Large Mobs Destroy Churches over Blasphemy Claims in Pakistan
GHRTV
17-08-2023
Omar Kausar
Team Pakistan Researcher,
Global Human Rights Defence.
At the time of its establishment in 1947, Pakistan was the largest Muslim country in the world. With Islam being the dominant religion, its values and laws are integrated into national laws. One of the main laws prohibits individuals from insulting Islam, as insulting it is punishable by death (Wright, 17 August 2023).
The other day, some Christians in Pakistan were accused of allegedly insulting Islam. As a result, large mobs from the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party burned hundreds of Churches around Pakistan (Wright, 17 August 2023). Christian houses and buildings were also burned, vandalized and Bibles were destroyed. Following the incident, Prime Minister Anwar ul-Haq Kakar called on the TLP mobs to stop burning Christian monuments and for the Police to launch an investigation against those responsible (Wright, 17 August 2023).
The intentional destruction of religious monuments and cultural heritage is a War Crime under Article 8(2)(b)(ix) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) (International Criminal Court, 1998). This War Crime has previously been prosecuted at the ICC in September 2016 when a former member of the Malian Hisbah Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi was found guilty of destroying cultural and religious sites in Mali (International Criminal Court, 1998). However, just because something similar is happening in Pakistan, that does not mean the ICC can intervene in Pakistan as the country is not a signatory to the Rome Statute. Regardless, the destruction of religious property and sites is a violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) as they are legally protected under the Geneva Conventions as civilian objects.
Sources and further readings:
Wright, D. C. and G. (2023, August 17). Pakistan: Mob Burns Churches over Blasphemy Claims. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66525150
International Criminal Court, Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (signed 17 July 1998, entry into force 1 July 2002), 2178 UNTS.
