HRWF (09.10.2024) – The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan is enduring an alarming rise in violence and systemic persecution in 2024, with a disturbing trend of targeted murders, desecration of mosques and graves, and the continued denial of basic civil rights.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has long faced systemic persecution and violence, particularly in Pakistan. Despite Pakistan being a signatory to international human rights instruments, the state has codified religious discrimination against Ahmadis into its constitution and legal frameworks, most notably through the Second Amendment of 1974, which declared Ahmadis as non-Muslims, and Ordinance XX of 1984, which criminalised their religious practices. As a result, Ahmadis in Pakistan live under constant threat of violence, imprisonment, and societal exclusion. The United Nations (UN), through its eligibility guidelines and various human rights bodies, has repeatedly affirmed that Ahmadis fleeing persecution in Pakistan qualify as refugees under international law.
We are deeply concerned about Germany’s refusal to grant asylum to Ahmadiyya Muslims and their forced return to Pakistan, where they face persecution and denial of rights. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan is enduring an alarming rise in violence and systemic persecution, with a disturbing trend of targeted murders, desecration of mosques and graves, and the continued denial of basic civil rights. By sending back the Ahmadis to Pakistan, Germany contravene its obligation under:
We are very concerned about the systematic discrimination and exclusion of law-abiding citizens who follow the teachings of the Scientology religion in Germany.
In fact, there have been at least three thousand ninety-five cases in the last ten years in which German government agencies have included “faith-breaking” clauses in their invitations to bid, requiring bidders to renounce any association with Scientology.
Institutional torture can take many forms, and one particularly insidious manifestation is when control and ideology take precedence over human dignity[i]. The case of the French police’s treatment of Romanian yoga practitioners is a stark example of this.
ODIHR recognizes France’s efforts to address hate crimes in a comprehensive manner, and improve its hate crime data collection. However, based on available information, it observes that France’s hate crime recording and statistics do not sufficiently distinguish hate crimes from other crimes. In addition, ODIHR observes that France would benefit from enhancing its efforts to build the capacity of prosecutors and judges to prosecute and sentence hate crimes.
WARSAW, 16 November 2023 – Launching its annual Hate Crime Report on today’s International Day for Tolerance, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) emphasized the importance of identifying the underlying bias motives of hate crimes in order to diminish the impact on victims and assist their recovery.
