Why Pakistan finds mention on new US list of 'Countries of Particular Concern'

Pakistan has once again found itself on the US State Department’s list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPCs). What are the reasons for this? ETV Bharat’s Aroonim Bhuyan writes.

New Delhi: Pakistan has again found mention on the new US list of 'Countries of Particular Concern' (CPCs) for violations of religious freedom. This development has provoked an angry reaction from Islamabad. Pakistan is the only South Asian country that has found mention on the list released by the US State Department, the others being Myanmar, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Nicaragua, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

“Advancing the freedom of religion or belief has been a core objective of the US foreign policy ever since Congress passed and enacted the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said while officially announcing the list. “As part of that enduring commitment, I have designated Burma, the People’s Republic of China, Cuba, the DPRK (North Korea), Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as Countries of Particular Concern for having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom. In addition, I have designated Algeria, Azerbaijan, the Central African Republic, Comoros and Vietnam as Special Watch List countries for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom.”

Blinken also designated al-Shabab, Boko Haram, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Houthis, ISIS-Sahel, ISIS-West Africa, Al Qaeda affiliate Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin and the Taliban as Entities of Particular Concern. “Significant violations of religious freedom also occur in countries that are not designated,” he further stated. “Governments must end abuses such as attacks on members of religious minority communities and their places of worship, communal violence and lengthy imprisonment for peaceful expression, transnational repression and calls to violence against religious communities, among other violations that occur in too many places around the world.”

Blinken said that the challenges to religious freedom across the globe are structural, systemic and deeply entrenched. “But with thoughtful, sustained commitment from those who are unwilling to accept hatred, intolerance and persecution as the status quo we will one day see a world where all people live with dignity and equality,” he added.

Not surprisingly, Pakistan has reacted strongly, describing the list as based on “biased and arbitrary assessment”. “We categorically reject Pakistan’s designation as a Country of Particular Concern by the US State Department,” the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said in a press release issued on Monday. “We are deeply dismayed that the designation is based on biased and arbitrary assessment, detached from ground realities.”

The statement claimed that “Pakistan is a pluralistic country, with a rich tradition of interfaith harmony”. “We remain convinced that such discriminatory, unilateral and subjective exercises are counterproductive and undermine our shared objective to advance religious freedom globally,” the Foreign Ministry said.

What is the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998?

The IRFA was passed to promote religious freedom as a foreign policy of the US to promote greater religious freedom in countries, which engage in or tolerate violations of religious freedom, and to advocate on behalf of individuals persecuted for their religious beliefs and activities in foreign countries. The Act was signed into law by the then US President Bill Clinton on October 27, 1998. Three cooperative entities have been maintained by this act to monitor religious persecution: an ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom within the US State Department, a bipartisan United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and a special adviser on international religious freedom within the National Security Council.

Under the IRFA, the US President is required to annually review the status of religious freedom in every country in the world and designate each country and the government, which has engaged in or tolerated “particularly severe violations of religious freedom” as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). The law defines particularly severe violations as “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom,” including violations such as torture, prolonged detention without charges, forced disappearance, or other flagrant denial of life, liberty, or security of persons.

So, why did Pakistan find mention on the list of CPCs?

According to the 2023 USCIRF Annual Report 2022, Pakistan’s religious freedom conditions continued to deteriorate. “Religious minorities were subject to frequent attacks and threats, including accusations of blasphemy, targeted killings, lynchings, mob violence, forced conversions, sexual violence against women and girls, and desecration of houses of worship and cemeteries." “Members of the Shia Muslim, Ahmadiyya Muslim, Christian, Hindu and Sikh communities faced the continued threat of persecution via harsh and discriminatory legislation, such as anti-Ahmadiyya and blasphemy laws, as well as increasingly aggressive societal discrimination amid a rise in radical Islamist influence.”

The report further states that these laws have enabled and encouraged radical Islamists to operate with impunity, openly targeting religious minorities or those with differing beliefs, including nonbelievers. It blamed the government of the then Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, which took office in April 2022, for weaponising the country’s blasphemy laws against former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his cabinet members.

“Religious minorities, however, were especially vulnerable to prosecution or violence based on blasphemy allegations in a society that has grown increasingly intolerant of religious diversity,” it further stated. “Blasphemy cases remained a substantial threat to religious freedom, as did the sort of mob violence that has long accompanied such accusations.”

In this connection, the report cited several incidents. One such case is that of Notan Lal, owner and principal of a private school in Ghotki, Sindh, who was sentenced to life in prison in February 2022 after a student had accused him of insulting the Prophet three years earlier. Another case cited was that of Muhammad Mushtaq, a mentally ill man accused of burning the Quran. This, too, happened in February 2022. An angry mob of 300 people in Punjab province stoned Mushtaq to death, after which his body was hanged from a tree.

“Societal violence and targeted killings also continued to plague the country’s religious minorities,” the USCIRF story stated. “In January (2022), unknown gunmen killed a Christian priest and wounded another as they drove home from Sunday Mass in Peshawar.”

The slain priest was identified as 75-year-old Father William Siraj. Christians comprise about 2 per cent of Pakistan’s population of around 220 million. Another incident cited was that of the gunning down of two Sikh businessmen in Peshawar in May 2022 by unidentified gunmen. Saljeet Singh (42) and Ranjeet Singh (38) died on the spot after being attacked by two bike-borne assailants on May 15. These were but some of the incidents that were mentioned in the USCIRF report. It is worth mentioning here that it is not the first time that Pakistan has found its place in the US State Department’s list of CPCs.