[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official profile; JURIST news archive] on Sunday condemned [statement] a terrorist attack [CNN report] on a Christian church in Peshawar, Pakistan, which has reportedly killed more than 80 people and wounded more than 100. Ban expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and urged Pakistani authorities do everything in their power to combat “repeated acts of blind violence against religious and ethnic minorities in Pakistan.” The attacks have led to Christian protests [AFP report] across the country. In Islamabad protesters blocked a major highway during rush hour, and thousands rallied outside the parliament [official website] building demanding the government do more to protect [HRCP report] the minority Christian population from further violence.

Earlier this month Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] stated that Pakistan’s anti-terrorism laws will be amended [JURIST report] to more effectively combat the threat of terrorism. The statements came after increased violence in the city of Karachi. Sharif presided over security meetings discussing how to improve Pakistan’s approach to terrorism [IANS report]. Also this month the nonprofit human rights law firm Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) [advocacy website] released a report [JURIST report] detailing the conditions at Bagram Prison [official website] in Afghanistan, a facility that detains non-Afghan prisoners of the US despite not being under US control [JURIST report] since March.