Rights of Human

Humanity Around the Glob

Shama Bibi and Shahzad Masih 2014

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A Christian couple were allegedly burned alive in an industrial kiln in Pakistan in November 2014 after angry workers discovered they had set fire to several verses of the Quran, a local activist said. Shahbaz Masih, 26, and his wife Shama Bibi, 24, were attacked by colleagues at the brick factory where they worked in […]

Blasphemy case against six for ‘desecrating’ Sikh youth’s turban

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In May, 2016, a complainant, Mahinder Paal Singh (29), a resident of Multan, told Dawn on telephone that he was traveling from Faisalabad to Multan by a bus (FDS 676) owned by Kohistan-Faisal Movers company that broke down near Dijkot. He said though the driver somehow started the bus again but its speed was very […]

Civil society expresses concerns over shrinking spaces for civil actions in Pakistan

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The Pakistan Civil Society Forum (PCSF) and other civil society organizations noted the attempts for curbing the voices of civil society activists; mainly international and national NGOs working on human rights, democracy and social justice. They said that the recent decision to disallow the functioning of several international NGOs is also an attempt to control […]

HRCP secures release of bonded workers

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Lahore/Multan, 14 June. Sixty-three bonded labourers have been recovered from a brick kiln in Basti Pir Ismail near Multan, following a writ petition filed by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). In May, HRCP received a complaint from Saghar Hussain, a resident of Basti Pir Ismail, saying that a brick kiln owner in the […]

Freedom of Expression and Attacks on Civil Society

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A climate of fear continues to impede media coverage of abuses both by government security forces and militant groups. Journalists increasingly practiced self-censorship in 2018, after threats and attacks from militant groups. Media outlets came under pressure from authorities to avoid reporting on several issues, including criticism of government institutions and the judiciary. In several […]

Ayub Masish Flees Pakistan

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Ayub Masih was arrested in 1996 for allegedly violating Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. On August 15, 2002, after a sustained campaign by Freedom Now, the Supreme Court of Pakistan reversed Mr. Masih’s conviction, acquitted him of all charges, and released him from death row. Mr. Masih, a Pakistani Christian then age 26, was arrested after allegedly […]

Asia Bibi arrives in Canada after leaving Pakistan

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Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who spent eight years on death row in Pakistan for blasphemy before she was freed last year, has flown to Canada where she has reunited with her family, her lawyer has said. “It is a big day,” Saiful Malook told the Guardian. “Asia Bibi has left Pakistan and reached Canada. She has […]