Washington D.C., Jul 14, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The United States should press the government of Pakistan to repeal its blasphemy laws and to release a jailed Christian citizen facing blasphemy charges and death threats, says the Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom.
Yousaf Masih, a 60-year-old Pakistani Christian, was arrested June 28 on the grounds that he desecrated the Koran. Under Pakistan's blasphemy laws, the offense carries a mandatory life sentence. In similar cases, those acquitted of blasphemy have gone into hiding after being threatened with murder by religious extremists. One judge who handed down an acquittal for blasphemy was murdered.
"The U.S. government considers Pakistan an ally in the war on terror but these blasphemy laws are a form of state-sponsored terror against its own people," said the center’s director, Nina Shea, in a July 13 press release.
"The U.S. should immediately reconsider its plans to sell F-16s to Pakistan until these laws are repealed and those accused of blasphemy are released from prison,” she added.