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UN Experts Raise Alarm Over Rising Discrimination and Violence Against Pakistan's Ahmadiyya Community
UN experts express grave concern over rising discrimination and violence against Pakistan's Ahmadiyya community. Urgent action needed to address extrajudicial killings and attacks on places of worship.
ND
by News Desk
2024-07-25
UN Experts Raise Alarm Over Rising Discrimination and Violence Against Pakistan's Ahmadiyya Community

United Nations experts on Thursday voiced grave concern over reports of surging discrimination and violence against Pakistan’s Ahmadiyya minority community, including extrajudicial killings and attacks on places of worship.

The Ahmadiyya sect has faced persecution for decades in Pakistan, but threats and intimidation have risen in recent years. "We are alarmed by ongoing reports of violence and discrimination against the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan," said the eight independent experts, including the special rapporteurs on extrajudicial executions, on freedom of expression, and on freedom of religion.

"Urgent measures are necessary to respond to these violent attacks and the broader atmosphere of hatred and discrimination which feeds it," they said in a statement.

The experts, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations, highlighted several specific incidents over recent months. These included the extrajudicial killing of two Ahmadis in Saad Ullah Pur on July 8 and the killing on March 4 of the president of the Ahmadiyya community in Bahawalpur district.

They also noted reports of an alarming number of attacks on Ahmadi places of worship and cemeteries since the beginning of the year, some of which resulted in serious injury to worshippers. The statement highlighted alleged arbitrary arrests of Ahmadi worshippers over religious holiday periods "to obstruct their participation in their religious practices."

There are around 500,000 Ahmadis in Pakistan, according to their community leadership. The Constitution has branded them non-Muslims since 1974, and a 1984 law forbids them from claiming their faith as Islamic or openly practicing Islamic rituals.

"Ahmadis’ right to peacefully manifest their beliefs must be respected," the experts insisted, warning that "judicial harassment serves to normalize violence against Ahmadis by non-state actors."

They welcomed the National Assembly’s adoption last month of a resolution urging federal and provincial governments to ensure the safety and security of all Pakistani citizens, including religious minorities. However, they cautioned that "such good-faith efforts to counter discriminatory discourse will be ineffective unless they address its structural drivers, including blasphemy laws and discriminatory legal provisions."
Tagged:

HumanRights

ReligiousFreedom

AhmadiyyaCommunity

UNAlert

StopViolence

EndDiscrimination
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