Religious freedom advocates this month strongly condemned deterioration of human rights in Pakistan, particularly continued abuse of the country’s harsh blasphemy laws and forced conversions of minority girls.
They delivered the scathing rebukes during the 58th Regular Session of the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva on March 11 at a side event hosted by rights organizations Jubilee Campaign USA, Set My People Free and the European Centre for Law and Justice. The event focused on systematic use of torture and persecution in Pakistan, Eritrea, Nicaragua and Sudan.
Charlie Weimers, a member of the European Parliament, reviled Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, describing them as “weapons of terror against religious minorities.”
“Christians and others in Pakistan face mob violence, wrongful imprisonment, and forced conversions,” Weimers said, adding that August 2023 riots in Jaranwala – where 26 church buildings were torched and multiple homes and businesses of Christians were ransacked – exposed the complete absence of justice for Christians.
The European Parliament in 2021 called on Pakistan to amend its blasphemy laws and urged targeted sanctions on Eritrean officials and international jurisdiction over crimes of Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega, but nothing has changed since then, Weimers said.
“The European Union must stop enabling Pakistan’s persecution machine,” he said. “Trade, aid and visas must be conditional on real human rights reforms, and sanctions must be imposed on violators.”
He also warned of religious persecution metastasizing into Europe, citing increased attacks on church buildings, clergy and other faithful.
“We cannot claim to fight for religious freedom abroad while ignoring the crisis at home,” he cautioned, criticizing reckless immigration policies and the unchecked spread of radical ideologies.
Weimers asserted that more than 800 church buildings were desecrated in France in a single year, while violent attacks on Christians in Germany, Sweden and the U.K. surged.
“How can we criticize Pakistan’s blasphemy laws when European citizens fear wearing a cross in public?” he said. “If Europe is serious about defending religious freedom, it must take back control at home and confront persecution abroad with unwavering resolve.”
Jubilee Campaign advocacy officer Joseph Janssen slammed Pakistan’s ruthless enforcement of blasphemy laws, saying they have turned into a death sentence for Christians, Hindus and other minorities.
“Victims face state-sponsored physical and psychological torture, indefinite detention without trial, and extrajudicial executions at the hands of violent mobs,” said Janssen.
He spoke about several people who were languishing in prison because of fake accusations, including Nadeem James, sentenced to death over a WhatsApp message, who has been in solitary confinement for eight years; Anwar Kenneth, who was deemed mentally unfit but has spent 23 years in prison over a blasphemy charge; and Shagufta Kiran, a mother of four, who has been imprisoned over an accusation about a social media post.
At the same time, perpetrators of mob violence against Christians have walked free, Janssen said, stating that nearly all of the more than 300 suspects arrested following the Jaranwala riots have been released on bail.
“These abuses demand urgent global action. The international community must step in now to protect Pakistan’s religious minorities, hold perpetrators accountable, and push for immediate legal reforms,” he said.
Shahid Mobeen, president of the Italian Roundtable on Religious Freedom, said that 307 million Christians were facing persecution worldwide.
“The murders of Shahbaz Bhatti and Salman Taseer for defending religious freedom in Pakistan serve as grim reminders of the cost of speaking the truth,” Mobeen said. “Governments must counter radicalization, dismantle blasphemy laws and enforce protections for religious minorities.”
Organizers called on the international community, including the United Nations, the European Union and national governments to act immediately to increase U.N. human rights monitoring in high-risk countries; demand legal protections for religious communities and repeal oppressive laws; impose targeted sanctions on government officials responsible for religious persecution; launch independent investigations into religious persecution, ensuring perpetrators are held accountable under international law; and pressure states to repeal blasphemy laws and eliminate state-backed religious discrimination.
Speakers stressed that the time for polite diplomacy was over, and that decisive action was needed – international intervention to hold perpetrators accountable, strengthen protections for vulnerable communities and ensure justice for victims of state-backed religious oppression.
Nazila Ghanea, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, said countries were trampling over the right to religious freedom and the prohibition of torture. She added that a recent HRC report underscored the need for stronger action: accountability for grave violations rather than empty condemnations.
Pakistan ranked eighth on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian.
