Rights groups welcome Aasiya Bibi’s acquittal in blasphemy case

A number of human rights groups have welcomed the acquittal of Aasiya Bibi in the blasphemy case while supporting the verdict ruled by the Supreme Court (SC).

Previously, Aasyia Bibi had been on death row since 2010, when a trial court convicted her of “defaming the Prophet Muhammad” and sentenced her to death. The Lahore High Court had upheld her conviction and confirmed her death sentence in 2014.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) welcomed the SC’s decision to acquit Aasiya Noreen (Aasiya Bibi) of blasphemy charges under section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code.

“All eyes were on the Supreme Court to respond to Aasiya Bibi’s final plea for justice and undo the blatant wrongs done to her and her family for eight long years,” said Frederick Rawski, ICJ’s Asia Director.

“It is heartening to see that despite threats and external pressures, the SC fulfilled its role to protect human rights in this case.”

Certain Islamist groups have frequently held demonstrations calling for Aasiya Bibi and other blasphemy accused to be hanged. After the Supreme Court announced its decision to acquit Aasiya Bibi, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan took to the streets condemning the decision.

“The government should take notice of this pattern of threats and reprisals in blasphemy cases and ensure that judges and lawyers are given adequate security to perform their duties independently, impartially and without any external influence,” said Rawski.

Reasons for Aasiya bibi’s acquittal include an unexplained delay in the registration of the criminal complaint; material inconsistencies in the testimonies of prosecution witnesses; wrongful reliance on Aasyia bibi’s extra-judicial “confession”; and failure to take into account the circumstances of the blasphemy allegations, including a “quarrel”, possibly about Aasiya bibi’s faith.

The Supreme Court, in its verdict, noted that the context indicates the charges could have arisen from a “false allegation” of blasphemy, echoing concerns also raised by the ICJ that the blasphemy laws in Pakistan have typically become an instrument of personal vendettas and malicious motivations.

Aasiya bibi’s appeal was the first blasphemy case being heard by the Supreme Court since 2002. The court has so far not upheld any convictions for blasphemy under section 295-C of the Penal Code (defamation of the Prophet Muhammad), though dozens of people have been convicted by trial courts and a number of appeals are pending before various appellate forums.

“Courts in Pakistan have noted on multiple occasions that people accused of blasphemy suffer ‘beyond proportion or repair’ in the absence of adequate safeguards against misapplication or misuse of such blasphemy laws,” it said.

The ICJ underscored that laws that criminalise the exercise of freedom of expression are non-compliant with international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Pakistan is a party. This includes the criminalisation of expression in relation to religion.

The ICJ opposed the death penalty in all circumstances and considers that it constitutes a violation of the right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.

HRCP:

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) also praised the verdict in its Twitter message.

“There is every reason to be relieved at Aasiya Bibi’s acquittal. And every reason to introspect yet again how and why the blasphemy laws are open to being so easily used to settle personal grievances,” it said.

‘LANDMARK VICTORY FOR RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE’:

Responding to the Pakistan Supreme Court’s decision to acquit Aasiya Noreen of blasphemy charges after she was sentenced to death by a trial court in 2010, Amnesty International’s Deputy South Asia Director, Omar Waraich, said:

“This is a landmark verdict and an important victory for religious tolerance in Pakistan. For nearly eight years, Aasiya Bibi, a poor Christian farmhand and mother of five, had her life languish in limbo. On the basis of no credible evidence, she was sentenced to death in 2010. The people who spoke up for her were threatened and even killed.

“This was a case that was used to rouse angry and violent mobs, to justify the assassinations of two senior officials in 2011, and to intimidate the Pakistani state into submission. Mercifully, justice has prevailed. A clear message must now go out that the blasphemy laws will no longer be used to persecute Pakistan’s long-suffering religious minorities.”

PREVENTING MISUSE OF LAW:

The law firm of deceased human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir, AGHS, also celebrated the verdict. “We congratulate our judiciary for ruling according to law and not being held hostage by those who control discourse through threats of extreme violence. Further directions needed to prevent misuse of this law must be provided to judges and lawyer for Aasiya,” the firm said in its statement.

It added, “We hope there will be no more state appeasement of vigilantes calling for death of judges. This is the state’s responsibility and if any harm comes to them it will send a disastrous message that the rule of law in Pak is dead. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”