UN questions Pakistan after briefing by Atheist Ireland, Evangelicals and Ahmadis

Michael Nugent

This week in Geneva, the United Nations Human Rights Committee questioned Pakistan on its human rights obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Before this, the Committee was briefed by six NGOs, including a unique joint delegation from Atheist Ireland, the Evangelical Alliance of Ireland and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Ireland. We are now awaiting the Concluding Observations of the Committee about Pakistan.

We told the Human Rights Committee that we are Atheists, Evangelical Christians, and Ahmadi Muslims from Ireland. We have very different world views, but we work together to promote human rights. We said that the work of the UN Human Rights Committee has already helped us to challenge religious discrimination in Ireland. We said we were now speaking out for minorities in Pakistan, who are afraid to speak out publicly themselves.

We told the UN Human Rights Committee that Pakistan says that it guarantees the fundamental rights of all citizens, but the reality of life on the ground contradicts this. We said that the Pakistani Penal Code is not compatible with the Covenant rights to Freedom of Religion and Belief, Non-Discrimination, Effective Remedy, Life, Protection of the State, Equality Before the Law, Privacy, Expression, Assembly, Association, and Participation in Public Affairs. The Committee addressed all of these issues in its questioning of Pakistan.

The summary linked to below covers issues that we raised with the Committee that are related to Freedom of Religion and Belief, the Blasphemy law, and related violence including mob killings of Ahmadis, forced conversions of Christians, and disappearances of secular bloggers. On each of these issues, we highlighted the intertwined problems of unjust laws, and violence outside those laws, both of which are grounded in religious discrimination and persecution.

You can read a summary here of the UN's questions to Pakistan

You can read our written submission to the UN here

Michael Nugent

The United Nations Human Rights Committee has today told Pakistan to respect human rights, including freedom of religion and belief, under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Atheist Ireland, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Ireland, and the Evangelical Alliance of Ireland, welcome the UN’s conclusions in the following areas, which we raised in Geneva:

• Freedom of religion, belief, and conscience, including blasphemy laws
• The right to participate in public affairs
• Freedom of expression, and electronic privacy
• Early marriage and forced marriage
• Enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings
• The Counter-Terrorism Act and the death penalty

We are particularly pleased with the emphasis that the UN has put on:

• Ending the blasphemy laws, which have a mandatory death penalty, and are particularly used against Ahmadis.
• Ending the mob violence against people accused of blasphemy, and threats to judges hearing blasphemy cases.
• Punishing hate crimes against people of religious minorities and their places of worship.
• Removing all religiously biased content from school textbooks and curricula, and regulating madrassas.
• Ending the separate electoral list for Ahmadis, and giving everybody an equal right to vote in elections.
• Ending harassment, disappearance, and killing of human rights defenders, who include atheist and secular bloggers.
• Bringing its law on electronic data collection and surveillance in line with its obligations under the Covenant.
• Eradicating child marriage, forced marriage, and related harmful practices, which include forced conversions of Christians.
• Ending the Counter-Terrorism Act definitions that allow Ahmadi publications to be treated as terrorism.
• Reinstating the moratorium on the death penalty, and either abolishing or significantly restricting it.

The next steps are

The Pakistan Government must widely disseminate the Covenant, the questioning, and these concluding observations within Pakistan, including to judges, NGOs and the general public.
Within one year, Pakistan must report back to the UN on how it is implementing the conclusions in three specific areas: freedom of religion, conscience and belief; enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings; and the death penalty.
The next full questioning and report on Pakistan will be in July 2020.

You can read more details here

recedite

Wouldn't it be great if the UN actually enforced stuff like this, and sent in a UN army to end wars like the one in Syria, etc etc..

Hotblack Desiato

Ireland, the Philippines and Nepal aren't going to be able to do so even with the best of intentions. So it'd fall to the US, UK and France. And then we'd be back to "oh, the evil West are invading Arab lands again" stuff.

recedite

The point about the UN is that it isn't just "the west", its supposed to be "the whole world".
Arguably it is controlled by its major financiers and vetoed by its security council.
But still, wouldn't it be great if there really was a "world council" of some sort, that could sit in judgement over human rights abuses, and then enforce a solution, using its authority as a global organisation.
Maybe some day....

Hotblack Desiato

Ah, you mean the One World Government... careful what you wish for!

It's a bit like those who think direct democracy is the only democracy, and therefore the EU is "undemocratic". Well if national governments have no power in the EU and all power is devolved to the parliament... all of a sudden we have the "EU Federal Superstate" the very same people wail about.

Hotblack Desiato

On second thoughts..

A supreme authority, sitting in judgement above us all, deciding whether we've been good or bad.
Meting out rewards or punishments after the fact, according to its (His??) determinations.

Sounds a bit like... you should be even more careful what you wish for!!!!!!



(This could be a J C post :pac: )

recedite

These things tend to go well until some megalomaniac comes along during a temporary crisis and corrupts/persuades the council members to hand over all power to himself, in perpetuity (for the greater good). The Romans, the Third Reich, Star Wars, the EU....

Hotblack Desiato

recedite wrote: »

the EU....

:rolleyes: