Title: A resolution encouraging the Government of Pakistan to release Aasiya Noreen, internationally known as Asia Bibi, and reform its religiously intolerant laws regarding blasphemy.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Urges the government of Pakistan to: (1) release Asia Bibi and ensure that she, her family, and her legal counsel are safe; and (2) reform its laws to reflect democratic norms and ideals; and (3) work to promote tolerance of religious minorities so that no one is in danger of persecution for exercising free speech and practicing their religion.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 109 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 109

   Encouraging the Government of Pakistan to release Aasiya Noreen, 
    internationally known as Asia Bibi, and reform its religiously 
                  intolerant laws regarding blasphemy.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 4, 2017

     Mr. Paul (for himself and Mr. Coons) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Encouraging the Government of Pakistan to release Aasiya Noreen, 
    internationally known as Asia Bibi, and reform its religiously 
                  intolerant laws regarding blasphemy.

Whereas, in June 2009, Asia Bibi allegedly insulted the Muslim faith during a 
        confrontation with Muslim neighbors and drank from a water source shared 
        by these Muslim neighbors;
Whereas, in November 2010, Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman, was sentenced 
        to death by hanging after being convicted of blasphemy by a Pakistani 
        District Court under Article 295-C of Pakistan's penal code;
Whereas, according to the United States Commission on International Religious 
        Freedom, Pakistan's blasphemy laws set severe punishments, including 
        death or life in prison, and have been levied against religious 
        minorities, including Christians, Hindus, and Ahmadiyya and Shi'a 
        Muslims, as well as Sunni Muslims;
Whereas a petition calling for the immediate release of Asia Bibi has generated 
        over 690,000 signatures, and 250,000 of the signatures, roughly a third 
        of the total amount, were made by petitioners from the United States;
Whereas, in January 2011, Pakistani politician Salmaan Taseer, the governor of 
        Punjab province, who campaigned for Asia Bibi's release and called for 
        reform to Pakistan's blasphemy codes, outraged religious conservatives 
        and was assassinated by his security guard, Mumtaz Qadri;
Whereas, in March 2011, Federal Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti was 
        assassinated in Islamabad, Pakistan, after receiving death threats for 
        his support of reforming Pakistan's blasphemy codes and calling for the 
        release of Asia Bibi;
Whereas, in October 2014, the Lahore High Court of Appeals upheld the death 
        sentence of Asia Bibi;
Whereas the execution of Mumtaz Qadri in February 2016 resulted in street 
        protests that called for the death of Asia Bibi;
Whereas, in Pakistan, mere accusations of blasphemy, even by private 
        individuals, often lead to violence against those accused by private 
        actors;
Whereas Pakistan's human rights problems include poor prison conditions, 
        arbitrary detention, lengthy pretrial detention, a weak criminal justice 
        system, lack of judicial independence in the lower courts, and 
        governmental infringement on citizens' privacy rights;
Whereas Asia Bibi is at risk of extrajudicial murder even if she is released;
Whereas, in Pakistan, violence, abuse, and social and religious intolerance by 
        militant organizations and other nongovernmental actors contribute to a 
        culture of lawlessness in some parts of the country; and
Whereas there is great concern for Asia Bibi's safety during her incarceration 
        due to reports that prisoners who are members of religious minorities 
        face a heightened risk of mistreatment, torture, or murder: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) urges the Government of Pakistan to immediately and 
        unconditionally release Asia Bibi and ensure that she, her 
        family, and her legal counsel are afforded all necessary 
        measures to ensure their safety; and
            (2) urges the Government of Pakistan to reform its laws to 
        reflect democratic norms and ideals and work to promote 
        tolerance of religious minorities, whether Muslim, Christian, 
        Hindu, or other ostracized, so that no one is in danger of 
        persecution from the government or their neighbors for 
        exercising their right to free speech and practicing their 
        religion.
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