‘Extremists given a free hand’ – Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

Pakistani Christians experience an increase in violence such as a suicide attack on the Bethel Methodist Church in Quetta in December last year that killed more than ten and injured dozens of people. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
Two Pakistani Christians were killed and at least three injured in a drive-by shooting on Sunday (15 April) in Essa Nagri, a Christian-majority area in Quetta, capital of the impoverished Balochistan province in the southwest. The victims, aged 19 and 28, had just left a church service when they were . . . Read More

Amnesty: ‘Discrimination rife in all regions of the world … with deadly consequences’

Buddhist flags are waved during a mass demonstration against Christianity in Sri Lanka, April 2017. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
A review of the human-rights situation in 159 countries during 2017, published by Amnesty International yesterday (22 February), shows that religious persecution continues in the form of threats, attacks, extrajudicial killings and even genocide, while harsh sentences continue to be handed out – sometimes even death sentences – for changing . . . Read More

Pakistan Christian sentenced to death for WhatsApp ‘blasphemy’, despite gaps in police case

Nadeem Masih
Six days after a Pakistani Christian was sentenced to death for blasphemy, the young man’s lawyer says there was insufficient evidence against his client and that the police failed to investigate the matter properly. Nadeem Masih, 24, from the Yaqoobabad area of the religiously conservative city of Gujrat, in Punjab . . . Read More

Pakistan: Christian boy, 16, accused of Facebook blasphemy again refused bail

Pakistan: Christian boy, 16, accused of Facebook blasphemy again refused bail
A Pakistani Christian boy accused of blasphemy for “liking” and “sharing” a Facebook post which “defamed and disrespected” the Kaaba in Mecca – the building at the centre of Islam’s most sacred mosque – has again been refused bail. In February, 16-year-old Nabeel Masih was refused bail by a local . . . Read More

Lawyers ‘threatened’ in boy’s Kaaba ‘blasphemy’ case

Lawyers ‘threatened’ in boy’s Kaaba ‘blasphemy’ case
Nabeel Masih, 16, is alleged to have “defamed” the Kaaba in Mecca, the building at the centre of Islam’s most sacred mosque.Amalia Sari / Flickr / CC   Lawyers representing a 16-year-old Pakistani Christian boy accused of blasphemy for ‘liking’ a photo posted on Facebook have reported being intimidated by . . . Read More