Shahbaz Bhatti And Religious Freedom

EDM number 2807 in 2010-12, proposed by Andrew Stephenson on 01/03/2012.

That this House marks the first anniversary of the murder of Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistani Federal Minister for Minorities, on 2 March 2011; supports the international human rights of freedom of religion and freedom of speech in cases of accusations of blasphemy; notes that it is a violation of international human rights to imprison or put to death any person, such as Asia Bibi in Pakistan, for an alleged crime of blasphemy; further notes that Articles 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights acknowledge the rights of freedom of religion and freedom of speech; considers that recognition of a crime of blasphemy offends the basic human rights of freedom of religion and speech; believes that all governments have a duty to protect their citizens from violent religious extremists and, indeed, to protect their own officials who support freedom of religion, such as the assassinated Pakistani State Governor Salman Taseer and Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti; urges that all persons imprisoned for blasphemy anywhere in the world be immediately released and protected from extremist retribution; further notes that the UK gives significant aid to nations such as Pakistan where many minority communities suffer injustice under the blasphemy laws; and calls on the Government to ensure that such aid is not used indiscriminately to perpetuate the resultant inequality, and in particular that it does not facilitate educational material and teaching that denigrates and slanders minority religions and communities.

This motion has been signed by a total of 20 MPs.