Human rights groups express shock over murder of Pakistani Christians

We, as the civil society, representing associations for the defense of human rights and legality, are yet again shocked and offended by the murder of two Christian citizens of Faisalabad, charged with breaking the now infamous law on blasphemy. We strongly condemn this absence of legality and this impunity given to fanatic assassins”: these words are part of a statement sent to Fides, signed by Francis Mehboob Sada, a Pakistani Catholic and director of the Christian Study Center in Rawalpindi, and Tahira Abdullah, Pakistani Muslim human rights activist, representing a forum of more than 90 individual members of various civil society organisations.

The forum has made an urgent call to the Minister for Religious Affairs and Religious Minorities in Pakistan, Shahbaz Bhatti, to officially table a debate in Parliament for the abrogation of the Blasphemy Law, which was at the root of the recent violence.

The statement continues, “these men were killed in the prime of their youth by religious intolerance. Their only fault was that they were cradle Christians in a state ruled by an Islamic theocracy and a government, which claims to be progressive, but is unable or unwilling to provide non Muslim citizens with the protection guaranteed them by our Constitution”. This is a country, the statement continues “where legislators have no desire or political will to abrogate the Blasphemy Law imposed by dictator Zia”. (in the 1980s translator's note).

Listing the episodes of violence and the cases of citizens unjustly accused and even killed, the civil society forum asks: “How many Shanti Nagar, Gojra, Ayub Masih, Akhtar Hameed Khan have to suffer or die before the alarm bell sounds in the corridors of power?”

Following the recent tragic incident, Pakistan's civil society has called on the government of Punjab to “ immediately tighten security in courts, prisons, places of worship, but above all protect non Muslim Pakistani citizens” and “arrest and bring to justice those responsible for the murder of the Emmanuel brothers without hesitation or mitigation of sentence ”.