Pakistan Supreme Court overturns Catholic woman's blasphemy conviction and death sentence
The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday overturned the 2010 blasphemy conviction and death sentence of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Catholic woman, for failure to proffer enough evidence that Bibi indeed committed the crime. The court’s decision rested on Pakistan’s Constitution and a 2016 decision in which the court emphasized that the state is “to ensure that [...]
The Irish people voted on Friday in favor of changing their constitution to remove the word blasphemy. Each of the 40 constituencies of Ireland voted in favor of the 37th amendment with 44 percent of eligible voters taking part in the poll. The constitution previously stated, in Article 40.6.1, “the publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, [...]
Europe rights court: conviction for insulting Prophet Muhammad did not violate freedom of expression
The European Court of Human Rights ruled Friday that an Austrian court’s conviction for disparaging religious doctrines did not violate the defendant’s freedom of expression. The case centered around two seminars hosted by Ms S in 2009. During the talks, titled “Basic Information on Islam,” Ms S referred to the Prophet Muhammad as a pedophile. Subsequently, [...]
The Irish cabinet voted on Tuesday in favor of the Removal of Blasphemy Bill , which will “provide for a referendum on removing the crime of blasphemy from the Constitution.” Charlie Flanagan , the Minister for Justice and Equality, proposed the bill. Article 40.6.1(i) of the Irish Constitution says, “The publication or utterance of blasphemous, [...]
Pakistan rights group: country failing to address human rights issues
The government of Pakistan has failed to resolve several human rights issues within the past year, according to a report released Monday by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) . According to the HRCP, issues such...
Here's the international legal news we covered this week: The Supreme Court of Ireland formally ruled in a unanimous decision on Friday that the complete employment ban on asylum seekers was unconstitutional. UN Commissioner for...
UN rights chief warns against rise of intolerance in Indonesia
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on Wednesday criticized Indonesia's increasing public attitude of religious intolerance and urged the government to address it. Zeid also criticized the country's blasphemy laws as "ill-defined" and...
Pakistani Law Minister Zahid Hamid on Monday resigned from his office after a three week long protest against the changed wording of an electoral oath. The main opposition group protesting the change, Tehreek-e-Labaik ,...
Indonesian president Joko Widodo signed a decree Monday that allows the government to ban radical organizations. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called the decree troubling, saying it goes against freedom of association and expression....
Human rights experts at the UN called on Indonesia Monday to review and repeal its criminalization of blasphemy . The UN experts decided to step in after the former governor of Jakarta, Basuki...
