Human rights advocates discuss the need to ban Pakistan from Commonwealth for human rights abuse and blasphemy laws

The opinion was put forward during an EU Today-hosted conference which saw participation of Joseph Janssen of the Jubilee Campaign, Willy Fautré, Director of Human Rights Without Frontiers, and Chris Blackburn, a media and security analyst.

The backdrop of the conversation was the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which took place in Samoa for the first time where participating leaders discussed global issues including Pakistan’s alarming human rights record.

Speaking at the conference, Joseph Janssen, a Christian of Pakistani origin and an advocate with the Jubilee Campaign, who recently returned from Pakistan, shared his firsthand devastating impact of these laws.

He said blasphemy-accused people in Pakistan were brutally murdered by mobs or even by the police, while the state failed to intervene or prosecute the perpetrators.

Pakistan was earlier suspended from Commonwealth due to its military coup in 1999 and 2007.

The country was allowed to reenter the group in both cases.

However, the participants said Pakistan's blasphemy laws and human rights record justified another suspension.

Willy Fautré, an expert on human rights in Brussels, argued as quoted by EU Today that Pakistan’s actions are inconsistent with the principles of the Commonwealth Charter.

Willy Fautré said Pakistan's human rights situation has deteriorated.

Chris Blackburn, a communications expert, emphasised the need to amplify the voices of human rights defenders in Pakistan, reported EU Today.

Speaking during the conference, Blackburn said blasphemy laws are not only used against religious minorities but have also been wielded as a political tool to silence dissent within Pakistan.

The participants concluded that the international community should take stronger measures to address human rights abuse in Pakistan.