UA: 345/13 Index: ASA 33/019/2013 Pakistan Date: 20 December 2013
URGENT
ACTION ELDERLY MAN IMPRISONED FOR READING QU’RAN A British man of the
Ahmadi sect has been imprisoned in Pakistan for reciting a passage from
the Qu’ran, a prohibited act for Ahmadis under the country’s blasphemy
laws. Masud Ahmad, a homeopathic practitioner, aged 72, was arrested at
his pharmacy in Lahore on 25 November after two men secretly filmed him
reading aloud a passage from the Qu’ran.
The Ahmaddiya community
are legally barred from calling themselves Muslim, and professing,
practicing and propagating their faith as Muslims.
Masud Ahmad
appears to have been maliciously targeted because he is an Ahmadi. The
two men, reportedly pretending to be patients, came to his pharmacy and
asked Masud Ahmad questions about the Ahmadiyya faith and Islam. Masud
Ahmad responded by referring to the Qu’ran and read out a translated
verse in Urdu. The men then passed on the film to the local police who
arrested Masud Ahmad under Section 298C of the blasphemy laws for
“posing as a Muslim”. He is currently being detained in prison at City
District Jail in Lahore.
Masud Ahmad opened his homeopathic
dispensary when he returned to Pakistan in 1982. An elderly man, he had
major operations to remove a tumour in 2010, and relatives are concerned
that his health will deteriorate in prison. There have been several
court hearings but a verdict has not yet been reached and bail has so
far been denied. Masud Ahmad remains in prison.
Please write
immediately in English, Urdu or your own language: Calling on the
authorities to release Masud Ahmad immediately and unconditionally;
Calling on the authorities to take immediate measures to guarantee the
safety of Masud Ahmad and his family; Expressing concern that the
current blasphemy laws are a threat to freedom of religion and thought,
are used maliciously to settle personal disputes and target religious
minorities, and urging the government to amend or abolish the blasphemy
laws to prevent this.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 31 JANUARY 2014
TO: Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan Minister for Interior
Room 404, 4th Floor, R Block Pakistan Secretariat Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: +92-51-920 2624 Email: ministry.interior@gmail.com Salutation: Dear
Minister Khan
Chief Minister, Punjab Mian Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif
Chief Minister Punjab Chief Minister’s Office 7, Club Road, GOR I
Lahore, Pakistan Fax: +92 42 9920 3310 Salutation: Dear Chief Minister
Sharif
And copies to: Minister of Law, Justice and Human Rights
Pervaiz Rashid Minister of Law, Justice and Human Rights Room 305, S
Block Pakistan Secretariat Islamabad, Pakistan Fax: +92 51 921 0062
Email: contact@molaw.gov.pk
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.
Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. URGENT ACTION
ELDERLY MAN IMPRISONED FOR READING QU’RAN
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION The Ahmadiyya are a minority religious group who consider
themselves Muslims but the majority of Pakistan’s Muslim population view
them as heretical. Ahmadiyya community was declared non-Muslim in 1974,
and a number of laws were subsequently passed which made it a criminal
offence for Ahmadis to profess, practice or preach their faith. Under
sections 298B and 298C of the Pakistan Penal Code, part of the blasphemy
laws, it is a criminal offence for Ahmadis to call themselves Muslims,
to employ names and terminology associated with Islam, to use Muslim
practices of worship and to propagate their faith.
Every year,
dozens of Ahmadis are charged with offences relating to their religious
practices, including calling for prayers, preaching their faith or
calling their place of worship a 'mosque'. Separate from criminal
sanction by the state, individuals accused of blasphemy, whether they
are Ahamdiyya or belong to another religious group, also risk attacks by
private citizens. For example, in March 2013 a large mob went on a
rampage and destroyed several homes in the Joseph Colony Christian
neighbourhood in the city of Lahore after a Christian labourer was
accused of blasphemy by a Muslim friend following a drunken argument.
Several Christians were injured in the violence and most were forced to
flee the area for a number of days. Although many of the perpetrators
were arrested the authorities have been slow to progress their
prosecution in the courts while witnesses and members of the Joseph
Colony Christian community remain in fear of reprisals if they give
evidence in court.
Articles 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights state that everyone has the right to freedom of
thought, conscience, religion, opinion and expression. International
human rights law provides that any limitations placed on these freedoms
should be only such as are prescribed by law as well as being necessary
and proportionate for, among other things, the protection of the rights
and freedoms of others.
The UN Human Rights Committee noted in its
General Comment No. 34, that “Prohibitions of displays of lack of
respect for a religion or other belief system, including blasphemy laws,
are incompatible with the [International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights],” except in specific circumstances where individuals
are advocating “national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes
incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence” [Article 20
paragraph 2 of the Covenant]. Additionally the Committee said, “it would
be impermissible for any such laws to discriminate in favour of or
against one or certain religions or belief systems.”