I received the following response from Caroline Lucas of the Green Party. This proves that the green party are the only true party for Social Justice in the UK:
Dear Wilson,
Thank you for your recent email about the plight of Christians in Pakistan. Caroline has asked me to respond on her behalf and I am sorry for the delay in doing so.
She and her Green colleagues in the European Parliament have a strong track record of speaking out against any religious oppression and you can read Caroline's correspondence with the European Commission at
http://www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk/2009/06/21/correspondence-about-the-right-to-religious-expression/
You will see that this includes specific lobbying about the situation in Pakistan and that Caroline has asked questions about the UK's asylum policies for Christians fleeing oppression in Pakistan.
This European Commission response to a written question from another MEP over the summer may be of some interest:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=E-2009-2097&language=EN
As may the European Parliament's latest resolution on human rights which makes specific reference to Pakistan in clause 98 - see:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/search/highlight.do?hitLocation=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do%3Ftype%3DTA%26reference%3DP6-TA-2009-0385%26format%3DXML%26language%3DEN
London's Green MEP, Jean Lambert is also very active on this issue and it may be that she is willing to meet with you to discuss what further work can be done, as you are one of her constituents. You need to contact her office about this direct. In the meantime, thank you for providing a useful update on the current situation in Pakistan and please be assured that Caroline will continue to press the importance of religious freedom there in her work as an MEP.
Kind regards,
Cath.
Cath Miller
Constituency Co-ordinator and Researcher Office of Dr Caroline Lucas, Green Party MEP for SE England Suite 58 The Hop Exchange
24 Southwark Street
London SE1 1TY
Phone: 02074076281 Fax: 02072340183
Email: carolinelucas@greenmeps.org.uk
Website: http://www.blogger.com/www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk <http://www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk/>
The links show the great progress we as a community have made. The fact that the European Union recognises the Human Right abuses in Pakistan and are continuously monitoring the situation in Pakistan, engaging with the Leadership of Pakistan and have ultimately created a demarch (a formal diplomatic representation of the official position, views, or wishes on a given subject from a government to another government, or to an intergovernmental organization) regarding human rights in Pakistan on the 26th June 2007 in Islamabad. Illustrates that international organisations are aware of the diabolical events in Pakistan. One problem we face is the need to prove outright that the cases for acts of blasphemy are not being taken to court - such as in the case with Robert Danish (killed by Police before court hearing) and that the purported positive discrimination laws in Pakistan are either ineffective, overlooked, and piecemeal. Please share your thoughts and provide more detail to me about the positive discrimination laws in place in Pakistan. See in particular the segment in bold at the end of the response:
Here is an extract from the European Parliament Question Time held on the 22nd June 2009:
Parliamentary questions
22 July 2009
E-2096/09
E-2097/09
Joint answer given by Mrs Ferrero-Waldner on behalf of the Commission Written questions : E-2096/09 , E-2097/09
The Commission is closely following the situation of religious minorities, including the Christian Community, in Pakistan and is actively participating in joint European Union efforts to address the problems they face.
Pakistan is a State Party to the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). The Pakistan Constitution provides for freedom of religion and requires the state to safeguard the rights of minorities.
In as far as the rights of religious minorities are concerned, the Commission is participating in joint EU efforts to address these issues. The EU has consistently used its political dialogue with Pakistan to raise human rights issues, and there have been a number of diplomatic demarches. This has been complemented from 2007 onwards with the human rights dialogue under the EC‑Pakistan Cooperation Agreement, which allows for regular and two-way dialogue on governance and human rights with Pakistan. The Commission has insisted that individual and minority rights be respected.
The blasphemy laws have also repeatedly been brought up by the EU with the Government of Pakistan as part of this human rights dialogue. The Commission understands that, in absolute terms, the majority of those accused under the laws belong to the Muslim faith. But the Commission is conscious of the fact that the blasphemy laws have often been applied against religious minorities, and has been given to understand that false accusations have been used as a tool to settle private disputes or for personal gain.
The last meeting of the Joint Commission took place on 18 March 2009, when the issue of alleged discrimination against minorities, in particular in relation to the blasphemy laws and possible miscarriages of justice, was extensively discussed. The Commission also drew attention to the concerns expressed by Honourable Members on this issue. Pakistani interlocutors made it clear that the blasphemy laws will not be removed from the statute book, but affirmed that allegations of blasphemy must pass through the courts. They also drew attention to positive discrimination from which minorities benefit under Pakistani law.
Dear Wilson,
Thank you for your recent email about the plight of Christians in Pakistan. Caroline has asked me to respond on her behalf and I am sorry for the delay in doing so.
She and her Green colleagues in the European Parliament have a strong track record of speaking out against any religious oppression and you can read Caroline's correspondence with the European Commission at
http://www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk/2009/06/21/correspondence-about-the-right-to-religious-expression/
You will see that this includes specific lobbying about the situation in Pakistan and that Caroline has asked questions about the UK's asylum policies for Christians fleeing oppression in Pakistan.
This European Commission response to a written question from another MEP over the summer may be of some interest:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=E-2009-2097&language=EN
As may the European Parliament's latest resolution on human rights which makes specific reference to Pakistan in clause 98 - see:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/search/highlight.do?hitLocation=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do%3Ftype%3DTA%26reference%3DP6-TA-2009-0385%26format%3DXML%26language%3DEN
London's Green MEP, Jean Lambert is also very active on this issue and it may be that she is willing to meet with you to discuss what further work can be done, as you are one of her constituents. You need to contact her office about this direct. In the meantime, thank you for providing a useful update on the current situation in Pakistan and please be assured that Caroline will continue to press the importance of religious freedom there in her work as an MEP.
Kind regards,
Cath.
Cath Miller
Constituency Co-ordinator and Researcher Office of Dr Caroline Lucas, Green Party MEP for SE England Suite 58 The Hop Exchange
24 Southwark Street
London SE1 1TY
Phone: 02074076281 Fax: 02072340183
Email: carolinelucas@greenmeps.org.uk
Website: http://www.blogger.com/www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk <http://www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk/>
The links show the great progress we as a community have made. The fact that the European Union recognises the Human Right abuses in Pakistan and are continuously monitoring the situation in Pakistan, engaging with the Leadership of Pakistan and have ultimately created a demarch (a formal diplomatic representation of the official position, views, or wishes on a given subject from a government to another government, or to an intergovernmental organization) regarding human rights in Pakistan on the 26th June 2007 in Islamabad. Illustrates that international organisations are aware of the diabolical events in Pakistan. One problem we face is the need to prove outright that the cases for acts of blasphemy are not being taken to court - such as in the case with Robert Danish (killed by Police before court hearing) and that the purported positive discrimination laws in Pakistan are either ineffective, overlooked, and piecemeal. Please share your thoughts and provide more detail to me about the positive discrimination laws in place in Pakistan. See in particular the segment in bold at the end of the response:
Here is an extract from the European Parliament Question Time held on the 22nd June 2009:
Parliamentary questions
22 July 2009
E-2096/09
E-2097/09
Joint answer given by Mrs Ferrero-Waldner on behalf of the Commission Written questions : E-2096/09 , E-2097/09
The Commission is closely following the situation of religious minorities, including the Christian Community, in Pakistan and is actively participating in joint European Union efforts to address the problems they face.
Pakistan is a State Party to the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). The Pakistan Constitution provides for freedom of religion and requires the state to safeguard the rights of minorities.
In as far as the rights of religious minorities are concerned, the Commission is participating in joint EU efforts to address these issues. The EU has consistently used its political dialogue with Pakistan to raise human rights issues, and there have been a number of diplomatic demarches. This has been complemented from 2007 onwards with the human rights dialogue under the EC‑Pakistan Cooperation Agreement, which allows for regular and two-way dialogue on governance and human rights with Pakistan. The Commission has insisted that individual and minority rights be respected.
The blasphemy laws have also repeatedly been brought up by the EU with the Government of Pakistan as part of this human rights dialogue. The Commission understands that, in absolute terms, the majority of those accused under the laws belong to the Muslim faith. But the Commission is conscious of the fact that the blasphemy laws have often been applied against religious minorities, and has been given to understand that false accusations have been used as a tool to settle private disputes or for personal gain.
The last meeting of the Joint Commission took place on 18 March 2009, when the issue of alleged discrimination against minorities, in particular in relation to the blasphemy laws and possible miscarriages of justice, was extensively discussed. The Commission also drew attention to the concerns expressed by Honourable Members on this issue. Pakistani interlocutors made it clear that the blasphemy laws will not be removed from the statute book, but affirmed that allegations of blasphemy must pass through the courts. They also drew attention to positive discrimination from which minorities benefit under Pakistani law.
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