E/CN.4/1995/91/Add.1 page 53 punished by a sentence of up to three years’ imprisonment and a fine. On 7 July 1991, article 295 A of the Penal Code was reportedly amended by Ordinance XXI, which increased the maximum period of imprisonment imposed for outrage against religious views from 2 to 10 years. Many Ahmadis have reportedly been prosecuted under article 298 C of the Pakistan Penal Code for using expressions that include Muslim epithets and verses of the Koran with the intention of passing the Ahmadis off as Muslims, as well as the call to prayer, the actual prayers, the customary greetings, the inscriptions on houses or tombstones and the patterns on invitation cards or cards announcing marriages. In 1986, the amendment to article 295 C of the Pakistan Penal Code made it possible to sentence any person guilty of directly or indirectly slandering the name of the Prophet Muhammad to life imprisonment and even to capital punishment, as well as the payment of a fine. In spring 1991, the Supreme Court, inspired by the Shariah, reportedly issued a decree, which was subsequently ratified by the Senate, declaring that anyone deemed to be guilty of blasphemy under article 295 C of the Penal Code would henceforth be sentenced to death, without any possibility of appeal. Capital punishment thus allegedly became mandatory from 1 May 1991. During the period under review, the laws on blasphemy reportedly built up an atmosphere of religious intolerance in the country and even encouraged acts of violence, against the Ahmadi and Christian minorities in particular. It is alleged that, in 1992, more than 150 complaints were lodged against members of the Ahmadi community for violations concerning the use of Koranic verses in their private correspondence and that the persons concerned received sentences ranging from a few months to two years. In addition, 718 persons were allegedly prosecuted for offences involving the inscription of the kalima (profession of faith), 729 others for having recited the azan (call to prayer), 91 for having offered the namaz (prayer) and some 10 others for having read the Koran. At least three teachers, in Islamabad and in Dunyapur, in the district of Lodhran, reportedly lost their posts because they were Ahmadis. It is alleged that, in one instance, the teacher was asked to resign his post because he was not entitled to teach the Koran and that, in another, he was allegedly harassed by the management of the school, boycotted by his pupils and denied admission to the canteen, before being relieved of his responsibilities; the third instance was that of a teacher who was denounced to the police for having taught her faith in her school and declared guilty of having breached sections 298 C and 295 C of the Penal Code. At present, she therefore risks the death penalty. It is further reported that 11 Ahmadi places of worship were partially demolished, a dozen tombs were desecrated and some 20 burials according to Ahmadi rites were forbidden.

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