Coordination des Associations et des Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience (CAP LC) and The International Human Rights Committee (IHRC) welcome the findings and recommendations issued by the United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) following its review of Pakistan under the Convention Against Torture.
The Committee’s observations reflect longstanding concerns regarding custodial abuse, impunity, arbitrary detention, religious persecution, and failures of state protection in Pakistan. We note with particular concern that many of these issues directly affect members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, who continue to face systematic discrimination and persecution solely because of their faith.
We stress that torture must not be understood solely in terms of physical violence. For many Ahmadis in Pakistan, persecution manifests through sustained psychological suffering, intimidation, humiliation, threats of mob violence, arbitrary criminalisation, social exclusion, and constant fear created by discriminatory laws and extremist hostility.
This continuous environment of fear and insecurity amounts to degrading treatment and mental torture incompatible with Pakistan’s obligations under international human rights law and the Convention Against Torture.
Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community continue to face arbitrary arrests, obstruction of religious practices, attacks on places of worship, grave desecrations, hate campaigns, and police harassment. In many documented incidents, authorities have failed to protect victims or ensure accountability for perpetrators, reinforcing a wider climate of impunity.
IHRC further note that Pakistan’s anti-Ahmadi legal framework, including Ordinance XX and related provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code, institutionalises discrimination and enables the continued violation of fundamental rights, including freedom of religion or belief.
No state can claim compliance with international human rights obligations while permitting the systematic humiliation, criminalisation, and psychological persecution of individuals solely because of their faith.
We urge the Government of Pakistan to fully implement the recommendations of the UN Committee Against Torture, uphold freedom of religion for all citizens, ensure accountability for abuses, and end the misuse of laws targeting religious minorities.
We also call upon the international community, including the United Nations, democratic governments, and international human rights mechanisms, to closely monitor Pakistan’s compliance with its obligations under the Convention Against Torture.
The UN Committee Against Torture findings can be accessed here:
Pakistan Before the UN Committee Against Torture: A Reckoning Long Overdue
International Human Rights Committee (IHRC) London, United Kingdom
Coordination des Associations et des Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience (CAP Liberté de Conscience)
Related posts:
Pakistan Before the UN Committee Against Torture: A Reckoning Long Overdue
UN Submission: Pakistan’s Compliance with the Convention Against Torture and the Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community
UN CAT 84th Session: Denouncing the Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan
Pakistan: High Court Bar Condamnation Against the Ahmadiyya Community and Its Incompatibility with International Human Rights Law
