10/15/2026
U.S. Congressional Staff Briefing Calls for Action to End Grave Human Rights Violations in Pakistan
WASHINGTON, D.C., 13 October 2026 | Forced religious conversions and child marriages involving Christian and other minority girls, extrajudicial killings, and the arbitrary detention of people accused of blasphemy were central concerns raised at a Jubilee Campaign-organised congressional staff briefing.
Jubilee Campaign and ExMuslims of North America, alongside remarks provided by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), called for urgent action and accountability for grave human rights violations in Pakistan.
The briefing brought together civil society representatives and staff from the congressional offices of Rep. Young Kim, Rep. Bill Huizenga, Chair of the South and Central Asia Subcommittee, Rep. Marlin Stutzman, Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Rep. Chris Smith.
Speakers included Pakistani-born human rights advocate Joseph Janssen and Shagufta Kausar, a Christian survivor of imprisonment and a death sentence under Pakistanโs blasphemy laws.
Joseph Janssen, Chairperson of Voice for Justice and Advocacy Officer at Jubilee Campaign Netherlands, presented findings from the Stolen Girls report.
The report documents 210 cases of abduction, coerced religious conversion and forced marriage involving Christian girls across Pakistan between January 2019 and December 2025. It updates the first report, released in 2022.
The earlier report was referenced in the National Commission for Human Rights report, Drivers of Forced Conversion Through Marriage in Pakistan, which highlighted how weak enforcement undermines the rule of law and public trust in legal institutions.
โProtecting a child is a duty of the state. Religious claims cannot excuse an abduction, and a marriage certificate cannot erase a childโs age,โ Janssen emphasised.
He described the prolonged struggle families face in seeking justice: police refusing to register a First Information Report (FIR), courts and institutions accepting falsified documents, failures to investigate coercion, and statements made under pressure being treated as evidence of consent.
These failures leave children exposed to the very people from whom they need protection.
Janssen highlighted Maria Shahbaz, abducted from Lahore in July 2025 while still a child, alongside Amber Nadeem, Sataish Mariam and other girls whose families continue to seek protection and justice. He also shared a video featuring families pleading with lawmakers to help bring their daughters home.
โFreedom of religion means freedom to choose. It cannot be built on threats, isolation or captivity,โ Janssen said.
โNo girl should be prevented from returning to her family or practising her faith because someone threatens her with consequences for leaving a religion she was pressured to adopt.โ
Aysha Khan, Project Manager at ExMuslims of North America (EXMNA), addressed Pakistanโs life-threatening blasphemy laws.
She argued that, contrary to claims that these laws preserve public order, their existence has fuelled violence and instability. She cited the murder of Governor Salman Taseer as an example.
โThis is not simply a problem of laws being misused,โ she said. โIt is also a problem with what the laws prohibit.โ
Khan emphasised that freedom of religion and belief โmust include the right to change oneโs beliefs, reject religion, and criticize religious ideas.โ
She noted that Pakistan has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects freedom of conscience, religion and expression. Nevertheless, its blasphemy laws continue to shield religious ideas from criticism, with potentially fatal consequences for those accused of crossing that boundary.
Khan also described the reach of blasphemy-related censorship into digital spaces, including EXMNAโs own platforms.
She reported that Pakistanโs telecommunications regulator had stated in 2025 that it had blocked more than 100,000 URLs classified as blasphemous. Authorities have also pressured social media platforms to remove content deemed offensive to Islam.
โEXMNA has encountered these restrictions directly. WikiIslam, our online resource examining Islamic texts, teachings, and history from a critical perspective, has itself been blocked in Pakistan,โ Khan said.
While welcoming what she described as a reduction in blasphemy-related prosecutions following Pakistanโs 2025 crackdown on Tehreek-e-Labbaik, Khan stressed that arrests alone cannot address the underlying problem.
โReligious extremism cannot be defeated simply by arresting extremists. A society must also be free to challenge the ideas that sustain intolerance, with institutions that protect those who do.โ
โA functioning democracy must protect people from threats, discrimination, and violence. It should not protect ideas, religious or otherwise, from criticism. These freedoms are not obstacles to Pakistanโs stability or prosperity. They are essential to both.โ
Referring to H.R. 5271, the Pakistan Freedom and Accountability Act, Khan urged Congress to make freedom of religion, conscience and expression a consistent priority in U.S.โPakistan economic and diplomatic engagement.
She argued that concerns over losing preferential access to European markets had helped encourage action by Pakistani authorities and that Congress should draw lessons from this approach.
Khan also expressed support for USCIRFโs recommendations.
Hulda Fahmi of Jubilee Campaign, who moderated the briefing, read remarks from USCIRF Chair Asif Mahmood. His remarks welcomed Pakistanโs designation as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) and called for effective accountability, including lifting the national security waiver.
USCIRF has recommended Pakistanโs designation as a CPC since 2002, repeatedly highlighting its blasphemy laws and the authoritiesโ failure to prevent forced religious conversions and child marriages affecting minority women and girls.
Shagufta Kausar shared her experience of spending years in prison, including more than seven years on death row, following blasphemy accusations.
She described how women in prison pressured her to convert to Islam, telling her that reciting the shahada could secure better conditions and eventually her release.
Shagufta refused to be coerced.
Her eventual acquittal and release followed sustained legal advocacy and international pressure. In April 2021, the European Parliament called for her immediate and unconditional release, alongside that of her husband, Shafqat Emmanuel, and urged a review of Pakistanโs eligibility for GSP+ trade preferences.
Janssen urged the U.S. Congress to apply similar diplomatic and economic pressure to secure protection and justice for abducted girls.
The briefing also highlighted legislative opportunities for action.
H.R. 5271, the Pakistan Freedom and Accountability Act, seeks to strengthen accountability for human rights violations and the undermining of democracy in Pakistan.
H.Res. 594, Condemning the persecution of Christians in Muslim-majority countries, explicitly draws attention to blasphemy accusations, mob violence, death sentences, the abduction and forced conversion of Christian girls, and attacks on Christian churches and cemeteries in Pakistan.
Jubilee Campaign also called for Pakistan to be explicitly included in H.Res. 738, Expressing concern regarding severe restrictions on religious freedom abroad, or for the resolution to call for CPC designation of countries that maintain the death penalty for apostasy or blasphemy.
