State Dept. report: Some Islamic laws contradict ‘universally recognized human rights’

Special to WorldTribune.com

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

In a new report, the U.S. State Department raised concerns over laws against blasphemy and apostasy in Islamic societies.

Mob violence against Christians in Pakistan led to the killing of a couple.
Mob violence against Christians in Pakistan led to the killing of a couple.

“Such laws conflict with and undermine universally recognized human rights,” it said in its annual report on global religious freedom released on August 10.

In Pakistan, blasphemy laws “have often been used as justification for mob justice,” the report said.

It also pointed out government actions against Sunni Muslims in Iran and against Shi’a in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, steps against Christians in China, and anti-Semitism in Europe.

The document added that nonstate actors such as the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria and Boko Haram in West Africa continue to rank among “the most egregious abusers of religious freedom in the world.”