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Urgent campaigns / Urgent Interventions / Pakistan / 2000 / May

Pakistan: Pakistan: sentencing of two brothers for defamation

Case PAK 290500

The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Pakistan.

Brief description of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Asian Center for the Progress of Peoples, a member of the OMCT network, of the sentencing, on May 12th 2000, of Rashid Masih and Saleem Masih to 35 years imprisonment and a fine of Rs.75000 (US $1500) on the charge of 'offering insult to Prophet Muhammad and Holy Quran'.

According to the information received, Rashid Masih and Saleem Masih, two Christian brothers, were accused of having said derogatory words about the Prophet Muhammad during a dispute with a street vendor. They were sentenced under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) which was amended in October 1990. Under the law change, the offense of blasphemy, including speaking or writing against Prophet Mohammed or Islam, 'shall be punished with the death sentence or imprisonment for life and shall be liable to fine.'

Recently, on May 2 2000, in another case Ashiq Masih (not related to Rashid or Saleem and also known as Kinghari) has been charged with 'offering insult to Holy Prophet Muhammad'. He is under arrest and awaiting trial.

Furthermore, OMCT stresses that it is strongly opposed to the death penalty as an extreme form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and a violation of the right to life, as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments.

The International Secretariat of OMCT calls for these sections of the penal code to be repealed and the sentences of these two men to be revoked.

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in Pakistan urging them to:

i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the above-mentioned persons;

ii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.


Addresses

H.E. Pervaiz Musharaf, Chief Executive of Pakistan, Chief Executive’s Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan. Fax: 92 51 9270205 Email: ce@pak.gov.pk
Mr. Derick Cyprian, Federal Minister of Minorities Affairs, Secretariat, D-Block, 2nd Floor, Room No.213, Islamabad, Pakistan. Fax: 92 51 9206050
The Minister of Interior, Federal Government of Pakistan: Fax:(92-51) 920 2624 - interiorminister@pak.gov.pk
The Pakistan Mission to the United Nations (New York): pak@UNDP.org and

The local Pakistani Embassy in your country

Geneva, May 29, 2000

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

Properties

Date: May 29, 2000
Activity: Urgent campaigns
Type: Urgent Interventions
Country: Pakistan

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