CAP Liberté de Conscience September 2024
Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan Faces Alarming Persecution and Discrimination
In a comprehensive report submitted to the 142nd Session of the CCPR – International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Coordination des Associations et des Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience (CAP Liberté de Conscience) has highlighted the alarming rise in violence, systemic persecution, and human rights violations faced by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan.
The report paints a grim picture of the situation faced by the Ahmadis in 2024, with a disturbing trend of targeted murders, desecration of mosques and graves, and the continued denial of basic civil rights. In the first seven months of 2024 alone, four Ahmadi Muslims were brutally murdered in religiously motivated attacks, including the killing of the president of the local Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Bahawalpur.
The violence against the Ahmadiyya community extends beyond physical attacks to the systematic desecration of their places of worship and graves. In 2023, Pakistan witnessed 44 attacks on Ahmadi mosques, including the demolition of minarets, arson attacks, and mob violence. Furthermore, a total of 109 Ahmadi graves were destroyed or desecrated during the same period.
The report also highlights the ongoing legal discrimination against Ahmadi Muslims, particularly in the realm of voting rights. Since 1985, Pakistan has denied Ahmadis the right to vote as they are placed on a separate non-Muslim electoral register, effectively disenfranchising the community for nearly four decades.
The persecution of the Ahmadiyya community reached a new level of intensity in 2024 following the ruling in the Mubarak Ahmad Sani case. The Supreme Court’s initial decision to release Mr. Sani, an Ahmadi Muslim accused of distributing religious material, sparked a massive backlash from extremist groups, leading to the court’s subsequent amendment of the verdict under pressure, setting a dangerous precedent for the independence of the judiciary.
The report presents a comprehensive set of recommendations to the government of Pakistan, urging the repeal of discriminatory laws, the strengthening of legislative and institutional responses to address violence and incitement of religious hatred, and the guarantee of the Ahmadis’ fundamental human rights, including the right to vote and practice their religion without fear of reprisals.
The CAP Liberté de Conscience’s report serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing human rights crisis faced by the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan and the urgent need for the government to uphold its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to protect the rights of all its citizens, regardless of their religious affiliation.
