Campaign group, Church in Chains, have presented the Ambassador of Pakistan in Ireland, Ms Aisha Farooqui, with a petition expressing deep concern at what they described as the continuing misuse of the blasphemy law in Pakistan and its disproportionate effect on religious minorities including Christians.
In the petition, TDs and Senators express their concern that Pakistan’s blasphemy law provides a pretext for false allegations, arbitrary arrest and violence against religious minorities and point out that more people are imprisoned under blasphemy charges in Pakistan than in any other country in the world.
David Turner, Director of Church in Chains, presented Ambassador Farooqui with a copy of the Petition/Report outlining Church in Chains’ concerns about the need for reform of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.
The Ambassador “welcomed David Turner and Pamela Coulter to the Embassy and said she was ready to listen to our concerns,” the group said.
David Turner of Church in Chains said that they has been “encouraged by the response of the TDs and Senators who have signed this petition.
Mr Turner emphasised that Church in Chains’ concerns about the blasphemy laws were widely shared across the political spectrum in Ireland as demonstrated by the fact that the Petition was signed by twelve TDs and Senators including Seán Haughey (Foreign Affairs Spokesperson for Fianna Fáil), Peadar Tóibín (leader of Aontú), Independent TDs including Noel Grealish and Carol Nolan, and the leader of the Labour Party, Ivana Bacik.
“I write, as a member of the Oireachtas, to express my deep concern at the continuing misuse of the blasphemy law in Pakistan and its disproportionate effect on religious minorities including Christians,” the petition said.
It is clear, based on the multiplicity of reports from monitoring agencies including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, that Pakistan’s blasphemy law provides a pretext for false allegations, arbitrary arrest and violence against religious minorities. More people are imprisoned under blasphemy charges in Pakistan than in any other country in the world.
The blasphemy law in Pakistan has attracted wide international concern, including at the European Parliament in 2021 when a motion was passed describing its effect as “exacerbating existing religious divides and thus fomenting a climate of religious intolerance, violence and discrimination”.
I ask therefore that you convey our appeal to your government to act now to reform the blasphemy law to ensure that false accusations (often made to settle personal scores) are penalised and that cases are dealt with speedily rather than the present situation where blasphemy law cases are adjourned repeatedly, prolonging the suffering of those accused.
In addition, a number of other TDs wrote directly to the Pakistani Ambassador or to Micheál Martin (Minister for Foreign Affairs) while three TDs (Richard Bruton, Brendan Smith and Robert Troy) responded by tabling questions in the Dáil on the matter to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
During what was described as a “cordial” meeting, “Ambassador Farooqui stated that the blasphemy laws predated the state of Pakistan and had been inherited from the time of British rule. She also pointed out that several other countries had similar blasphemy laws,” the Church in Chains representatives said.
“She said that many blasphemy cases in recent years were rooted in local politics or local grievances and that, unfortunately, the legal process is usually very long – a fact that she attributed to Pakistan’s large population. She stated that the government of Pakistan had introduced some administrative changes which have reduced the number of cases.”
Pamela Coulter of Church in Chains spoke about cases highlighted in a report presented to the Ambassador, including the long delay in Shagufta Kiran’s case being held and in Asif Pervaiz’s appeal being heard and also about the pain and suffering caused to Shagufta and Asif by being held in solitary confinement.
“Ambassador Farooqui acknowledged that these long delays have resulted in much pain and suffering and said that she was not going to shy away from the issue and said that there has to be a speedy and a more effective way to deal with blasphemy cases,” the group said.
“She traced the origins of the severe penalties under the blasphemy laws to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the rise of the Taliban and war in Afghanistan and also stressed that the “War on Terror” from 2001 had resulted in large numbers of Afghan refugees entering Pakistan and a consequent increase in the influence of radical Taliban ideology in Pakistan.”
Pamela Coulter said that it appears that the blasphemy laws have been “weaponised” against the Christian community. She again raised the cases of Shagufta Kiran and Asif Pervaiz and David Turner raised the case of Zafar Bhatti and the numerous delays in his case (some caused by absences of lawyers and judges being on holiday).
He emphasised the human suffering caused by such delays (in terms of hopes rising as a court hearing date approached only to be dashed by yet another adjournment) and spoke about Zafar Bhatti’s wife now being in her 70’s.
“Ambassador Farooqui responded by stating that judicial delays in Pakistan were widespread and not unique to Christians or minorities, the campaign group reported. Ms Coulter again emphasised that religious minorities, including Christians, are disproportionally affected by the blasphemy laws,” Church in Chains said.
“As the cordial forty-minute meeting drew to a close, David and Pamela asked Ambassador Farooqui if she could encourage her government to take action in four particular cases of Christian prisoners who have all suffered repeated adjournments – Zafar Bhatti, Shagufta Kiran, Asfaq Masih and Asif Pervaiz (details included in the report presented),” Church in Chains said.
Ambassador Farooqui concluded by stating that the government of Pakistan does care about the suffering caused under the blasphemy laws and acknowledged that the implementation of the laws needs renewal and reform.
She committed to send on the Petition/Report to her government and also to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
The report contained an overview of the Blasphemy Law, mini-profiles of four Christians imprisoned under the law, a listing of other Christians facing charges under the laws, a listing of people of other religions facing similar charges, a summary of voices calling for reform and five recommendations to the government of Pakistan.
