IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 349 
Calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 22, 2017 
Mr. RASKIN (for himself, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, 
and Mr. CICILLINE) submitted the following resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and 
apostasy laws. 
Whereas Article 18 of the International Declaration of 
Human Rights states that ‘‘[e]veryone has the right to 
freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right in-
cludes freedom to change his religion or belief, and free-
dom, 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 punish people who engage in expression deemed 
by the government to be blasphemous, heretical, apostate, 
defamatory of religion, or insulting to religion or to reli-
gious symbols, figures, or feelings, and such punishment 
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•HRES 349 IH 
can include fines, imprisonment, and capital punishment 
including by beheading; 
Whereas blasphemy laws have affected Christians, Muslims, 
Hindus, Baha’i, secularists, and many other groups, are 
inconsistent with international human rights standards 
because they establish and promote official religious or-
thodoxy and dogma over individual liberty, and often re-
sult in violations of the freedoms of religion, thought, and 
expression that are protected under international instru-
ments, including Articles 18 and 19 of the International 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); 
Whereas the United Nations Human Rights Committee stat-
ed in General Comment 34 that ‘‘[p]rohibitions of dis-
plays of lack of respect for a religion or other belief sys-
tem, including blasphemy laws, are incompatible with the 
[ICCPR].’’; 
Whereas the United States Commission on International Reli-
gious Freedom (USCIRF) has found that blasphemy 
charges are often based on false accusations, are used for 
sectarian or political purposes, and foster religious intol-
erance, discrimination, and violence; 
Whereas the Pew Research Center has found that 44 coun-
tries had blasphemy laws as of 2012; 
Whereas these laws were present in 14 Middle East and 
North African countries, 11 countries in the Americas, 9 
Asia-Pacific countries, 7 European countries, and 3 Sub- 
Saharan African countries; 
Whereas the Pew Research Center also found that countries 
with laws against blasphemy, apostasy, or defamation of 
religion were more likely to have severe governmental re-
strictions on religion, and to experience social hostilities 
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•HRES 349 IH 
based on religion, than countries that did not have such 
laws; 
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 
have blasphemy laws should repeal the[m] as such laws 
have a stifling impact on the enjoyment of freedom of re-
ligion or belief and healthy dialogue and debate about re-
ligion.’’; 
Whereas blasphemy laws are inconsistent with United Na-
tions resolutions adopted by consensus since 2011 recog-
nizing that religious intolerance is best fought through 
positive measures, such as education, outreach, and 
counter-speech, and that criminalization of speech is war-
ranted 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 oth-
ers; 
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 Ban-
gladesh; 
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; 
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•HRES 349 IH 
Whereas restrictive religious freedom laws validate and pro-
mote social violence targeted at religious minorities and 
dissenters, whether Christian, Muslim, secularist, or 
other; 
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 gov-
ernment restrictions and social hostilities are taken into 
account; 
Whereas USCIRF has found egregious examples of the en-
forcement of blasphemy laws and vigilante violence con-
nected to blasphemy allegations in Pakistan, where blas-
phemy charges are common and numerous individuals are 
in prison, with a high percentage sentenced to death or 
to life in prison; 
Whereas, as of February 2015, USCIRF is aware of 18 indi-
viduals on death row for blasphemy in Pakistan and 20 
serving life sentences; 
Whereas Asia Bibi was sentenced to death for blasphemy in 
2010, and the Lahore High Court upheld the conviction 
in late 2014, and her case is on appeal to the Supreme 
Court of Pakistan; 
Whereas blasphemy laws in Pakistan have fostered a climate 
of impunity, as those who falsify evidence go unpunished 
and allegations often result in violent mob attacks or as-
sassinations, with little to no police response; 
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•HRES 349 IH 
Whereas in 2017, the Christian Governor of Jakarta, Indo-
nesia, was convicted for blasphemy of Islam and sen-
tenced to two years in jail; 
Whereas the application of blasphemy laws is on the rise in 
Europe; 
Whereas in 2017, a 42-year-old man was charged with blas-
phemy in Denmark for burning a copy of the Koran and 
posting the video on Facebook; 
Whereas no one has been convicted of blasphemy in Denmark 
since 1946; 
Whereas in 2014, a Greek court sentenced Filippos Loizos to 
10 months in prison for committing malicious blasphemy 
by hosting a satirical and irreverent Facebook page; 
Whereas blasphemy laws in the United States were invali-
dated 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 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes that blasphemy, heresy, and 
apostasy laws inappropriately position governments 
as arbiters of religious truth and empower officials 
to impose religious dogma on individuals or minori-
ties through the power of the government or through 
violence sanctioned by the government; 
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•HRES 349 IH 
(2) calls on the President and the Secretary of 
State to make the repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and 
apostasy laws a priority in the bilateral relationships 
of the United States with all countries that have 
such laws, through direct interventions in bilateral 
and multilateral fora; 
(3) encourages the President and the Secretary 
of State to oppose— 
(A) any efforts, by the United Nations or 
by other international or multilateral fora, to 
create an international anti-blasphemy norm, 
such as the ‘‘defamation of religions’’ resolu-
tions introduced in the United Nations between 
1999 and 2010; and 
(B) any attempts to expand the inter-
national norm on incitement to include blas-
phemy or defamation of religions; 
(4) supports efforts by the United Nations to 
combat intolerance, discrimination, or violence 
against persons based on religion or belief without 
restricting expression, including United Nations 
Human Rights Council Resolution 16/18 (2011) and 
the Istanbul Process meetings pursuant to such res-
olution, that are consistent with the First Amend-
ment to the Constitution; 
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•HRES 349 IH 
(5) calls on the President and the Secretary of 
State to designate countries that enforce blasphemy, 
heresy, or apostasy laws as ‘‘countries of particular 
concern for religious freedom’’ under section 
402(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the International Religious Free-
dom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b)(1)(A)(ii)) for 
engaging in or tolerating severe violations of reli-
gious freedom, as a result of the abuses flowing from 
the enforcement of such laws and from unpunished 
vigilante violence often generated by blasphemy alle-
gations; 
(6) urges the governments of countries that en-
force blasphemy, heresy, or apostasy laws to amend 
or repeal such laws, as they provide pretext and im-
punity for vigilante violence against religious minori-
ties; and 
(7) urges the governments of countries that 
have prosecuted, imprisoned, and persecuted people 
on charges of blasphemy, heresy, or apostasy to re-
lease such people unconditionally and, once released, 
to ensure their safety and that of their families. 
Æ 
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