III 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 458 

Calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 19, 2019 

Mr. LANKFORD (for himself, Mr. COONS, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. 

BRAUN, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mrs. LOEFFLER, and Mr. 

GARDNER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Relations 

DECEMBER 19, 2020 

Committee discharged; considered, amended, and agreed to with an amended 

preamble 

RESOLUTION 

Calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and 

apostasy laws. 

Whereas Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human 

Rights states that ‘‘[e]veryone has the right to freedom 

of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes 

freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or 

private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, 

practice, worship and observance’’; 

Whereas many countries continue to have criminal blasphemy 

laws, and many punish people who engage in expression 

deemed by the government to be blasphemous, heretical, 


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apostate, defamatory of religion, or insulting to religion 

or to religious symbols, figures, or feelings, and such 

punishment can include fines, imprisonment, and capital 

punishment including by beheading; 

Whereas blasphemy laws have affected Christians, Muslims, 

Jews, Hindus, Baha’i, secularists, and many other 

groups, are inconsistent with international human rights 

standards because they establish and promote official religious orthodoxy and dogma over individual liberty, and 

often result in violations of the freedoms of religion, 

thought, and expression that are protected under international instruments, including Articles 18 and 19 of the 

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 

(ICCPR); 

Whereas the United Nations Human Rights Committee stated in General Comment 34 that ‘‘[p]rohibitions of displays of lack of respect for a religion or other belief system, including blasphemy laws, are incompatible with the 

[ICCPR].’’; 

Whereas the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has found that blasphemy 

charges are often based on false accusations, are used for 

sectarian or political purposes, and foster religious intolerance, discrimination, and violence; 

Whereas USCIRF has found that at least 84 countries had 

blasphemy laws as of 2020; 

Whereas USCIRF has identified 41 countries that have taken 

enforcement action in 674 criminal blasphemy cases between 2014 and 2018; 

Whereas these laws were enforced in 15 Middle East and 

North African countries, 14 Asia-Pacific countries, 7 EuVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Dec 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR458.ATS SR458

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ropean countries, and 5 Sub-Saharan African countries 

between 2014 and 2018; 

Whereas Pakistan, Iran, Russia, India, Egypt, Indonesia, 

Yemen, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait account 

for more than 81 percent of all reported cases of state 

criminal blasphemy enforcement; 

Whereas USCIRF has found that the three countries without 

an official state religion that have the highest state enforcement of blasphemy laws are Russia, India, and Indonesia; 

Whereas the Pew Research Center found that countries with 

laws against blasphemy, apostasy, or defamation of religion were more likely to have severe governmental restrictions on religion, and to experience social hostilities based 

on religion, than countries that did not have such laws; 

Whereas restrictive laws beyond those penalizing blasphemy, 

heresy, and apostasy further limit religious freedom, such 

as extremism laws— 

(1) in Russia that have been used to ban Jehovah’s 

Witnesses as an extremist organization and fueled persecution of this religious group; 

(2) in China, to arbitrarily detain an estimated 

800,000 to 2,000,000 Uighur Muslims in internment 

camps because they followed Islamic rituals and practices; and 

(3) in North Korea, to detain an estimated 50,000 

to 70,000 Christians in labor camps because they followed the tenets of Christianity; 

Whereas an international group of experts convened by the 

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for 

Human Rights recommended in 2012 that ‘‘[s]tates that 


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have blasphemy laws should repeal the[m] as such laws 

have a stifling impact on the enjoyment of freedom of religion or belief and healthy dialogue and debate about religion.’’; 

Whereas blasphemy laws are inconsistent with United Nations resolutions adopted by consensus since 2011 recognizing that religious intolerance is best fought through 

positive measures, such as education, outreach, and 

counter-speech, and that criminalization of speech is warranted only for the prevention of imminent violence; 

Whereas, according to the annual religious freedom report 

published by the Department of State in 2015, attackers 

in Bangladesh killed five allegedly anti-Islamic or 

secularist writers and publishers, and injured three others; 

Whereas, in response to these killings, the Home Minister of 

Bangladesh, rather than condemning the murders, called 

on bloggers and others to refrain from writings that 

could hurt the religious feelings of others and added that 

violators of the warning would be subject to prosecution 

under the restrictive religious freedom laws of Bangladesh; 

Whereas a 2016 report by USCIRF on Bangladesh found 

that religious and civil society groups fear that increasing 

religious extremism will result in more criminal attacks 

and threats; 

Whereas restrictive religious freedom laws validate and promote social violence targeted at religious minorities and 

dissenters, whether Christian, Muslim, secularist, or 

other; 


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Whereas more than one-quarter of reported cases implicated 

alleged blasphemous speech posted on social media platforms; 

Whereas USCIRF has found that in Pakistan, blasphemy 

laws have been used to prosecute and persecute Muslims, 

Christians, secularists, and others; 

Whereas, according to a Pew Center report on religion and 

public life, Pakistan stands out for having one of the 

highest levels of restrictions on religion when both government restrictions and social hostilities are taken into 

account; 

Whereas, as of May 2020, USCIRF was aware of approximately 40 individuals on death row for blasphemy in 

Pakistan or serving life sentences; 

Whereas Asia Bibi was sentenced to death for blasphemy in 

2010 and was held on death row for 8 years, until the 

Supreme Court of Pakistan overturned her conviction in 

2018, upheld her acquittal, and granted her permission 

to leave the country to flee the threats against her in 

2019; 

Whereas Pakistan selectively enforces the blasphemy and 

anti-terrorism laws against minority religious groups, including by specifically targeting Ahmadiyya Muslims such 

as Abdul Shakoor, an 82-year old optician and bookseller 

who was recently released after serving over three years 

in prison on such charges; 

Whereas, on July 29, 2020, Tahir Ahmad Naseem, a United 

States citizen, was shot and killed in a courtroom while 

on trial for blasphemy; 


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Whereas, in 2017, the Christian Governor of Jakarta, Indonesia, was convicted for blasphemy of Islam and sentenced to two years in jail; 

Whereas several countries that previously maintained blasphemy laws have recently removed these provisions, including Iceland, Norway, Malta, Denmark, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, Greece, and Scotland; 

Whereas blasphemy laws in the United States were invalidated by the adoption of the First Amendment to the 

Constitution, which protects the freedoms of thought, 

conscience, expression, and religious exercise; and 

Whereas the United States has become a beacon of religious 

freedom and tolerance around the world: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes that blasphemy, heresy, and 

3 apostasy laws inappropriately position governments 

4 as arbiters of religious truth and empower officials 

5 to impose religious dogma on individuals or minori6 ties through the power of the government or through 

7 violence sanctioned by the government; 

8 (2) calls on the President and the Secretary of 

9 State to encourage the repeal of blasphemy, heresy, 

10 and apostasy in bilateral discussions between the 

11 United States and all countries that have such laws, 

12 through direct interventions in bilateral and multi13 lateral fora; 


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1 (3) encourages the President and the Secretary 

2 of State to oppose— 

3 (A) any efforts, by the United Nations or 

4 by other international or multilateral fora, to 

5 create an international anti-blasphemy norm, 

6 such as the ‘‘defamation of religions’’ resolu7 tions introduced in the United Nations between 

8 1999 and 2010; and 

9 (B) any attempts to expand the inter10 national norm on incitement to include blas11 phemy or defamation of religions; 

12 (4) supports efforts by the United Nations to 

13 combat intolerance, discrimination, or violence 

14 against persons based on religion or belief without 

15 restricting expression, including United Nations 

16 Human Rights Council Resolution 16/18 (2011) and 

17 the Istanbul Process meetings pursuant to such res18 olution, that are consistent with the First Amend19 ment to the Constitution; 

20 (5) calls on the President and the Secretary of 

21 State to designate countries that enforce blasphemy, 

22 heresy, or apostasy laws as ‘‘countries of particular 

23 concern for religious freedom’’ under section 

24 402(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the International Religious Free25 dom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b)(1)(A)(ii)) for 


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1 engaging in or tolerating severe violations of reli2 gious freedom, as a result of the abuses flowing from 

3 the enforcement of such laws and from unpunished 

4 vigilante violence often generated by blasphemy alle5 gations; 

6 (6) urges the governments of countries that en7 force blasphemy, heresy, or apostasy laws to allow 

8 for freedom of religion and expression and amend or 

9 repeal such laws, as they provide pretext and impu10 nity for vigilante violence against religious minori11 ties; and 

12 (7) urges the governments of countries that 

13 have prosecuted, imprisoned, and persecuted people 

14 on charges of blasphemy, heresy, or apostasy to re15 lease such people unconditionally and, once released, 

16 to ensure their safety and that of their families. 

Æ 


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