On December 12, 2022, Freedom Now filed a petition with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on behalf of Pakistani citizens Rohan Ahmad, Usman Ahmad, and Tariq Ahmad Shehzad. The petition argues that Pakistan’s detention of the three men infringes on their legitimate exercise of their right to freedom of religion, a direct violation of their rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“It is unacceptable that these three men face a potential death penalty or life imprisonment for simply sharing religious texts,” said Freedom Now Legal Officer Adam Lhedmat. “We are confident that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention will conclude that their fundamental human rights have been violated and that they should be released immediately.”
Rohan Ahmad, Usman Ahmad, and Tariq Ahmad Shehzad are active members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Ahmadi Muslims believe that their founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India was the Promised Messiah and the Imam Mahdi foretold by Prophet Muhammad. As a result, Ahmadi Muslims frequently face persecution in many Muslim majority countries.
On May 26, 2020, Rohan was arrested by officers from the Federal Investigation Agency on allegations that he shared blasphemous content in connection to text messages that he sent with links to Islamic texts. After interrogating Rohan, authorities on September 29, 2020 arrested Usman and Tariq on allegations that they conspired with Rohan to prepare and share blasphemous content.
Authorities charged all three men as part of a criminal conspiracy with spreading hate speech, religious incitement, defiling the Qur’an, blasphemy, and propagating the Ahmadiyya Muslim faith. Several of these charges carry a potential sentence of life imprisonment under Pakistan law, and the blasphemy charge carries a potential death sentence. The indictment states that these charges stem from the defendants’ collaboration to prepare and share Islamic texts online.
The courts, including the Supreme Court, have refused to release the men on bail on the grounds that one of the charges, defiling the Qur’an, is a non-bailable offence. As of December 2022, the trial has not started, as the government has refused to turn over investigation case file against the defendants. This decision is currently on appeal without a hearing date set. If convicted, the men could be sentenced to death or life imprisonment.