Additional Name(s): Zarvia Parvez

Gender: Female

Perpetrator: Pakistan

Religion or Belief: Christian – Unspecified/Other

Date of Detainment: April/30/2022

Current Status: Not Released

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Forced Renunciation of Faith

Reason for Persecution: Children’s Rights Religious Activity Religious Belief

Zarvia Pervaiz

Extra Bio Info:

Zarvia Pervaiz was subjected to forced renunciation of faith. 

In April 2022, 12-year-old Pervaiz, a Christian girl from Rawalpindi, Punjab Province, was abducted by a 40-year-old man and his wife, coerced into converting to Islam, and marrying the man. The couple, who had been taken in by Pervaiz’s family during a financial hardship, lured Pervaiz away from her home and subjected her to psychological coercion, including threats of violence against her family, if she did not comply with their demands. When Pervaiz’s family filed a first information report (FIR), the couple was detained, and Pervaiz, rather than being kept in a children’s shelter, was confined in a police holding cell with one of her abductors. 

In May 2022, a court temporarily discharged the kidnappers after police authorities recommended that they not be charged. During the proceedings, the court denied Pervaiz legal counsel and accepted her verbal testimony that she converted and married out of her own free will, despite her being a minor and evidence that her statement was made under duress. The court also failed to perform a mandatory medical examination for suspected victims of kidnapping or trafficking. 

In August 2022, Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan of the Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court dismissed the case in minutes, stating, "The girl is 12, she is married, and she did it out of her free will." Among the evidence not considered was a recorded phone call between Zarvia and her brother after her abduction, in which she said, "They are saying I have to do as they say, otherwise, they will kill my brothers."

Publicly Available Information:

Additional Name(s): اشوک کمار

Gender: Male

Perpetrator: Pakistan

Religion or Belief: Hindu

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Date of Detainment: August/21/2022

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment

Reason for Persecution: Blasphemy (General) Blasphemy (Religious Texts)

Nature of Charges: Blasphemy

Ashok Kumar

Extra Bio Info:

Ashok Kumar is detained for alleged blasphemy.

In August 2022, police in Hyderabad arrested Kumar, a sanitation worker, after he was accused of burning a Qur'an. A first information report (FIR) was filed against him for "desecrating the Qur'an" (Sec. 295-B PPC). Following the accusation, a violent mob attempted to storm Kumar's apartment building.

Publicly Available Information:

Aug 21, 2022

This op-ed was originally published by Fox News on August 21, 2022.

By USCIRF Commissioner Frank R. Wolf

I have been inside a Chinese prison, and it is grim to say the least. The imprisonment of 90-year-old Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen would be a death sentence. 

In May 2022, Hong Kong authorities arrested Cardinal Zen on spurious charges, accusing him and four others of violating China’s national security by "colluding with foreign forces." Despite being released on bail, his situation remains precarious. 

Cardinal Zen’s arrest has sparked an international outcry and represents a new low for the Hong Kong and Chinese governments. As a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and a longtime friend to the cardinal, whom I and many others admire, I am deeply concerned about his safety and well-being. 

Hong Kong was once a free and prosperous international financial center where a "high degree of autonomy" and civil liberties were guaranteed by the Sino-British Joint Declaration – a treaty signed between the United Kingdom and China in 1984 – and Hong Kong’s Basic Law.

Today, the Chinese government has broken its promises and is eviscerating the rule of law and civil liberties in Hong Kong. Religious freedom as a fundamental right will inevitably suffer as well. In fact, we are witnessing before our eyes this free city devolving into an increasingly repressive society where no one resisting government tyranny is safe, including religious leaders and communities.

For example, in December 2020, Hong Kong authorities targeted the Good Neighbor North District Church and its pastor Roy Chan, in apparent political retribution against their democracy and social activism. The high-profile arrest of a prominent Hong Kong religious figure such as Cardinal Zen signals a turn for the worse and causes alarm about the future of religious freedom in Hong Kong.

The use of broad and vague provisions of Hong Hong’s national security law against Cardinal Zen is particularly troubling. Authorities could use the law to arbitrarily persecute many more religious individuals and organizations who participated in democracy protests in Hong Kong. Religious people in Hong Kong will be forced to submit to the will of the government in violation of their conscience or belief, or else face dire consequences for refusing to do so. 

Cardinal Zen is not only a democracy activist in Hong Kong, but he has also been a tireless and outspoken advocate for religious freedom and human rights in China. He is a hero and role model for many. 

When I served as a member of the U.S. Congress, I met with Cardinal Zen several times and personally witnessed his commitment to religious freedom first-hand. As he faces great adversity now, it is imperative that we speak out on his behalf, not only to ensure the charges against him are dropped, but in support of religious freedom for all in Hong Kong and China. 

I urge the U.S. government to stand up for religious freedom and ensure Cardinal Zen will not be forgotten.

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