(LifeSiteNews) – A U.S. federal commission has found that religious freedom in Muslim-majority Pakistan is continuing to “deteriorate.”
In its 2024 Annual Report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) called for the State Department to classify Pakistan as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC), highlighting the country’s draconian blasphemy laws as an impetus for bigoted attacks against faith minorities.
The 2024 USCIRF report stated, “In 2023, religious freedom conditions in Pakistan continued to deteriorate. Religious minorities were targeted for their beliefs, including accusations of blasphemy, and were subject to mob violence, lynchings, and forced conversions. Attacks on and desecration of places of worship also occurred frequently throughout the year.”
“Blasphemy allegations are also used to settle personal vendettas, with no punishment for those who offer false accusations or perpetrate vigilante violence.” the report continued.
Moreover, the report stated that proposed government amendments to Pakistan’s blasphemy law “risk further escalating persecution against Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, and Shi’a and Ahmadiyya Muslims.”
Additionally, the report called for the American government to “impose targeted sanctions on Pakistani government agencies and officials responsible for severe violations of religious freedom by freezing those individuals’ assets and/or barring their entry into the United States under human rights-related financial and visa authorities, citing specific religious freedom violations”, as well as for the Pakistani government to “release blasphemy prisoners and other individuals imprisoned for their religion or beliefs”, among other recommendations.
As a CPC, Pakistan could face sanctions and other diplomatic measures to pressure it to work towards improving conditions supporting religious freedom. Since 2018, the US State Department has categorized Pakistan as a CPC every year.
About 97% of the residents of Pakistan are Muslims, and of those an estimated 85% to 90% are Sunni.
In January 2023, Pakistan’s National Assembly greenlighted an amendment to the country’s blasphemy law, increasing the number of punishable offenses and decreeing that more severe penalties be meted out for “blasphemy” against Islam. Subsequently, the Pakistani Senate passed the bill, known as the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2023 in August 2023.
According to reports from Catholic News Agency (CNA) in 2023, someone could face a lifetime in jail for “insulting any wife, family member, or companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad” under the new legislation. As of the time of reporting, the bill still requires the president’s signature before becoming law.
According to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, the aim of the aforementioned bill is to repress “blasphemy on the internet and social media,” which has allegedly caused “terrorism” and “disruption in the country.”
RELATED: Another Pakistani man killed by Muslim mob over Islamic ‘blasphemy’ allegations
Over 1,800 people were accused of blasphemy from 1987 through the beginning of 2021 under Pakistan’s numerous anti-blasphemy laws. As of March 2023, about 40 people were either in prison for life or facing the death penalty for charges of blasphemy. Based on an issue report by USCIRF dated December 2023 and citing advocacy groups, “at least 89” have been “killed by mobs for blasphemy accusations.”
But blasphemy is not the only excuse. Only a week ago, on July 10, the Muslim neighbors of a Catholic father of four, Marshall Masih of Pakistan’s Lahore area, fatally shot him after he protested their harassment of Christian women in his area, according to reports from Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.
Yaqoob Masih, Marshall’s father, testified,“Two Muslim boys entered our house from the roof at around 4:20 am. They came in with two unknown accomplices.”
“The assailants broke the door of my brother’s bedroom on the first floor of the house and held him and his family hostage at gunpoint,” Masih’s sister, Goshi Yaqoob, stated, in comments cited by Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.
“I was horrified to see his blood-soaked body lying on the floor while his wife and children were huddled in a corner crying frantically,” Goshi said.
“Though the police arrested Shani and recovered illegal weapons from his possession, he was freed after a day without any case,” Goshi added. “Instead, the police pressured my brother to stop pursuing the matter. The Muslims were offended that a Christian had taken a stand against their criminal activities, and by killing him in cold blood, they have shown that our lives do not matter.”
“My brother was the sole provider for the family, but with his untimely death, we are clueless as to how his young widow and four children will survive now,” she said. “Our entire world has crumbled after this incident.”
On May 25, 2024, a mob of hundreds of individuals gathered in the predominantly Pakistani Christian community of Sargodha and brutally attacked Nazir (Lazar) Masih, a Christian, for allegedly desecrating the Qur’an. Masih was gravely injured by his assailants, and eventually succumbed to his wounds.
“The brutal killing of Lazar Masih is an alarming reminder of the dangers of merely being suspected or accused of blasphemy in Pakistan,” remarked USCIRF Chair Stephen Schneck.
“The country’s draconian blasphemy law signals to society that alleged blasphemers deserve severe punishment, which emboldens private individuals and groups to take matters into their own hands. Pakistani authorities must hold those responsible for his death accountable.”
RELATED: Pakistani Christian dies after being attacked over alleged violation of Islamic ‘blasphemy law’
Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need is among those organizations helping Pakistani Christians who have been falsely accused .