Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Members of Religious Minorities from Pakistan
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Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Members of Religious Minorities from Pakistan United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) January 2017 HCR/EG/PAK/17/01 NOTE UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines are issued by the Office to assist decision-makers, including UNHCR staff, Governments and private practitioners, in assessing the international protection needs of asylum-seekers. They are legal interpretations of the refugee criteria in respect of specific profiles on the basis of social, economic, security, human rights and humanitarian conditions in the country/territory of origin concerned. The pertinent international protection needs are analysed in detail, and recommendations made as to how the applications in question relate to the relevant principles and criteria of international refugee law as per, notably, the UNHCR Statute, the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, and relevant regional instruments such as the Cartagena Declaration, the 1969 OAU Convention and the EU Qualification Directive. The recommendations may also touch upon, as relevant, complementary or subsidiary protection regimes. UNHCR issues Eligibility Guidelines to promote the accurate interpretation and application of the abovementioned refugee criteria in line with its supervisory responsibility as contained in paragraph 8 of its Statute in conjunction with Article 35 of the 1951 Convention and Article II of its 1967 Protocol and based on the expertise it has developed over the years in matters related to eligibility and refugee status determination. It is hoped that the guidance and information contained in the Guidelines will be considered carefully by the authorities and the judiciary in reaching decisions on asylum applications. The Guidelines are based on in-depth research, information provided by UNHCR’s global network of field offices and material from independent country specialists, researchers and other sources, rigorously reviewed for reliability. The Guidelines are posted on UNHCR’s Refworld website at http://www.refworld.org. Contents ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................................................... 2 I. SUMMARY............................................................................................................................................. 4 II. BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................................................... 5 III. LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK WITH RESPECT TO RELIGIOUS MINORITIES .................. 9 A. CONSTITUTION .......................................................................................................................................... 9 B. PENAL CODE: BLASPHEMY LAWS ........................................................................................................... 10 C. PENAL CODE: ANTI-AHMADI LAWS ........................................................................................................ 18 D. HUDOOD ORDINANCES............................................................................................................................ 18 E. FAMILY LAW........................................................................................................................................... 18 F. COUNTER-TERRORISM LAWS .................................................................................................................. 20 IV. SITUATION OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN PAKISTAN ....................................................... 22 V. ELIGIBILITY FOR INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION .............................................................. 27 POTENTIAL RISK PROFILES ............................................................................................................................ 28 1. Ahmadis ............................................................................................................................................. 28 2. Baha’is ............................................................................................................................................... 38 3. Christians .......................................................................................................................................... 39 4. Hindus ............................................................................................................................................... 46 5. Shi’ites ............................................................................................................................................... 54 6. Sikhs................................................................................................................................................... 60 7. Sufis / Barelvis ................................................................................................................................... 62 8. Zikris .................................................................................................................................................. 64 VI. INTERNAL FLIGHT OR RELOCATION ALTERNATIVE ......................................................... 65 VII. EXCLUSION FROM INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE PROTECTION ........................................ 67 1 Abbreviations ACLED Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project AHRC Asian Human Rights Commission ASWJ Ahl-e Sunnat Wal Jama’at ATA Anti-Terrorism Act CAT Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment CII Pakistan’s Council of Islamic Ideology CRC Committee on the Rights of the Child (monitoring the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child) CERD Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (monitoring the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination) CNIC Computerized National Identity Cards CRSS Center for Research and Security Studies EASO European Asylum Support Office FATA Federally Administered Tribal Areas FSC Federal Shariat Court FIR First Information Report GHRD Global Human Rights Defence ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICG International Crisis Group ICJ International Commission of Jurists IDSN International Dalit Solidarity Network IFHR International Federation for Human Rights HRCP Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (NB: The HRCP is an NGO, separate from the National Human Rights Commission) HRW Human Rights Watch IHRC International Human Rights Committee (NB: The IHRC is an NGO, separate from the UN Human Rights Committee) LeJ Lashkar-e-Jhangvi MRG Minority Rights Group International NACTA National Counter Terrorism Authority Pakistan NADRA National Database and Registration Authority NAP National Action Plan 2 NCM National Commission for Minorities OCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs OHCHR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights PATA Provincially Administered Tribal Areas PDSN Pakistan Dalit Solidarity Network PIPS Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies PPA Protection of Pakistan Act PPP Pakistan Peoples Party SSP Sipah-e-Sahaba TTP Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees USCIRF United States Commission on International Religious Freedom 3 I. Summary These Guidelines are issued against a backdrop of continuing concerns about freedom of religion and belief, as well as sectarian and religiously-motivated violence in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (hereafter: Pakistan). They contain information on the particular profiles of religious minorities for which international protection needs may arise in the current context in Pakistan.1 These Guidelines supersede UNHCR’s 2012 Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Members of Religious Minorities from Pakistan.2 UNHCR’s recommendations, as set out in detail in the current Guidelines, may be summarized as follows. All asylum claims based on the refugee criteria contained in the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees3 (1951 Convention) and/or its 1967 Protocol4 need to be considered on their own merits according to fair and efficient status determination procedures and up-to-date and relevant country of origin information. UNHCR considers that asylum claims made by Pakistani nationals who are members of religious minorities require particularly careful examination of possible risks. UNHCR considers that members of religious minorities may, depending on the individual circumstances of the case, be in need of international refugee protection. A non-exhaustive list of such minorities includes (i) Baha’is; (ii) Christians; (iii) Hindus; (iv) Shi’ites; (v) Sikhs; (vi) Sufis / Barelvis; and (vii) Zikris. In addition, UNHCR considers that members of the Ahmadi religious minority are likely to be in need of international protection. UNHCR does not generally consider an internal flight or relocation alternative (IFA/IRA) to be relevant in cases where an individual is liable to criminal prosecution under the country’s blasphemy and/or anti-Ahmadi laws. Given the widespread and institutionalized forms of discrimination against Ahmadi individuals by the State, as well as the lack of State protection against equally widespread forms of ill-treatment against Ahmadi individuals at the hands of members of society, UNHCR considers that there is no viable IFA/IRA for Ahmadi individuals with a well-founded fear of persecution based