HRC55: Oral statement during the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on religion or belief

Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB)

Organisation:Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW)

Speaker:Jonathan Downing

Thank you Mr President,

CSW thanks the Special Rapporteur for her report and continued work.

We welcome the report’s focus on the advocacy of hatred based on religion or belief, and share the rapporteur’s assertions that hateful attitudes can be spread not only through direct incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence but also via ‘everyday political and social discourse.’

Examples of both are clear in the case of Pakistan, where religious teachers have repeatedly advocated hatred towards the Ahmadi community, including by announcing over mosque loudspeakers that anyone who kills an Ahmadi will go to paradise.

Such rhetoric has also been adopted by many government officials in recent years, which possibly encouraged the murder of prominent Ahmadis such as Professor Naeemuddin Khattak and Dr Tahir Mahmood, who were killed in October and November 2020 respectively.

Hatred towards Ahmadis and other religious minorities is also taught in Pakistani schools. Much of the syllabus contains derogatory content and language about religious minorities, and in many cases the contributions of such communities to the history of Pakistan are erased entirely.

Non-Muslim students are also routinely subjected to severe physical and psychological ill-treatment including being segregated, bullied, teased and beaten by teachers and their fellow students.

CSW therefore calls on Pakistan to take steps to counter hate speech, including legislating to curb hate speech and hate-based violence whilst ensuring that safeguards for the right to freedom of expression remain in place.

We also continue to call for reforms to Pakistan’s curriculum and textbooks to ensure religious hatred is not taught to Pakistani children.

Thank you.