Pakistan’s Christians Facing New Challenges

Pakistan’s Christians have been facing severe persecution, and now many are expressing concern about potential new changes in the nation’s blasphemy laws.

ChristianToday  is reporting on December 4th of last year, Pakistan’s Federal Shariat Court passed an order to remove life imprisonment as a punishment for blasphemy, leaving only the death sentence.

The Federal Shariat Court first ordered the government of Pakistan to abolish life imprisonment in the blasphemy offense, which would mean only the death sentence could be imposed. The decision was not implemented.

Now the court has given the government of Pakistan until the 4th of February to choose either to amend the law or appeal the ruling.

Christian Today reports so far no one has been executed for blasphemy in Pakistan, but there have been between 1,200 and 4,000 cases filed. Those accused of blasphemy often spend many years in prison awaiting trial or going through the lengthy appeals process. Even if charges are dismissed, those accused of blasphemy often face vigilante violence upon their release, and entire Christian communities can experience related attacks.

Methodist church officials in Pakistan point to the case of 14-year-old Rimsha Masih. In August 2012, Masih was detained in a maximum security prison for several weeks after being falsely accused of burning pages of the Koran. In June of last year, the girl and her family were granted asylum in Canada.

Voice of the Martyrs points to the case of a Pakistani woman who was convicted of blasphemy by a court in Pakistan. Asia Bibi received a sentence of death by hanging.

In 2009 she became involved in an argument with a group of Muslim woman when they became angry at her for drinking the same water.  She used the words “Our Christ sacrificed his life on the cross for our sins … our Christ is alive.” She was accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad, and received the death sentence in November 2010. She remains in prison today while awaiting the outcome of her appeals on the death sentence.

The Evangelical Alliance of Scotland is asking the government of the United Kingdom to intervene on behalf of a 69-year old Scottish-man who has been convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Federal Shariat Court convicted Mohammad Asghar of Edinburgh of blasphemy, and sentenced him to death.

Asghar was convicted after sending letters to Pakistani officials in which he claimed to be the Prophet Mohammed.

An attorney for Asghar points out that his client suffers from mental illness and was treated in Edinburgh before going to Pakistan in 2010.

In its 2014 World Report, Human Rights Watch stated that “abuses are rife under [Pakistan]’s abusive blasphemy law, which is used against religious minorities often to settle personal disputes.”

Human Rights Watch reports in March of last year, several thousand Christians were forced to flee their homes in the city of Lahore after charges of blasphemy against a local resident. The Human Rights Watch reports says mobs then burned and looted an estimated 150 homes, as police watched and took no action. Human Rights Watch says the local resident remains in jail.

The British Broadcasting Corporation reports that the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan is documenting cases of blasphemy. HRCP reports the majority of allegations are against Muslims. The HRCP report says an estimated 1,000 allegations of desecration of the Koran have been filed and an estimated 50 of the cases are allegations of blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad.

HRCP reports say hundreds of convictions have been handed down in these cases, but just about all of them have been reversed by higher courts due to lack of evidence or lack of due process. HRCP has documented accusations against hundreds of Christians-at least 12 of them have been given the death sentence for blaspheming against the Proph