Pakistani authorities should urgently and impartially investigate a surge in violent attacks on members of the Ahmadiyya religious community, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said today. The authorities should take appropriate legal action against those responsible for threats and violence against Ahmadis. 

Since July 2020, there have been at least five apparently targeted killings of members of the Ahmadiyya community. In only two of the cases have the police taken a suspect into custody. Pakistani authorities have long downplayed, and at times even encouraged, violence against Ahmadis, whose rights to freedom of religion and belief are not respected under Pakistani law. 

There are few communities in Pakistan who have suffered as much as the Ahmadi

Omar Waraich, Head of South Asia, Amnesty International.

“There are few communities in Pakistan who have suffered as much as the Ahmadis,” said Omar Waraich, head of South Asia at Amnesty International. “The recent wave of killings tragically underscores not just the seriousness of the threats they face, but also the callous indifference of the authorities, who have failed to protect the community or punish the perpetrators.” 

On November 20, a teenage assailant is alleged to have fatally shot Dr. Tahir Mahmood, 31, as he answered the door of his house in Nankana Sahib district, Punjab. Mahmood’s father and two uncles were injured in the attack. The police reported that the suspect “confessed to having attacked the family over religious differences.”  

Several recent attacks have occurred in the city of Peshawar, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. On November 9, Mahmoob Khan, 82, was fatally shot while waiting at a bus station. On October 6, two men on a motorcycle stopped the car of Dr. Naeemuddin Khattak, 57, a professor at the Government Superior Science College, and fired five shots, killing him. His family said he had a “heated argument over a religious issue” with a colleague a day before. Jamaat-i-Ahmadiyya, a community organization, issued a statement saying Khattak had previously received threats and was targeted because of his faith. 

On August 12, Meraj Ahmed, 61, was fatally shot as he was closing his shop in Peshawar. On July 29, an alleged 19-year-old assailant killed Tahir Ahmad Naseem, 57, inside a high-security courtroom. Naseem was facing trial for blasphemy accusations. In a video that circulated on social media, the suspect states that Naseem was a “blasphemer.”  

Successive Pakistani governments have failed to protect the human rights and security of the Ahmadiyya community. The penal code explicitly discriminates against religious minorities and targets Ahmadis by prohibiting them from “indirectly or directly posing as a Muslim.” Ahmadis are banned from declaring or propagating their faith publicly, building mosques, or making the Muslim call for prayer. 

The authorities arbitrarily arrest, detain, and charge Ahmadis for blasphemy and other offenses because of their religious beliefs. The police have often been complicit in harassment and bringing fabricated charges against Ahmadis or have not intervened to stop anti-Ahmadi violence. The government’s failure to address religious persecution of Ahmadis has facilitated violence against them in the name of religion.  

“Pakistan was part of the consensus at the UN General Assembly that required that states take active measures to ensure that persons belonging to religious minorities may exercise fully and effectively all their human rights and fundamental freedoms without any discrimination and in full equality before the law,” said Ian Seiderman, legal and policy director at the International Commission of Jurists. “The Pakistani government has completely failed to do so in the case of the Ahmadis.” 

The Pakistani government also promotes discriminatory practices against Ahmadis. For example, all Pakistani Muslim citizens applying for passports are obliged to sign a statement explicitly stating that they consider the founder of the Ahmadi community an “imposter,” and consider Ahmadis to be non-Muslims. 

Pakistani laws against the Ahmadiyya community violate Pakistan’s international legal obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Pakistan ratified in 2010, including the rights to freedom of conscience, religion, expression, and association, and to profess and practice one’s own religion.  

Independent experts of the United Nations Human Rights Council, including the special rapporteurs on the freedom of religion or belief and the UN special rapporteur on minority issues, and the special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, have previously expressed concern at the persecution of the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan.  

“Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments should take immediate legal and policy measures to eliminate widespread and rampant discrimination and social exclusion faced by the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan,” said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government should repeal the blasphemy law and all anti-Ahmadiyya provisions.”  

Amnesty International Australia today welcomed the confirmation that British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert has been released from detention in Iran.

“We were always extremely concerned that Kylie was imprisoned solely for exercising her right to freedom of expression and association – including through her work as an academic – and it’s an enormous relief to hear of her release,” Amnesty International Australia Individuals at Risk campaigner, Rose Kulak, said.

“Her allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, including through prolonged solitary confinement, must be independently and effectively investigated by the Iranian authorities and anyone found responsible brought to justice in fair trials.

“The Australian government has been working hard on Kylie’s case, and we urge Foreign Minister Marise Payne to keep up the diplomatic efforts for Australians in other countries imprisoned on what appear to be politically motivated charges..

“Amnesty implores the Australian government to pursue all means possible to bring other Australians overseas home, including Yang Hengjun who is imprisoned in China, and Chau Van Kham who is imprisoned in Viet Nam.”

Qatar must strengthen enforcement of its labour reforms and end impunity for abusive employers if it is to fully deliver on its promises to protect workers’ rights, Amnesty International said today.

Since being awarded the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar has faced increased scrutiny over its record on migrant workers’ rights. With two years to go until kick-off, Amnesty International has released a new analysis of Qatar’s progress on reforming its labour system. The organization welcomed recent reforms, but warned that the reality for many migrant workers will remain harsh unless further action is taken to guarantee wages, ensure access to justice, and protect domestic workers from exploitation.

“In recent years Qatar has introduced a series of major reforms, including amending laws to give workers freedom of movement and allow them greater job mobility. It has also promised better pay and access to justice in cases of abuse. But many migrant workers have not yet benefited from these changes. Until these reforms are fully enforced, many will remain trapped in a cycle of exploitation,” said Steve Cockburn, Head of Economic and Social Justice at Amnesty International.

“Positive reforms have too often been undermined by weak implementation and an unwillingness to hold abusive employers to account. Inspection systems are inadequate to detect abuse, and it remains challenging for workers to lodge complaints without risking their income and legal status. Qatar needs to do much more to ensure legislation has a tangible impact on people’s lives.”

Since 2017, Qatar’s government has introduced a number of reforms aimed at benefiting migrant workers. These include a law regulating working hours for live-in domestic workers, labour tribunals to facilitate access to justice, a fund to support payment of unpaid wages, and a minimum wage.

Qatar has also abolished laws requiring migrant workers to seek their employers’ permission to change jobs or leave the country, and ratified two key international human rights treaties, albeit without recognising the right to join a trade union. If properly and fully implemented, these reforms could help end the most problematic aspects of the kafala sponsorship system and enable migrant workers to flee abusive working conditions and seek redress. However, thousands of workers continue to be subjected to labour abuses. 

For example, a recent report by Amnesty International documented how domestic workers in Qatar continue to work around 16 hours a day with no day off, despite the introduction of a law stipulating a ten-hour limit and a weekly rest day. Women interviewed for the report described horrendous verbal and physical abuse, and none had seen their employers held to account.

In another investigation, Amnesty International documented how around 100 migrant workers employed on a construction project for a World Cup stadium worked for up to seven months without pay, despite the authorities being aware of the issues for nearly a year. Although most workers have now been paid most of what they owed following publication, the case highlighted continuing failures by both the Qatar authorities and FIFA to provide timely remedy to workers.

To address the persistent power imbalance between employers and migrant workers, and move closer to delivering on its commitments, Qatar needs to better implement current reforms and introduce further ones, strengthen inspection mechanisms to quickly detect and stop abuses, improve workers’ ability to access justice and remedy, end the culture of impunity for abusive employers, and respect the right of migrant workers to form trade unions. It should ensure a particular focus on strengthening protections for domestic workers, who have so far been left behind by many of the reforms.

“Holding perpetrators to account is paramount to end the cycle of abuse. Qatar must show abusive employers that their actions have consequences, by monitoring their adherence to laws and penalizing employers who break them. It’s time for Qatar to send a clear signal that labour abuses will not be tolerated,” said Steve Cockburn.

As the World Cup organizer, FIFA also has a responsibility to ensure human rights are respected in the context of preparing for and carrying out the tournament. This includes an obligation to hold its World Cup partners to account and use its clout to push Qatar to fully reform its labour system.

With this in mind, Amnesty International offices in more than 20 countries are writing to their national football associations urging them to play an active role in ensuring the rights of migrant workers. Football associations should call on FIFA to use its voice, privately and publicly, to urge the Qatar government to fulfil its programme of labour reforms before the World Cup kicks off.