A/HRC/16/53/Add.1 recipients and without adverse distinction of any kind. Aid priorities are calculated on the basis of need alone”; principle 3: “Aid will not be used to further a particular political or religious standpoint”). 325. The Special Rapporteur also would like to refer to Human Rights Council resolution 6/37, in which the Council urges States “to ensure that appropriate measures are taken in order to adequately and effectively guarantee the freedom of religion or belief of […] persons belonging to minorities”. 6. (a) Urgent appeal sent on 22 November 2010 jointly with the Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Allegations transmitted to the Government 326. The Special Procedures mandate holders brought to the attention of the Government information regarding Ms. Asia Bibi, a member of the Christian minority from the village of Ittanwali in Sheikhupura district, Punjab Province. According to the information received, on 7 November 2010, Ms. Asia Bibi, was sentenced to death on blasphemy charges under section 295-C of the Pakistani Penal Code by the Sheikhupura district and sessions court. Section 295-C of the Pakistani Penal Code provides that “whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine”. 327. Reportedly, in June 2009, a group of Muslim women from the village of Ittanwali in Sheikhupura district had claimed that the water Ms. Bibi served was “unclean” because of her Christian faith. When Ms. Bibi maintained that her religion was as good as any and refused to convert to Islam, a mob led by a local Muslim religious leader tried to attack her and the police took Ms. Bibi into so-called “protective custody” in Nankana. Subsequently, she has spent more than a year as an under-trial prisoner on blasphemy charges at Sheikhupura District Jail. 328. The Pakistani National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) has investigated Ms. Bibi’s cases and found gross irregularities in the judicial process, highlighting the need for reform in the legal injunctions. According to the NCSW, the false allegation against Ms. Bibi was rooted in a personal vendetta by a local landlord. The NCSW called to repeal sections 295-B and 295-C of the Pakistani Penal Code. 329. On 20 November 2010, Ms. Bibi reportedly submitted a petition for pardon under article 45 of the Pakistani Constitution to the President of Pakistan. In her petition, Ms. Bibi emphasized that she had “never uttered any derogatory remark against the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him)”. It is also reported that a sub-inspector initially investigated the case against Ms. Bibi, contrary to section 156-A of the Criminal Procedure Code which requires that blasphemy cases have to be investigated by an officer not less than the rank of Superintendent of Police. 330. The Special Procedures mandate holders brought to the attention of the Government that, although the death penalty is not prohibited under international law, it has long been regarded as an extreme exception to the fundamental right to life. As such, it must be interpreted in the most restrictive manner and can be imposed only for the most serious crimes. In this respect, the Special Procedures mandate holders recalled that article 6 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Pakistan signed in 2008 and ratified on 23 June 2010, provides that “in countries which have not abolished the death penalty”, the “sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes”. In 62