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LIVESTREAM : 27 February 2026 | 12:00 – 13:00 | https://youtube.com/live/Vzg8Bg6yKj0?feature=share Blasphemy Laws and the Persecution of Minorities in Asia: Human Rights Implications and Paths Forward HRC61 Side Event on 27 February 2026 | 12:00 – 13:00 | Palais des Nations, Geneva Organiser: GHRD (Global Human Rights Defence) Across several Asian countries, blasphemy laws are increasingly used to target religious, ethnic and belief-based minorities. While international human rights law protects freedom of thought, conscience and religion, as well as freedom of expression and minority rights, blasphemy provisions frequently contradict these guarantees when applied in discriminatory or disproportionate ways. In practice, such laws often carry severe penalties, including long-term imprisonment or even the death penalty. Allegations of blasphemy are frequently based on weak evidence, social media posts, personal disputes, or false accusations. The mere allegation can lead to arbitrary detention, mob violence, social ostracism, forced displacement, and lasting impunity for perpetrators of vigilante attacks. Particularly affected are:
• Religious minorities such as Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis and others in Pakistan;
• The Baha’i community in Iran, facing systematic persecution and criminalisation of religious identity;
• Women and girls in Afghanistan, where religious decrees and legal interpretations severely curtail fundamental rights and freedoms;
• Minority activists and communities across the region who face harassment under vaguely defined religious offence provisions. Blasphemy laws not only undermine freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) but also intersect with violations of minority rights, gender equality, due process guarantees, and the prohibition of discrimination. The chilling effect on free expression and civic space further weakens accountability mechanisms and democratic participation. This side event aims to:
• Examine how blasphemy laws are being misused to suppress minorities in different Asian contexts;
• Highlight gendered dimensions of enforcement; • Identify avenues for UN engagement and state-level reform consistent with international human rights standards.
