Rights groups decry attacks on minority community

islamabad — Three international human rights groups on Thursday denounced recent attacks on the minority Ahmadi community and asked the government to “urgently and impartially investigate a surge” in violence.

The joint appeal from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists came days after a 16-yearold youth opened fire on a group of Ahmadis gathering for worship at a home. The attack killed a doctor, Tahir Mehmood, and wounded three other Ahmadi men, including the doctor’s father.

Mehmood’s family have since gone into hiding for security reasons. The suspected attacker was taken into in police custody.

Pakistan’s parliament declared Ahmadis non-Muslims in 1974.

In a statement, the three rights groups called on Pakistan to “take appropriate legal action against those responsible for threats and violence against Ahmadis”.

Since July, five members of the Ahmadi community have been killed in separate attacks. “There are few communities in Pakistan who have suffered as much as the Ahmadis,” said Omar Waraich, head of South Asia at Amnesty International. “The recent wave of killings tragically underscores not just the seriousness of the threats they face, but also the callous indifference of the authorities, who have failed to protect the community or punish the perpetrators.”

Ian Seiderman, legal and policy director at the International Commission of Jurists, reminded Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government of commitments made in the United Nations General Assembly to actively protect minorities’ human rights.

Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch, also called on Pakistan to take “immediate legal and policy measures to eliminate widespread and rampant discrimination and social exclusion” of Ahmadis.

The recent wave of killings tragically underscores not just the seriousness of the threats they face, but also the callous indifference of the authorities, who have failed to protect the community or punish the perpetrators Omar Waraich Amnesty International