Although President Bashar al-Assad’s government fell in December 2024, ending that regime’s years of religious freedom and broader human rights violations, Syria’s diverse religious communities face other threats. Both the interim authorities in Damascus—led by U.S.-designated terrorists and longstanding FoRB violator Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)—and Turkish-backed Islamist militias in the north and east pose threats to FoRB and to the future stability of the country.
Source: Yazidi refugees who fled the violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, take part in a protest at Nowruz refugee camp in Qamishli, RUETERS / Said
Additional Name(s): Noman Masih
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Pakistan
Religion or Belief: Christian – Protestant
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Sentence: Death
Date of Detainment: June/29/2019
Date of Sentencing: May/30/2023
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Blasphemy (General) Blasphemy (Religious Figures) Online Activity
Nature of Charges: Blasphemy
Noman Asghar
Extra Bio Info:
Noman Asghar is imprisoned and sentenced to death for blasphemy.
In June 2019, authorities arrested Asghar and his friend, Sunny Mushtaq, for receiving images deemed blasphemous via WhatsApp. Authorities charged him with "insulting the Prophet Muhammad" (Sec. 295-C PPC).
In May 2023, the Bahawalpur Magistrate Court convicted Asghar and sentenced him to death.
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Pakistan
Religion or Belief: Christian – Unspecified/Other
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Date of Detainment: June/29/2019
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Blasphemy (General) Blasphemy (Religious Figures) Online Activity
Nature of Charges: Blasphemy
Sunny Mushtaq
Extra Bio Info:
Sunny Mushtaq is imprisoned and sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy.
In June 2019, authorities arrested 19-year-old Sunny Mushtaq and his friend, Noman Asghar, for receiving images deemed blasphemous via WhatsApp. Authorities charged him with "insulting the Prophet Muhammad" (Sec. 295-C PPC).
In May 2023, the Bahawalpur Magistrate Court convicted Mushtaq and sentenced him to death.
Publicly Available Information:
- The Voiceless Victims of Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws International Christian Concern (ICC)
- USCIRF Policy Update: Pakistan's Blasphemy Law October 2019