A bipartisan U.S. government body that monitors religious freedom worldwide this week recommended imposing sanctions on Pakistan for human rights violations, particularly abuse of harsh blasphemy laws and treatment of religious minorities in the country.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) stated that religious freedom in Pakistan continued to deteriorate in 2024, according to its annual report released on Tuesday (March 25).
Religious minority communities – particularly Christians, Hindus and Shia Muslims and Ahmadis – continued to bear the brunt of persecution and prosecutions under Pakistan’s strict blasphemy law and to suffer violence from both the police and mobs, while those responsible for such violence rarely faced legal consequences, the report stated.
“Such conditions continued to contribute to a worsening religious and political climate of fear, intolerance, and violence,” USCIRF stated, noting that accusations of blasphemy and subsequent mob violence continued to severely impact religious minority communities in the country.
It also noted that “violent attacks and systematic harassment” against the Ahmadi community persisted throughout the year, resulting in four deaths.
Another issue highlighted in the report was the “worsening pattern of forced conversions” among the country’s Christian and Hindu women and girls.
USCIRF recommended the U.S. administration “impose targeted sanctions on Pakistani officials and government agencies responsible for severe violations of religious freedom” by freezing their assets and/or barring entry into the U.S. under human rights-related financial and visa authorities, citing specific religious freedom violations.
The panel recommended that Pakistan should be redesignated as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) for engaging in “systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom,” as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).
It further suggested that the United States should enter into a binding agreement with Pakistan under Section 405(c) of IRFA to encourage substantial steps to address violations of freedom of religion or belief with benchmarks, including but not limited to: releasing blasphemy prisoners and other individuals imprisoned for their religion or beliefs; repealing blasphemy and anti-Ahmadi laws, and until such repeal, enacting reforms to make blasphemy a bailable offence, require evidence by accusers, conduct proper investigations by senior police officials, and allow authorities to dismiss unfounded accusations; enforcing existing penal code articles criminalizing perjury and false accusations and holding accountable individuals who incite or participate in vigilante violence, targeted killings, forced conversion and other religiously based crimes.
Pakistan was last designated as a CPC in January 2024.
Blasphemy is an incendiary charge for many in Pakistan, with unsubstantiated accusations inciting public outrage that can lead to lynchings. Nazeer Masih Gill, a Christian attacked in May after being accused of burning pages of the Quran, died shortly afterwards. In August 2023, Muslim mobs attacked Christian neighborhoods in Jaranwala, Faisalabad District, burning down multiple churches and homes after two brothers were falsely accused of writing blasphemous content and desecrating the Quran.
Pakistan has also witnessed a sharp increase in the prosecution of “online blasphemy” cases in the last two years, with private vigilante groups bringing charges against hundreds of young individuals, including Christians, for allegedly committing blasphemy.
Expressing alarm over an increase in false blasphemy accusations in Pakistan, the U.N. Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) on Nov. 7 urged repeal or amending of the country’s widely condemned blasphemy laws.
The committee noted that false blasphemy accusations led to Islamist mob violence and recommended amending the laws in accordance with requirements of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). In its concluding observations of the committee’s second periodic report on Pakistan, it stated concern over sections 295 and 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which carry severe penalties, including the death penalty, and have a disproportionate impact on religious minorities.
“It is also concerned about the increasing number of persons incarcerated under blasphemy charges, the high number of blasphemy cases based on false accusations, violence against those accused of blasphemy, fostering vigilante justice, and allegations of entrapment of persons, in particular young persons, on accusations of on-line blasphemy under cybercrime laws,” the committee stated.
In a related development, two U.S. lawmakers on Monday (March 24) reportedly introduced a bipartisan bill in the House of Representatives seeking sanctions against Pakistani state officials over alleged human rights violations and “persecution of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan.”
The bill, titled the Pakistan Democracy Act, was introduced by Republican Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina and Democratic Congressman Jimmy Panetta of California. It has been referred to the House Foreign Affairs and Judiciary Committees for review.
The proposed legislation calls for sanctions to be imposed on Pakistan’s army chief within 180 days if the country fails to take steps to improve its human rights situation.
The bill aims to invoke the U.S. Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which permits the U.S. to deny visas and entry to individuals accused of committing human rights violations. It also directs the US government to identify and sanction individuals allegedly involved in the suppression of political opposition in Pakistan.
The president would be granted authority to lift the sanctions if Pakistan ends military interference in civilian governance and releases all “wrongfully detained political detainees.”
Pakistan ranked eighth on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian.
