Frank R. Wolf FoRB Victims List: Pakistan

www.uscirf.gov/victims-list

USCIRF Recommended for Country of Particular Concern

Pakistan

Updated September 2023

Blasphemy Cases

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws criminalize acts deemed to 

insult Islam, the Qur’an, or the Prophet Muhammad. These 

strict laws are often used to settle personal feuds among 

the Sunni Muslim majority population or target religious 

minorities, including Ahmadiyya Muslims, Shi’a Muslims, 

Christians, Hindus, and Atheists. Defendants frequently 

spend years in pre-trial detention, and courts often give 

death sentences to those accused of blasphemy.

Junaid Hafeez

religion or belief:

Unspecified Muslim 

arrested:

March 13, 2013

sentence: Death, Life Imprisonment

health concerns: Yes

reason for persecution:

Accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad 

on social media

Notal Lal

religion or belief:

Hindu 

arrested:

September 15, 2019

sentence: Life Imprisonment

reason for persecution:

Accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad 

during class

Zafar Bhatti

religion or belief:

Christian 

arrested:

July 22, 2012

sentence: Death

reports of torture: Yes

religious leader: Yes

reason for persecution:

Accused of sending messages insulting the 

Prophet Muhammad

Ahmadiyya Muslims

Ahmadiyya Muslims face severe restrictions and 

imprisonment for their beliefs in Pakistan. The Pakistani 

government–which does not recognize Ahmadiyya Muslims as 

Muslim–frequently charge them with blasphemy or “posing as 

Muslim.” Ahmadiyya Muslims are also targeted for celebrating 

major Muslim holidays. 

Shiraz Ahmad

religion or belief:

Ahmadiyya Muslim 

arrested:

February 25, 2021

nature of charges:

Blasphemy, Conversion, Hate Speech

reason for persecution:

Creating an online group to share Ahmadiyya 

religious content

Malik Zaheer Ahmad

religion or belief:

Ahmadiyya Muslim 

arrested:

September 29, 2020

reason for persecution:

Accused of blasphemy

Muhammad Hashmi

religion or belief:

Ahmadiyya Muslim 

arrested:

August 9, 2021

nature of charges:

Blasphemy, Conversion, Hate Speech

reason for persecution:

Creating an online group to share Ahmadiyya 

religious content

FoRB Victims List Stats

90 out of 2,125

Religion or Belief # of Victims

Christian 42

Ahmadiyya 20

Unspecified/Other Muslim 14

Unspecified 8

Hindu 6

Total 90

Type of Abuse # of Victims

Detained 53

Imprisoned 31

Forced Renunciation of Faith 6

Total 90

Number of Death Sentences

19

Reports of # of Victims

Torture 5

Medical Neglect 5

Total 10
Frank R. Wolf FoRB Victims List: Pakistan

www.uscirf.gov/victims-list

USCIRF Recommended for Country of Particular Concern

Pakistan

Updated September 2023

Frank R. Wolf FoRB Victims List Background

The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA), as amended by the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2016, 

requires USCIRF to:

make publicly available, to the extent practicable...lists of persons it determines are imprisoned or detained, have 

disappeared, been placed under house arrest, been tortured, or subjected to forced renunciation of faith for their religious 

activity or religious freedom advocacy by the government of a foreign country that the Commission recommends for 

designation as a country of particular concern [CPC]...or by a nonstate actor that the Commission recommends for 

designation as an entity of particular concern [EPC]. 

USCIRF developed the Frank R. Wolf Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) Victims List—an online public database—to implement this 

provision for countries USCIRF recommends for Country of Particular Concern (CPC) or Special Watch List (SWL) status. The list also 

includes such victims located in the de facto territories of nonstate actors that USCIRF recommends for Entity of Particular Concern (EPC) 

status, according to the same criteria.

Due to limited resources, USCIRF is unable to identify and document all victims that meet the statutory requirement to be included on 

the FoRB Victims List and generally relies on receiving submissions from outside individuals and organizations. As such, the information 

contained in the database does not reflect country, regional, or global trends. Furthermore, percentages highlighted in this section should 

not be used for extrapolation purposes nor interpreted as a particular group experiencing greater violations than another or a particular 

country committing violations at a greater rate than others. To support this project, USCIRF invites those with credible information on 

victims to submit information using the Victims List Intake Form at www.uscirf.gov/form/uscirf-victims-list-intake-form. 

FoRB Victims List Stats Overall

Perpetrator Victims Documented

Algeria 5

Azerbaijan 11

Burma 5

China 770

Cuba 11

Egypt 18

Eritrea 50

Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) 2

Houthis 3

India 55

Indonesia 8

Iran 339

Iraq 2

Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) 1

Kazakhstan 15

Malaysia 4

Nicaragua 15

Nigeria 9

North Korea 9

Pakistan 90

Russia 449

Saudi Arabia 46

Sri Lanka 1

Tajikistan 13

Turkmenistan 30

Uzbekistan 87

Vietnam 77

Total 2,125

Religion or Belief Victims Documented

Adivasi 1

Baha’i 163

Bon 1

Buddhist – Hoa Hao 6

Buddhist – Theravada 3

Buddhist – Tibetan 76

Buddhist – Unspecified/Other 28

Christian – Catholic 46

Christian – Church of Almighty God 236

Christian – Jehovah’s Witness 258

Christian – Orthodox 17

Christian – Protestant 130

Christian – Unspecified/Other 66

Duong Van Minh 4

ECKist (Eckankar) 1

Erfan-e Halgheh Practitioner 2

Falun Gong 213

Hindu 10

Humanist 1

Jewish 1

Muslim – Ahmadiyya 23

Muslim – Qur’anist 1

Muslim – Shi’a 39

Muslim – Sufi 63

Muslim – Sunni 385

Muslim – Unspecified/Other 237

Santeria 5

Scientologist 1

Shaman 1

Sikh 1

Yarsani 37

Unknown/Unspecified 69

Total 2,125
Frank R. Wolf FoRB Victims List: Pakistan

www.uscirf.gov/victims-list

USCIRF Recommended for Country of Particular Concern

Pakistan

Updated September 2023

Not Released

“Love Kumar”

Abdul Majeed

Abdullah Fareed

Adil Babar

Anwar Masih

Arshad Pervaiz

Ashok Kumar

Asif Fareed

Asif Masih

David Masih

Fansan Shahid

Hafiz Tariq Shehzad

Ishtiaq Saleem

Malik Usman Ahmad

Malik Zaheer Ahmad

Mansoor Tahir Ahmad

Maruf Gul

Muhammad Akbar

Muhammad Hashmi

Mukhtar Ahmad

Qaiser Zada

Raja Amir

Raja Waris

Rohan Ahmad

Saeed Ahmad

Saeed Ahmad Wariach

Shagufta Kiran

Shakeel Ahmad

Shiraz Ahmad

Simon Nadeem

Sohail Masih

Sunny Mushtaq

Zafar Ali

Abdul Waheed

Amoon Ayub

Aneeqa Ateeq

Anwaar Ahmad

Anwar Kenneth

Ashfaq Masih

Asif Pervaiz

Ibtisam Mustafa

Junaid Hafeez

Muhammad Islam

Nadeem James

Nasir Ahmad

Noman Asghar

Notan Lal

Qaisar Ayub

Rana Nouman Rafaqat

Salma Tanveer

Shehzad Masih

Taimoor Raza

Waseem Abbas

Yaqoob Bashir Masih

Zafar Bhatti

Released

Ali Ahmed Tariq

Asif Stephen

Danish Ali

Humayun Faisal

Mariyum Lal

Muhammad Ishaq

Nadeem Samson

Newsh Arooj

Patras Masih

Ramesh Kumar

Salamat Mansha Masih

Saleem Masih

Shahbaz Masih

Stephen Masih

Maira Shahbaz

Ehsan Ahmad

Ghulam Ahmad

Imran Ghafur Masih

Mubashar Ahmad

Nabeel Masih

Sajjad Masih Gill

Sawan Masih

Shafqat Emmanuel

Shagufta Kausar

Died in Custody

Asghar Kalar

Forced Renunciation of Faith

Huma Younus

Raveena

Reena

Simran Kumari

Zarvia Pervaiz