APP finally reports: "US rights group urges Pakistan to repeal blasphemy law"

While international and Pakistani human rights groups have long called for the repeal of the blasphemy law, it has come under renewed scrutiny in recent weeks as a consequence of a death sentence  awarded to Aasia Bibi,an illiterate farmhand from Sheikhupura district.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch |
Source/Credit: Associated Press of Pakistan
By APP | November 24, 2010

NEW YORK, Nov 24 (APP): A leading human rights group has called on Pakistan’s government to abolish the country’s blasphemy law and other discriminatory legislation.The government should also take legal action against militant groups responsible for threats and violence against minorities and other vulnerable groups, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said.

While international and Pakistani human rights groups have long called for the repeal of the blasphemy law, it has come under renewed scrutiny in recent weeks as a consequence of a death sentence  awarded to Aasia Bibi,an illiterate farmhand from Sheikhupura district, on Nov 8, this year.


“Aasia Bibi has suffered greatly and should never have been put behind bars,” Ali Dayan Hasan, senior South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

“The injustice and fear the blasphemy law spawns will only cease when this  law is repealed,” he added.


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