blasphemy laws.
The latest report, covering 2014 and released Wednesday by Secretary of State John Kerry, said that during the course of last year Pakistani courts had sentenced three people convicted of “blasphemy” to death, six to life imprisonment, and three to two years’ imprisonment. Twelve new blasphemy cases had been registered with police.
Not only do the blasphemy laws remain in place – despite calls over many years for their repeal or amendment – but the government also failed to address false accusations of blasphemy, the report found.
Pakistan’s government moreover generally failed to investigate, arrest, or prosecute religious freedom violators, promoting an environment of impunity that fostered further intolerance and violence, it said.
The penal code states that freedom of speech is subject to “reasonable restrictions in the interest of the glory of Islam.”
Blasphemy laws provide for the death penalty for “defiling Prophet Muhammad,” for life imprisonment for “defiling, damaging, or desecrating the Qur’an,” and for 10 years’ imprisonment for “insulting another’s religious feelings.”
Religious minorities are disproportionately accused of blasphemy, accusations are often a cover for personal grudges or business disputes, and mobs frequently attack individuals accused of blasphemy.
Among specific cases cited were two in which police officers murdered people incarcerated for blasphemy; one in which an Ahmadi lawyer representing a blasphemy accused was himself killed [1]; and an incident in which a large mob accused a Christian couple of blasphemy and burned them alive in a brick kiln [2].
Despite these and numerous other abuses of religious freedom documented in the report, Pakistan continues to escape designation as a “country of particular concern” (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).
At the report’s release, ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, David Saperstein, listed the designated CPCs for this year – Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
With the exception of Turkmenistan, which was added last year, the list has remained unchanged since 2007.
That’s despite annual recommendations by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to add a group of additional countries to the list.
Most recently they include Vietnam, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Nigeria – but Pakistan has been on the USCIRF’s recommendation list since 2002, Last year the commission, an independent statutory body established under the IRFA, identified Pakistan as the worst violator among the group of countries that have not been designated CPCs despite its advice.
Countries listed as CPCs may be targeted with U.S. sanctions or other measures intended to encourage governments to stop violating religious freedom or condoning abuses.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee dealing with human rights, criticized the administration for its approach to promoting religious freedom abroad.
“The State Department does not utilize the tools it has to name and shame violators of religious freedom such as the designation of country of particular concern (CPC),” he said in response to Wednesday’s report release.
“The administration should re-designate countries every year for their religious freedom violations,” Rubio said. “In particular, countries such as Pakistan, Syria and Vietnam should be considered for a CPC designation, as has been repeatedly recommended by the independent [USCIRF].”
‘Pretext to justify violence in the name of religion’
Saperstein identified blasphemy and apostasy laws as one of the “trend lines” in this year’s report, citing Pakistan as well as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Sudan.
He said the U.S. opposes such laws, which are “inconsistent with international human rights and fundamental freedoms, and we will continue to call for their universal repeal.”
“The existence of such laws has been used in some countries as pretext to justify violence in the name of religion to create an atmosphere of impunity for those resorting to violence and/or leads to false claims of blasphemy,” he added.
The report also highlighted abuses against the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. Pakistan’s constitution declares that an adherent of the sect, which claims millions of followers in 190 countries, “is not a Muslim for the purposes of the Constitution or Law” and the penal code criminalizes Ahmadi worship.
Ten Ahmadis were killed for their faith, according to the community, Ahmadi mosques have been attacked and 24 Ahmadis were charged by police in cases mostly related to the anti-Ahmadi laws, while another 13 were charged with Qur’an desecration.
One of the more positive religious freedom developments in Pakistan last year was a Supreme Court ruling in June ordering the federal government to set up a national minorities commission, establish a special police force to protect religious minorities, and tackle religious intolerance by revising biased school curricula and discouraging the use of social media for spreading religious hatred.
But, the State Department report said that apart from the creation of the commission, the court’s other recommendations have yet to be implemented.
(The court ruling was made in response to the deadliest attack ever against the country’s Christian minority – the deaths at least 80 people in a Sept. 2013 church suicide bombing in Peshawar, claimed by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.)
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