FIA arrests 140 over ‘blasphemy’ on social media: US

WASHINGTON: The Cyber Crime Wing of Pakistan’s Federal Investigative Agency arrested 140 individuals for alleged blasphemy posts on social media out of which 11 received death sentences, according to the US State Department’s annual report on International Religious Freedom.

The 2023 report launched on Wednesday by the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, also highlights that the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority degraded Wikipedia services for hosting “blasphemous content” and made social media platforms block more than 71,000 URLs containing “objectionable” content.

On December 29, 2023, the Secretary of State redesignated Pakistan as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, as amended, for having engaged in or tolerated severe violations of religious freedom and issued a waiver of the sanctions that accompany the designation in the national interest of the US. Pakistan was first designated a CPC in 2018.

The annual report quoted a non-governmental organisation, Centre for Social Justice, that 329 persons were accused of blasphemy during the year, of whom 75 percent were Muslims, 20 percent Ahmadis, 3.3 percent Christians, and one Hindu while the faith of the others was unknown.

According to NGOs and media reports, individuals convicted and sentenced to death in well publicized blasphemy cases remained in prison for long periods while awaiting action on their appeals.

Civil society and legal sources said some judges were hesitant to decide blasphemy cases due to fear of violence from persons they considered Islamist extremists if they did not impose harsh sentences, the report stated.

It also added that there were reported cases of government intervention and action by courts, law enforcement, and local authorities in situations of attempted forced marriage and forced conversion, which often included kidnapping.

Enforcement action against those responsible was rare, however, and religious minorities continued to protest what they stated was the government’s weak response.