In private emails and private social media communications, Responsible for Equality And Liberty has identified a FAKE letter which was forged to make it appear like it was from the UNHCR Thailand office dated July 10, 2015, which was sent to some in the Pakistan Christian community. We must STRESS – this July 10, 2015 letter is a FAKE and is FRAUDULENT.
It is an amateur effort to DECEIVE the public. Please do not circulate this FAKE LETTER – it is NOT from the UNHCR Thailand.
Among the obvious errors by this amateur FAKE letter:
a. It has the wrong letterhead
b. The phony letterhead has part of the telephone number missing
c. The name of the organization being quoted is incorrect (contact me for details)
d. There are numerous errors throughout the letter, such as in the subject line the word “Christian” is misspelled as “Chrsitain” and numerous other errors.
e. There are other details in the forgery which we have shared with leaders of the Pakistan Christian community.
R.E.A.L. has contacted human rights leaders in the Pakistan Christian community with the details and photos of errors to show how obviously this letter was FORGED – it is NOT from the UNHCR Thailand.
Our human rights campaigns have the strength of the TRUTH on their side. There is nothing stronger than the TRUTH in our struggle for our shared universal human rights. We urge all those who see this letter to reject it as a fake. If you need more information or if you have information on the source of this letter, contact R.E.A.L. at usa@realcourage.org
Our universal human rights matter – this is a TRUTH for all
On July 6, 2015, two minority Shia Muslims were gunned down in the street in Quetta, Pakistan, in a continuing terrorist campaign to kill religious minorities. Police officer Ajab Khan Kakar stated: “It is a sectarian targeted killing.” The July 6 attacks included killing the two Shia Muslim men outside of a passport office, as well as police officer. The two Shia men were part of the Hazara community, which is a predominantly Shi’ite Muslim ethnic group.
July Attack in Quetta on Shia Muslims by Terrorist (Source: Reuters/Naseer Ahmed)
A second attack also happened on July 6. According Samaa News, “Hours later, a manager of local NGO was gunned down by unknown assailants outside his residence in Jinnah Town area of Quetta. The victim was identified as Abdul Rauf. Police said all the murders were result of ‘targeted attacks’.”
The attack on minority Muslim Shi’ite houses of worship and individuals has been continuing throughout this year, with over 100 killed this year. This has included a terrorist attack on Shia Muslim killing 45 on a bus in Karachi in May 2015, as well as killing 62 in a suicide bombing on a Shia Muslim mosque in January 2015. Minority Shi’ite Muslims comprise about 20 percent of the Pakistan population of 180 million.
Senior police officer Abdul Razzak Cheema stated that he blamed Muslim extremists for the attacks, saying the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi extremist group was possibly involved. He stated that “The boys, in their twenties, were killed in the shooting while their parents were wounded and a policeman who was passing by the site was also killed after he shot and wounded one attacker.”
In Sheikhupura, Punjab, a mob of violent extremist sought to kill two Pakistan Christian women and her husband on a false charge of blasphemy, before the Pakistan police surrounded the village, protected the Christians, and arrested the cleric leading the lynch mob.
Pakistan Christian Post reports on the torture of two Christian woman in Sheikhupura, Punjab; the woman and her family was dragged out of her home beaten and tortured, over a dispute on a carpet sale. Per the report, a mob of villages made a false charge of blasphemy against the Christian women, then tortured her, shaved her husband’s head, and her sister-in-law painted their faces black, put shoes around their neck, and paraded them on donkeys. The alleged assault took place in Chak 460, a village in Sheikhupura district, some 30 kilometers from Punjab’s provincial capital Lahore.
The Pakistan District Police Officer (DPO) arrived to get the situation under control. In the report, “hundreds of Police men” “reached the village,” and “The police took over the entire village and surrounded the village to control the situation.” The Pakistan Christian woman was taken into protective custody with her family, and moved to an undisclosed location. Reportedly the “police will stay in the village few days for the safety of the other Christians.”
The AFP and Pakistan Today news media also reported that a cleric accused of leading the mob to try kill the Christians on the false charge of blasphemy has been arrested.
The news agencies reported that Sohail Zafar Chattha, the district police chief, stated:”One of the clerics who led the mob demanding the arrest of the couple and their death was at large, he was arrested today (Friday) and we are looking for a barber who ignited the whole issue.” The police officer stated “I told him I would not register a case because no blasphemy has been committed. But I have registered a case against the cleric and 400 others for inciting violence and endangering the lives of the couple.” He stated “the mob meant business. They wanted to kill them right there.”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty applauds the actions of these Pakistan police in protecting the lives of these oppressed Pakistan Christians from this lynch mob, and for the arrest of the extremist cleric behind these attacks. But the police will not always be able, or willing to arrive on time, in every case to protect such religious minority. Pakistan needs to recognize that more fundamental human rights change is necessary for protection of religious minorities and to stop the abusive blasphemy law as a basis for murder and mayhem by extremists.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty supports and defends the universal human rights of all people, and it reminds Pakistan of its obligations and commitment under international law. We challenge the Pakistan blasphemy law as a direct attack on our shared universal human rights.
Pakistan is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) ratified as of June 23, 2010, as well as a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Pakistan Blasphemy Law is in direct contradiction to its international agreement of ICCPR Article 18, which includes “1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.” The Pakistan Blasphemy law is in direct opposition to these shared universal human rights for the Pakistan people and for all people. Pakistan needs to decide whether or not it is a member of the nations of the world that respects human rights and dignity, or it is a clear and unquestionably self-declared rogue nation which rejects these global standards necessary for a free people.
R.E.A.L. urges the Pakistan government and the Pakistan people to end the oppressive blasphemy law which attacks the rights of Pakistan Christians and other religious minorities, and which is used as a method to harass and intimidate people with a grudge against a Pakistani in any identity group. These attacks on our shared universal human rights have to end. We urge Pakistan to realize the need for change and to truly become responsible for equality and liberty.
The ongoing imprisonment of Pakistan Christian woman Asia Bibi highlights the ongoing oppression of Pakistan Christian, other Pakistan religious minorities, as well as Pakistan majority Muslims, by the oppressive blasphemy law, used as a tactic to silence unpopular voices and to oppress others. As part of our commitment to our shared universal human rights, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) challenges Pakistan’s blasphemy law and its use to kill, oppress, and intimidate others.
United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) chairwoman Katrina Lantos Swett and Mary Ann Glendon have gone to Pakistan to speak to Pakistan government officials to change the Pakistan blasphemy law. These USCIRF leaders state that the Pakistan “blasphemy law on its face flatly violates both freedom of religion and freedom of expression,” and they call for the U.S. State Department to “designate Pakistan a ‘country of particular concern’ for its continued record of failure in protecting religious freedom.”
In Punjab alone, Dawn has reported262 cases of alleged blasphemous behavior.
Pakistani Christian woman Asia Bibi sentenced to death for “blasphemy”
Noreen Asia Bibi (known mostly as Asia Bibi) was convicted of blasphemy by a Pakistani court in November 2010, receiving a sentence of death by hanging, based on a June 2009 argument with Muslim women who were upset with her for drinking the same water as them. A trumped up charge was made that she subsequently insulted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, which she has denied but was the basis for her arrest, conviction, and imprisonment. Over 400,000 signatures have been placed on petitions calling for her release. Christian minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti and Pakistani government politician Salmaan Taseer called for her release and opposed the blasphemy laws, and they were both killed by terrorists. Her family remains in hiding due to terrorist threats.
Pakisan: Christian Pastor Rashid Emmanuel Accused of Blasphemy Gunned Down in Faisalabad Court (Source: Jabran Inayat and GVM Television)
We have reported on many other blasphemy cases: Christian pastor Rashid Emmanuel and his brother Sajjad (who were gunned down in the streets in Faisalabad). The two brothers had left a court hearing on on charges of “blasphemy,” when they were gunned down on the court house steps, even when they had a police escort. There were rumors that they might be found innocent and released. Asia IT News reported that for days religious leaders had been “fanning the flame” of hatred against the two brothers.
We have reported on those Pakistan Christians fleeing for their lives, from such false “blasphemy” charges, such as Ms. Saiqa and Jehanzaib Asher.
Pakistan Christian Qamar David Convicted of “Blasphemy” Died in Prison Under Mysterious Circumstances, After Threats
With literally hundreds of cases, we cannot imagine how many we do not have specific names, places, and dates, to report on, as shown by the 262 cases in Punjab alone. One of our Pakistan contacts advises us that they are aware of dozens of blasphemy cases against Pakistan Christians with unregistered newspapers giving local coverage to such blasphemy cases, which extremists use to rationalize hatred and violence against the local Pakistan Christian community.
Our source states that people involved in recent Pakistan blasphemy cases have included Naeem Masih, Ejaz Taj, Shokath Haroon, Saiqa Mukthar, Kamran Victor, Nayab Wilson, Javed Joseph, Saima Bibi, all of whom need the support of the international human rights community. Pakistan Christians charged in trumped-up blasphemy cases are also facing fatwas against them declared by extremist Mullahs. The human rights community needs to continue to find ways to protect these people whose human rights are in immediate danger, as well as to find ways to press Pakistan to end its out-of-control blasphemy laws.
Pakistan majorities need to also realize that these blasphemy laws are not just a threat and a problem for Pakistan Christians, but are also used to oppress and threaten Pakistan minority and majority Muslims as well.
Pakistan: Ahmadiyya Muslim man, Masud Ahmad, was falsely arrested and imprisoned for blasphemy
The out-of-control blasphemy laws in Pakistan are an offense to the universal human rights not only of Pakistan Christians and other religious minorities, but also an offense to all Pakistan people and the people of the world.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty supports and defends the universal human rights of all people, and it reminds Pakistan of its obligations and commitment under international law. We challenge the Pakistan blasphemy law as a direct attack on our shared universal human rights.
Pakistan is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) ratified as of June 23, 2010, as well as a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Pakistan Blasphemy Law is in direct contradiction to its international agreement of ICCPR Article 18, which includes “1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.” The Pakistan Blasphemy law is in direct opposition to these shared universal human rights for the Pakistan people and for all people. Pakistan needs to decide whether or not it is a member of the nations of the world that respects human rights and dignity, or it is a clear and unquestionably self-declared rogue nation which rejects these global standards necessary for a free people.
R.E.A.L. urges the Pakistan government and the Pakistan people to end the oppressive blasphemy law which attacks the rights of Pakistan Christians and other religious minorities, and which is used as a method to harass and intimidate people with a grudge against a Pakistani in any identity group. These attacks on our shared universal human rights have to end. We urge Pakistan to realize the need for change and to become responsible for equality and liberty.
We have received reports the Pakistan Christian woman Asia Bibi has been suffering from intestinal bleeding and is vomiting blood, while she remains imprisoned in Women’s Multan Jail in Punjab. Asia Bibi was falsely accused of “blasphemy” in 2009 from women who were upset that a Christian woman drank from the same water supply as she did. She is mother of five, and was sentenced to death in 2010, and her appeal is pending in Supreme Court of Pakistan against decision to uphold her death sentence from Lahore High Court. The Pakistan Government must act immediately to deal with her urgent medical condition and her human rights violations. The Supreme Court must also intervene to ensure she is getting medical treatment to respect her legal court appeal.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L), along with other human rights groups, urge our fellow human beings to contact the following today to advocate for Asia Bibi’s immediate medical treatment and her release. It is cruel and unusual punishment to allow a prisoner in jail to be suffering from intestinal bleeding without treatment.
Pakistan Christian Woman Asia Bibi Needs Medical Help in Women’s Multan Jail; Unjustly Imprisoned on False Blasphemy Charges
Pakistan is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) ratified as of June 23, 2010, as well as the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Pakistan has commitment to the international agreement of ICCPR Article 5, which states “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Furthermore, Pakistan’s commitment to the ICCPR Article 18, which includes “1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.”
The deplorable conditions under which Pakistan Christian Asia Bibi is being held, and her lack of medical treatment must be cause for action by the government of Pakistan today. Such conditions would even be in contempt of Geneva Conventions during war time, let alone for a civilian mother of a 5 year old child. The Pakistan government must be responsible for such human decency and international law. We also call again for the Pakistan to release Asia Bibi on her false imprisonment on “blasphemy” charges.
R.E.A.L. urges human rights activists to contact the following individuals on Asia Bibi’s desperate situation. UPDATE: the email addresses for the Pakistan President, PM, and Supreme Court are now using blocking methods. R.E.A.L. will update this when we have the fax numbers for them.
Pakistan: Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights
Federal Minister of Law and Human Rights, Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights, Old US Aid building, Ata Turk Avenue; G-5, Islamabad, PAKISTAN
Name: Mr. Pervaiz Rashid
Email: contact@molaw.gov.pk
Fax: +92 51 9204108
Governor of Punjab
Governor House, Mall Road, Lahore, Punjab, PAKISTAN
Name: Mr. Rafiq Rajwana
Fax: +92 42 99203044
Email: governor.sectt@punjab.gov.pk
Mr. Chief Justice of Punjab Province
Lahore High Court, Shahra-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Lahore, PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 42 99212951-66
Fax: +92 42 99212279
Email: webmasterlhc@lhc.gov.pk
Mr. Chief Justice of Punjab Province
Lahore High Court
Shahra-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Lahore, PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 42 99212951-66
Fax: +92 42 99212279
Email: webmasterlhc@lhc.gov.pk
Pakistan Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights
Name: Mr. Ashtar Ausaf Ali
Phone: + (92-51-9210062)
(92-51-9212710)
Fax: + (92-51-9202628)
Email. stateminister@molaw.gov.pk
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Honorable Chief Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk
Telephone: +92 5192 20 581-600
Fax: +92 5192 13 452
Email : mail@supremecourt.gov.pk(email currently being blocked) Mr. Justice Tahir Shahbaz Registrar of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Constitution Avenue, Islamabad PAKISTAN Fax: +92 51 9213452 Email: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk (can get “over quota” response)
Pakistan Special Secretary, Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights
Name: Mr. Justice (R) Muhammad Raza Khan
Phone: + (92-51-9202712)
Fax: + (92-51-9202628)
Email: secretary@molaw.gov.pk
Name: Mr. Shahbaz Sharif
Chief Minister, Government of Punjab
Province Chief Minister
Secretariat 5-Club Road, GOR-I, Lahore, Punjab, PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 99205065
Email: cmcomplaintcell@cmpunjab.gov.pk
Name: Mr. Rana Sana Ullah Khan
Minister of Law, Government of Punjab, Punjab Secretariat, Ravi Road, Lahore, Punjab, PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 99212004
E-mail: law@punjab.gov.pk
Paksitan Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony
Name: Minister Sardar Muhammad Yousaf
Phone: 9214856
Email: sardarysf1952@gmail.com
Name: Mr. Muhammad Iqbal Siddiqui
Email: saifkhan57@gmail.com
National Commission on the Status of Women
Name: Ms. Khawar Mumtaz, Chairperson
Phone: 92-51-9224875
Fax: 92-51-9224877
E-mail: info@ncsw.gov.pk
Central Police Office (CPO), Punjab
Name: Mr. Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera, PSP, Inspector-General of Police, Punjab
Phone: 042-99210062-3
Fax: 042-99210064
We also urge you to reach the:
Women’s Rights Association (WRA)
Central Office
ADDRESS House #13 Hans Road New Shalimar Colony
Bosan Road, Multan, Pakistan
Name: Shaista Bukhari
FAX NO+92-61-6513386
EMAIL ID wra.org.pk@gmail.com wrapakistan@hotmail.com http://www.wra.org.pk
Please note – this is R.E.A.L.’s best effort to obtain these contacts for action. We don’t have control over their email or fax accounts. The Pakistan government will let some email accounts get full (over quota), block some, and will turn off some of their fax machines. Keep trying. A lot of them will work, and we urge you to directly contact them on this immediate issue. When they make themselves inaccessible, we understand first-hand how frustrating this is in our efforts to communicate with these Pakistan government officials.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) has received reports of new arrests in Thailand of Pakistan Christians who are seeking asylum, in the Samrong district of Bangkok.
We are being given reports today, June 6, 2015, that Thai police arrested eight Pakistani Christians asylum seekers including three men, three women, one elderly woman and a ten month old baby in the Samrong area of Bangkok today.
R.E.A.L. calls for the Thailand government to show mercy for these individuals being detained as they continue to seek asylum through the UNHCR office and await UNHCR Bangkok review of their case for Refugee Status Determination (RSD).
As we see from today’s report, Pakistan Christian refugees who have fled to Thailand are being arrested by the security forces before the UNHCR interviews them and makes a decision on their case. They are not getting the opportunity to be considered for such asylum and refugee status, as these women, children, and men get rounded up and put into Immigration Detention Center (IDCs).
Thailand: Pakistan Christians Praying for the Release of Christians Arrested by Thai Police in Immigration Detention Centres (IDC) (Source: Pukkar News)
In May 2006, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) identified Pakistan to be designated as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) by the Department of State, due to its abuses against freedoms. Pakistan remains a “Tier 1” Country of Particular Concern to the this U.S. Government organization.
R.E.A.L. has been repeatedly petitioning the Thailand government on this matter, and we have provide detailed documentation of the Pakistan Christian oppression for Thailand government representatives for their consideration of mercy towards these asylum seekers.
The U.S. Embassy in Thailand has provided a statement to R.E.A.L., that once the UNHCR makes an RSD decision on these refugees, it will also consider their cases for U.S. asylum as well. The Pakistan Christian refugees clearly meet the refugee standards as described in UNHCR Resettlement Handbook, Chapter 5, Section 5.7.1.
But we need the UNHCR to accelerate its process of getting review of Pakistan Christians’ refugee status, and we call for the Thailand government to use patience in allowing the refugees’ reviews by UNHCR to get completed. We call for the Thailand government use mercy and restraint for these Pakistan Christian refugees in Thailand to have the right to get UNHCR refugee status interviews and consideration, without being put in Thailand prisons. These desperate individuals need time for the UNHCR to process their cases and give them an opportunity for asylum in nations where they will not be oppressed due to their religion.
While Thailand may not be a signatory to the specific 1951 Refugee Convention, Thailand is a signatory to many other international agreements and laws which protect the rights and dignity of Pakistan Christians who only seek our shared universal human rights of freedom of religion and security, which have been denied to them by Pakistan.
Thailand is a signatory to the:
— Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (December 10, 1948)
— International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (October 29, 1996)
— Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (October 2, 2007)
— Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (January 9, 2012)
— Convention on the Rights of the Child (March 27, 1992)
In Pakistan, these refugees and their children have been these rights. They are not only Pakistan Christians, they are our fellow human beings who have all of the rights which Thailand and the nations of the world agree to ensure for them in our community of humanity. They have the right to the international legal protection under these agreements which Thailand has signed as one of the nations of the world.
It is morally and ethically wrong for refugees fleeing from Pakistan fleeing because of conditions where they are being such rights, to also be denied freedoms in another nation which is a signatory to these international laws and covenants. Pukkar News also quotes Farrukh Harrison Saif: “The international community has to put pressure on Thai government, not to arrest the asylum seekers, because asylum is not a crime. It is a right of any individual or a family or group.”
We urge the public to share this concerns with the Kingdom of Thailand government, the UNHCR, and the OHCHR.
Please share your voice with these agencies and institutions. Please also find the Thailand embassy in your nation, and reach out to it on this issue.
Kingdom of Thailand
The Secretariat of the Prime Minister
Government House, 1 Phitsanulok Road, Dusit, Bangkok 10300
General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister
Secretariat_PM@opm.go.th
FAX: 66 02 282 5131
Kingdom of Thailand
Royal Thai Embassy
1024 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 40
Washington, DC 20007
United States
Contact: H.E. Mr. Pisan Manawapat – Ambassador
Telephone: (202) 944-3600
Thailand Embassy/Consulate Email: information@thaiembdc.org, consular@thaiembdc.org
UNHCR Regional Representative in Thailand
3rd Floor, United Nations Building, Rajdamnern Nok Avenue, 10200 Bangkok, Thailand
Telephone: 66 2 288 1858
FAX: 66 2 280 0555
Email: thaba@unhcr.org
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Case Postale 2500
CH-1211 Genève 2 Dépôt
Switzerland (Suisse)
Telephone: +41 22 739 8111
FAX: +41 22 739 7377
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The Director of UNHCR Office
P.O. Box 20
Grand Central, New York, NY 10017
United States
Telephone: 1-212-963-0032
Facsimile: 1-212-963-0074
Email: usane@unhcr.org
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Regional Office for South East Asia
6th Floor, United Nations Buidling, Rachadamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10200, Thailand
Tel: +66 2 288 1235
Fax: +66 2 288 1039
Email: ohchr.bangkok@un.org
Ms. Matilda Bogner
Regional Representative
+66 81 755 0826
bogner@un.org
Our message to Thailand, UNHCR, OHCHR, and the people of the world is PLEASE – join us and be Responsible for Equality And Liberty – for all.
There are reports and photographs of mob violence against Christians in the Lahore suburb of Sanda in the “Dhoop Sari” (aka “Dhup Sarri”) area. The reports center on the arrest of an alleged mentally ill Christian, Hamayun Faisal Masih, who was burning newspapers “with holy verses” when he was attacked by a mob. According to the Pakistan Daily Times report, “A mob took him to the Gulshan-e-Ravi police station for FIR. The Sanda police never took it serious. After some religious leaders gathered and announced that issue. The angry mob blocked the road protest against Christians and demanding to burn alive the accused. Between 5 and 6 pm a violent mob attacked the area, opened fire, ransacked the Churches, burnt houses and threatened the residents. St. Joseph Church was also vandalized.”
The Pakistan Christian Post expands on this report: “Witnesses claim the local cleric provoked the people in Gulshan Ravi, Sandha and consequently local Muslims gathered around and started throwing stones at the Christian’s houses and local church.” The Pakistan Christian Congress went to visit the area and found more than 20 Christian homes attacked and damaged.
Attacks on Pakistan Christian homes in Lahore Suburb of Sanda in the “Dhoop Sari” (Source: PCC)Attacks on Pakistan Christian homes in Lahore Suburb of Sanda in the “Dhoop Sari” (Source: PCC)
Doors of two Christian houses broken by mobs in Lahore, Pakistan. (Source: Morning Star News)
The Pakistan Daily Times also reports that “The local police used tear gas against the mob, some police officials were also injured but the mob, no police official was present to talk about the incident, the Rangers have been deployed to control the situation in the area. ”
The Pakistan Christian Post also reported: “He has been arrested and is in police custody, and it is believed that he has been declared mentally unstable by the hospital.”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty calls for religious freedom, equality, and justice for religious minorities in Pakistan and around the world, in accordance with our universal human rights.
In Punjab, authorities have reportedly arrested 106 people from a mob that who murdered a Christian couple in public, burning their body to death. As R.E.A.L. reported in November 2014, a mob in “Pakistan burned a Christian couple alive, based on false claims of “blasphemy.” The Christian couple, Sajjad Maseeh, 27, and his wife Shama Bibi, 24, were murdered by the crowd as it chanted religious slogans from the Qur’an, their legs broken, and their bodies publicly burned in a kiln. Shama Bibi was four months pregnant, and since her body would not burn properly, it was wrapped in cloth, so the murderous mob could more readily burn her body.” As we previously reported, the mob made their four-year old child watch her parents burn to death, and tried to them kill the baby as well.
Shama Bibi and Sajjad Maseeh were killed by a mob in Kot Radha Kishan, Pakistan.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) points to this atrocity as one in many such crimes against our fellow human beings, which begins with religious intolerance and the view that violence is an acceptable approach for those who view that they are religiously offended. Free nations must reject such views and such oppression of all people, especially religious minorities targeted by such violence and hatred.
In Pakistan, teenage girl human rights activist Hamna Tariq has spoken on what Mother’s Day means to her and how she continues to seek change for Pakistan girls and women, despite the threats against her. Her message for human rights for girls and women in Pakistan is regularly posted on the website “Amplify Your Voice.”
Hamna Tariq – Teenage Pakistan Human Rights Activist
As reported by NBC: “On Mother’s Day, I gave my mother a cushion with the words “Happy Mother’s Day” sewn on it and I attempted to write a letter to thank her for all she’s done for my brother and me. I made sure that after working around the clock all year, she could get some time to pamper herself. My mother and I love to attend gender equality enhancement seminars together and we bond over a cup of tea in the evenings after I get out of school and she gets free from her work. But both my mother and I know that the idea of “motherhood” has a dark side where we live in Pakistan: all over our country, girls like me are forced to marry and become mothers before the age of 18.”
“In Pakistan, one in 10 girls will be married before they reach the age of 15, one in four will be married before they are 18, and if present trends continue, nearly 2.5 million of the young girls born between 2005 and 2010 will be married before age 18. Marital rape is frequent and remains in a vacuum of the law as a contentious topic. And once girls in Pakistan are married, only a few of them use contraception in spite of their needs to space childbearing. This results in a large population of child mothers, many of them much younger than I am, who had no say in determining their futures.”
“In 2012, at least 1,000 Pakistani women and girls who were mostly victims of child marriage were murdered in so-called ‘honor killings’ carried out by husbands or male relatives over suspicions of adultery or other illicit sexual behavior, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a private organization. It said another 7,000 survived similar assaults, including acid attacks, amputations, and immolation.”
“Unfortunately, child marriage, honor killings and domestic violence are not the only challenges facing girls in Pakistan. Pakistan has the world’s second highest number of children out of school, reaching 5.1 million in 2010. This is equivalent to 1 in 12 of the world’s out-of-school children. Two-thirds of Pakistan’s out of school children are girls, meaning over 3 million girls don’t have access to education. Education can make a big difference to women’s future earnings in Pakistan: women with a high level of literacy earn 95% more than women with no literacy skills.”
“I know how lucky I am: my family supports my choices and advocates for my education and healthy upbringing. My mother is an independent thinker and an outspoken supporter of women’s rights. Her wish for me to live a life that is different from the majority of girls in our country. She inspires me to continue her legacy of charting a path towards change for Pakistani women and girls.”
“But my upbringing has not shielded me from the harsh realities of living as a woman in my country. Even though I grew up in a progressive household in Pakistan, I have never been outside my house without male accompaniment, and I am always covered head to toe. I’ve seen my cousins outside of the city married at fifteen to much older men. They did not protest; marriage is all they were raised to expect. Young feminists in the United States have no qualms about fighting for their rights in their home country, but I’m scared that if I return to Pakistan after university to begin a career in women’s rights, I may be harassed – or killed.”
“The issues that plague Pakistani women are widespread across the globe. If nothing changes, there will be 142 million child marriages in developing countries between now and 2021 – or 37,000 girls per day. If nothing changes, as many as 30 million girls will remain at risk of genital mutilation or cutting before their 15th birthday. And if nothing changes, girls will continue to face the barriers that prevent them from pursuing an education.”
“But there are ways we can pressure countries like Pakistan to protect girls and women. The United Nations is currently negotiating its post-2015 development goals, which will be finalized in September, to provide guidance and overall strategy for the next 15 years of international diplomacy and action. As the UN member states, including Pakistan, debate these goals this year, it is critical that they make girls’ rights a top priority and the central focus of the post-2015 goals. I know that the long-term well-being and stability of girls in my country and around the globe can only be guaranteed through sustained leadership from world powers and the UN.”
“This is why I have spoken out for change. In anticipation of negotiations on the post-2015 UN development goals, more than 500 adolescent girls, including me, advised over 25 leading development organizations and issue experts to create The Girl Declaration, a document that lays out the key elements needed in the new development agenda to put the focus on girls, including standards for education, health services, safety, legal reforms, and sexual rights. It’s our hope that the UN listens to the voices of these girls from around the world and puts their rights front and center.”
“Ensuring that adolescent girls grow up healthy, educated, safe and empowered is crucial to breaking the cycle of poverty and building a better future for the world. By focusing international goals on adolescent girls, the UN can not only guarantee a better life for them, but can help tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing Pakistan, and the world today. My mother taught me to fight for the rights of women like me, and I will continue to advocate that no girl should be forced into marriage and early motherhood before she is ready.”
Another attack on a Pakistan Christian school by extremists was reported by Fides and by the Pakistan Christian Post on April 17, 2015. The attack was made by gunmen on the Christian Catholic St. Francis school. This was another in a repeated series of attacks on Christian organizations in Pakistan, and especially around the Lahore area.
Fides reported that the “St Francis High School” is a Catholic high school located in the district of Bahar, in the Anarkali area, near Lahore. According to Fides, a “student and two security guards were injured and were taken to hospital. The reasons of the attack have not yet been established, and investigations are being carried out.” Both the “St. Francis High School”, and the “St Mary High School” were closed.
According to the Pakistan Christian Post, “Unidentified gunmen began firing and as the guards on duty outside the school intercepted, they were caught in the firing and got injured. The students of the school have been directed to leave the school premises. The investigation is underway to find out the main reason of attack. The Churches and Christian institutions already have warned about security threat from hardliners. Behar Colony is the second largest Christian residential area in Lahore and Lahore is the second largest city of Pakistan.”
St. Francis School Attacked by Extremists in Lahore, Pakistan area
Those who believe in our universal human rights and accepts the rule of law for any society, must reject the extremist violence against minority Christians. We must all reject this violence and seek and end to the oppression in Pakistan.
