UN Human Rights Council urged to act against apostasy and blasphemy executions

Geneva: Human rights organisation Jubilee Campaign has urged countries to repeal laws that impose the death penalty for apostasy and blasphemy, warning that such legislation violates fundamental freedoms and international human rights standards.

Addressing the 62nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Hulda Fahmi, representing the Jubilee Campaign, highlighted the continued use of capital punishment in 11 countries, including Pakistan, for exercising freedom of conscience, religion, and belief.

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Fahmi told the Council that Jubilee Campaign, along with more than 90 organisations and individuals, has been advocating for the abolition of the death penalty for apostasy and blasphemy.

She said that countries retaining such laws create an environment where torture, impunity, and extrajudicial or summary killings remain significant risks.

Calling on all states that still enforce capital punishment for these offences, Fahmi urged them to bring their laws into line with international legal standards and the UN General Assembly's moratorium on the death penalty.

She stressed that the death penalty should be reserved only for the "most serious crimes" and should never be imposed for the exercise of fundamental human rights, including freedom of religion or belief.

The organisation also pointed to what it described as encouraging progress in recent years, noting that Sudan and the United Arab Emirates have abolished the death penalty for apostasy.

It called on the remaining countries that maintain such punishments to follow suit.

Jubilee Campaign further appealed for the immediate release of prisoners of conscience currently facing death sentences on apostasy and blasphemy-related charges. Among those mentioned were Sufi singer Yahia Sharif Aminu in Nigeria, Christian mother Shagufta Kiran in Pakistan, and university student Maria Obed in Mauritania.

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The intervention formed part of ongoing discussions at the Human Rights Council on freedom of religion or belief and the global use of capital punishment.