South Asia Democracy Watch Denounces Sentencing a Minority Women to Death Under the Blasphemy Law in Pakistan
DALLAS, Oct. 28, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- South Asia Democracy Watch (SADEW), a U.S.-based independent group founded by South Asian Americans, has joined hands with the Embrey Human Rights Program at Southern Methodist University (SMU) to condemn the conviction and sentencing of a Christian woman accused of violating Pakistan's so-called blasphemy laws.
In a news release issued in Dallas, the organization has severely condemned the consistent harassment and killings of minorities in Pakistan using the legal structure. "We urge the government of Pakistan to continue its moratorium on death penalty and NOT execute this woman, or any of the 8,000 condemned people on its death row," SADEW demanded.
The organization's President Amir Makhani said that as a signatory of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Pakistan is obligated to protect its minorities. The blasphemy law in Pakistan has no legal or Islamic roots and "it has been widely used as a tool of oppression against religious minorities which is a grave challenge to democracy in Pakistan," he articulated.
Aasia Noreen, who has been on death row since November 2010 after she was found guilty of making derogatory remarks about Islam, lost an appeal against her death sentence in the Lahore High Court.
At the time of her conviction Noreen argued that she has been sentenced to death falsely and in reality she has been victimized for drinking water from the same cup used by other Muslim women. For some people, Christians, considered unclean, are forbidden from drinking from the same glass used by members of the majority faith.
Dr. Rick Halperin, Director of the Embrey Human Rights Program at SMU said the death penalty, anywhere in the world is the basic human rights violation. "The overwhelming majority of the world's nations have clearly moved away from that sanction," he reiterated.
Another member of the organization's Board of Directors Aftab Siddiqui pronounced the infamous law as unjust because the accused have no defense in the highly emotional environment prevailing around the issue. "Judges are afraid to give a fair judgment; defense lawyers are threatened and sometimes killed. People living in Pakistan are terrified to raise their voices against this injustice and the unjust law," he implored.
For more information, visit http://sadew.org
This release was issued through The Xpress Press News Service, merging e-mail and satellite distribution technologies to reach business analysts and media outlets worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.XpressPress.com.
SOURCE South Asia Democracy Watch
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