E/CN.4/1995/91/Add.1 page 56 a town 200 miles from Islamabad with a sizeable Christian minority. Gul Masih was the first person sentenced to death in Pakistan for blasphemy since the penalty became mandatory in 1991. It is alleged that on 10 December 1992, during a discussion between Gul Masih and his Muslim neighbour Mohammed Sajjad Hussain, near a public fountain, which had become poisoned because it was in poor working order, his neighbour claimed that Gul Masih had insulted the plumber in charge of the fountain, who is also a Muslim, and made disparaging remarks about the Prophet Muhammad. Later that day, Gul Masih’s neighbour returned to see him and demanded that he withdraw his remarks, which he refused to do. During the days following this dispute, Sajjad Hussain was encouraged by a maulvi (a learned teacher of Islamic law) belonging to an orthodox Islamic organization which is apparently seeking to make Pakistan a Sunni State by removing all non-Sunni Muslims from Government posts, to lodge a complaint against Gul Masih, on the basis of section 295 C of the Penal Code. The dispute continued for several days, and implicated Gul Masih’s brother, a political opponent of the maulvi mentioned above. Finally, it is reported, Sajjad Hussain lodged a complaint against Gul Masih and his brother Basih, accusing them both of blasphemy. Both men were arrested during the night of 14 December 1991 and imprisoned. Basih was released six weeks later after Muslim neighbours had testified that he had no part in the above-mentioned dispute. The trial of Gul Masih began in November 1992, solely on the basis of the testimony given by Sajjad Hussain, and the judge of Sargodha, Khan Talib Hussain Baloch, sentenced Gul Masih to death by hanging and to a fine of 5,000 rupees - a sentence which will be executed if upheld by the Supreme Court. It is further alleged that, since his conviction, Gul Masih has been held in solitary confinement. An appeal has been lodged with the Supreme Court, emphasizing that the evidence of Gul Masih’s guilt was insufficient and that he had not been given the benefit of the doubt and that capital punishment was therefore unjustified. It is also reported that Bhatti Sarvar, a young 21-year-old Pakistan Christian, working side by side with Pastor Liagat Paiser of the Pentecostal Church of Philadelphia, was accused by four Muslims, who did not witness the events complained of, of burning a copy of the Koran at his uncle’s home on 19 June 1992. In fact, on the day in question, the accused had gone to visit his relatives in his native Punjab. His children had been left in the care of his uncle and his wife and, in their absence, had lit a fire in the house which had burnt a few books nearby. The children managed to put out the fire and throw the burnt books out into the street. It is further alleged that, when she returned home, the aunt found her house surrounded by a mob of angry Muslims, chanting slogans against her family and the Christian community of Sarghar, accusing them of