Author: Editor

Excerpt from the targeting of minority ‘others’ in Pakistan Terrorisation of Christian communities has taken place for a number of decades. Minority Rights International confirms that “there have been continuous reports of attempts forcibly to convert Christians to Islam. Christian and Hindu religious leaders and places of worship have come under attack, and followers of these religions face threats and intimidation. In May 2007”, to cite another example, “in Charasadda, in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Christians were warned that if they do not convert to Islam, they would be killed. They were also warned that their places of…

Image Mr Gill (centre). Lahore: Today at about 10:40 PM,there was a shooting incident at the home of Advocate Sardar Mushtaq Gill,a Human Rights Defender and Chief of LEAD.  The incident occured when his younger brother and two other friends were standing by the front door of the home of Mr.Gill. All three men fled the area as the shooters fired straight towards them. Although the intended targets were uninjured a Muslim neighbour was seriously hurt.   The shooters fled the scene and there identities and whereabouts are unknown. A neighbour was shot in the leg. Mr Gill called the police…

3rd August 2014 Today, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) overran the city of Sinjar and the two towns of Rabia and Zumar with no defence being reportedly offered by the KDP peshmergas. This is despite the fact that Mr. Barzani promised the residents on his visit a few days ago to Sinjar province that he would protect them. Residents of these towns and Sinjar question why no reasonable defence was offered. The capture by ISIS of these areas poses the severest of threats to not just the local inhabitants but also the population of the city of Hassaka on…

However, “to date, the law has reportedly had little effect and is not uniformly enforced. Bail is generally not granted in blasphemy cases on the grounds that persons facing the death penalty are likely to abscond. Furthermore, prosecution of blasphemy cases is notoriously slow and suspects often ultimately spend lengthy periods in prison. Although some blasphemy convictions are overturned on appeal, first instance courts are often subject to intimidation resulting in, inter alia, a lengthy decision process and refusal of bail out of fear of retaliation from religious extremists”. Jahangir, Chairperson of HRCP, the blasphemy laws have actually “reached their…

Professor Desmond Fernandes our Lead researcher is nearing the end of the much awaited BPCA report on Gender and Minority Discrimination in Pakistan.    The report brings together key figures from a variety of faiths and humanitarian groups focused on reform in Pakistan.  Contributing writers include;  F. Benkhald a Pakistani Jew, Salma Peter John – former Speech writer for Shahbaz Bhatti, Fareed Ahmad National Secretary External Affairs, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK with contributions by Asif Shakoor (solicitor for the Senior Courts of England & Wales specialising in Civil Law) and Ghalib Lone (former UN Legal Analyst and currently a Compliance Officer…

Excerpt from The Targeting of Minority ‘Others’ in Pakistan As for the blasphemy laws, they “are a true instrument of institutional violence and suppression on behalf of the state religion”, conclude Bouvier and Cosadia. Under Article 295 C of the Pakistani Penal Code, “anyone who desecrates the name of the Prophet Muhammad faces the death penalty. Members of religious minorities are harassed, tortured by the police or by inmates or guards while in prison, physically assaulted during trials, and heavily sentenced each year by the judiciary. The sentences”, as substantive documentation on the matter clearly shows, “are often based on…

Excerpt from the targeting of minority ‘Others’ in Pakistan: Security forces, including Pakistan’s intelligence agencies, were implicated in a number of gruesome murders and disappearances of political activists from nationalist parties and ‘suspected insurgents’. As an Amnesty International report noted: “Muzaffar Bhutto, a senior member of a Sindhi nationalist political party in Pakistan, was found dead on 22nd May 2011, after being allegedly abducted by plain- clothed intelligence agents and police on 25th February 2011. Amnesty International calls for the killing to be investigated and the perpetrators to be brought to justice. Muzaffar Bhutto was the General-Secretary of Jeay Sindh…

Excerpt from the Targeting of “Minority Others” in Pakistan: With a population estimated at over 187 million and as the fifth most populous country in the world and the second most populous country with a Muslim majority Pakistan has been experiencing a major human rights crisis in recent years. Minority Rights Group International, in its annual State of the World’s Minorities reports for both 2007 and 2008, for example, placed Pakistan in the top ten (out of nearly 200 states) of its lists of states violating minority rights. “The recent wave of intolerance toward minorities”, Ahmed Rashid has argued, “is…

Excerpt from the Targeting of “Minority Others” in Pakistan: In this highly politicised context in which human rights violations against the ‘minority Other’ have been taking place in Pakistan, and many asylum seekers and human rights campaigners have been – and are being – targeted for deportation and/or criminalisation in the UK for exposing the injustices and targeting that befalls the ‘minority Other’, we hope that concerned members of parliament, the public, anti-deportation campaigners, asylum seekers appealing their deportation notices, human rights organisations and campaigners, policy makers, lawyers, students, academics and church and other faith and non-faith groups will find…

A Pakistani Christian politician, an MPA in the Balochistan Provincial Assembly Mr Handery Masih, was assassinated outside his home by his own bodyguard today. He died of his injuries in hospital shortly after. His nephew was also injured in the assault by bodyguard Ghulam Mohi-ud-din, according to reports from the scene. The exact motivation for the attack is unknown, but it comes after a moderate Muslim governor Salmaan Taseer (click here) was assassinated several years ago by his own bodyguard for opposing the blasphemy laws, and the assassination of Pakistan’s most senior Christian politician, Federal Government minister Shahbaz Bhatti soon…