{"id":8388,"date":"2023-01-20T14:11:28","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T14:11:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/?p=8388"},"modified":"2023-01-20T14:11:28","modified_gmt":"2023-01-20T14:11:28","slug":"amendments-to-blasphemy-laws-create-further-room-for-persecution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/amendments-to-blasphemy-laws-create-further-room-for-persecution\/","title":{"rendered":"Amendments to blasphemy laws create further room for persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container hundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-padding-left:180px;--awb-margin-top:40px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"width:104% !important;max-width:104% !important;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_4_5 4_5 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:80%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:2.4%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:2.4%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p>Press release<\/p>\n<p><strong>Amendments to blasphemy laws create further room for persecution<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Lahore, 20 January 2023<\/em>. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expresses its deep concern over the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act 2023, which was passed unanimously in the National Assembly on 17 January. While the stated aim of this bill is to curb sectarianism, HRCP believes it is likely to exacerbate the persecution of Pakistan\u2019s beleaguered religious minorities and minority sects.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed legislation increases the punishment for using derogatory remarks against holy persons\u2014including the Prophet (PBUH)\u2019s family, wives and companions, and the four caliphs\u2014from three years with a fine to imprisonment for life \u2018which will not be less than ten years\u2019. The bill also makes the offence non-bailable, thereby directly violating the constitutionally guaranteed right to personal liberty under Article 9.<\/p>\n<p>Given Pakistan\u2019s troubled record of the misuse of such laws, these amendments are likely to be weaponised disproportionately against religious minorities and sects, resulting in false FIRs, harassment and persecution. Moreover, increasing the penalty for alleged blasphemy will aggravate misuse of the law to settle personal vendettas, as is often the case with blasphemy allegations.<\/p>\n<p>At a time when civil society has been calling for amendments to these laws to prevent their abuse, strengthening this punishment will do the exact opposite.<\/p>\n<p>Hina Jilani<br \/>\nChairperson<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-1 fusion_builder_column_1_5 1_5 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:20%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:9.6%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:9.6%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-widget-area awb-widget-area-element fusion-widget-area-1 fusion-content-widget-area\" style=\"--awb-title-size:18px;--awb-title-color:#333333;--awb-padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;\"><style type=\"text\/css\" data-id=\"tweets-widget-2\">#tweets-widget-2 li { border-color:#ebeaea;}<\/style><div id=\"tweets-widget-2\" class=\"widget tweets\" style=\"border-style: solid;border-color: #ebeaea;border-color:transparent;border-width:0px;\">\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div style=\"overflow:hidden\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"twitter-timeline\" data-dnt=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HRCP87\" data-tweet-limit=\"5\" data-width=\"\" data-height=\"900\" width=\"\" height=\"900\" data-theme=\"light\" data-link-color=\"#ff9800\" data-border-color=\"#ebeaea\" data-chrome=\"\">Tweets by HRCP87<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><div class=\"fusion-additional-widget-content\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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