Search Results for: blasphemy law

UN human rights experts decried on Wednesday confirmation of the death of Jamshid Sharmahd, a victim of arbitrary detention in Iran. The UN experts said: “The death of the 69-year-old after years of arbitrary detention is appalling, especially considering he was subjected to kidnapping, and violations of numerous fundamental rights including his right to a [...]

Iran faced global criticism at the 48th Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Friday, as member nations denounced the country’s treatment of women, crackdown on dissent, and widespread use of the death penalty. Nations including the United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland raised serious concerns over [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Vietnam on Tuesday to repeal its new cybersecurity law, saying that it violates the rights to free speech and freedom of expression. Vietnam’s new law, set to come into effect on December 25, builds on existing legislation to impose stricter rules surrounding internet use and freedom of speech. Vietnam’s current [...]

Now that the election is over, people might wonder what role the Supreme Court will play during Donald Trump’s second term. If the new president engages in behavior threatening to the Constitution and the rule of law, will the justices try to stop him, or will they move even further to the right? No one [...]

In this piece Chris Blackburn, Communications Director of the European Bangladesh Forum and co-founder of Global Friends of Afghanistan, highlights the severe human rights abuses in Pakistan, including the misuse of blasphemy laws and the repression of political movements and activists, and calls for international actions such as Pakistan’s suspension from the Commonwealth to pressure [...]

Last Thursday, October 17, the 142nd session of the UN Human Rights Committee was held in Geneva, to review the human rights record of Pakistan. A handful of students at the Geneva Academy, including myself, had the opportunity to attend the event at the invitation of our professor of human rights law, Hélène Tigroudja, one [...]

The UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) is set to review Pakistan’s human rights record this Thursday and Friday under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). According to Amnesty International (AI), the review “comes at a crucial time for the country, as human rights violations and abuses remain rampant.” The review is part of Pakistan’s commitments [...]

The writer of this JURIST dispatch from Pakistan has asked that their name be withheld due to circumstances within the country.  On Thursday last week, a blasphemy suspect was shot dead while in police custody in Quetta, a southwestern city in Pakistan, after a policeman opened fire on him inside the police station where he [...]

Pakistani authorities initiated a rigorous investigation to identify and arrest members of a mob that killed a tourist accused of blasphemy in the Swat district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to local media on Friday. Regional Police Chief Mohammad Ali Gandapur confirmed that a case has been registered against the organizers of the mob [...]

A Pakistani Christian who was attacked by a mob last month after being accused of blasphemy has succumbed to his injuries, local media reported Monday. Nazir Masih, 72, sustained severe head injuries during the May 25 attack and underwent two surgeries before his death. He was buried in Sargodha, a city in Pakistan’s Punjab province.  [...]