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APPENDIX V

In the House of Representatives
Thursday, July 17, 1986
HON. TONY P. HALL OF OHIO
Thursday, July 17, 1986 *248

Mr. HALL of Ohio.…

H. CON. RES. [370] Concurrent resolution expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to repression by the Government of Pakistan of individuals known as Ahmadis.

Whereas Ahmadis are individuals who profess their religion to be Islam, but have certain distinctive religious beliefs (as do other sects of Islam);

Whereas the Government of Pakistan and some of the people of Pakistan are discriminating against Ahmadis because of the religious beliefs of Ahmadis; Whereas there are approximately 3,500,000 [to 4,000,000] Ahmadis living in Pakistan;

Whereas Pakistan is obligated under the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief;

Whereas Article 20 of the Constitution of Pakistan provides that every citizen and religious sect has the right to practice and propagate religions and to establish religious institutions;

Whereas in April 1984, the Government of Pakistan established Ordinance XX by presidential decree;

Whereas, notwithstanding the Constitution of Pakistan, Ordinance XX provides that any Ahmadi may lose the right to his or her property, be fined, and be imprisoned for 3 years, if the Ahmadi involved publicly suggests that Ahmadis are Muslims;

Whereas in a message to the International Khatm-E-Nubuwwhat Conference (an international meeting of Muslims) in London in August 1985, President Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan stated that the Government of Pakistan has taken several emphatic measures in recent years to prevent Ahmadis from practicing the Islamic faith, and that the Government of Pakistan will exterminate the Ahmadi faith;

Whereas the imposition of death sentences and lengthy prison terms on Ahmadis, including civilians, by special military courts in Pakistan in certain cases indicates that religious persecution may be a factor in the decisions of courts in Pakistan;

Whereas trying civilians in military courts is a violation of internationally recognized legal principles;

Whereas hundreds of Ahmadis have been arrested for wearing Muslim religious insignia;

Whereas Ahmadis have been discriminated against with respect to admissions to educational institutions and the civil armed services of Pakistan;

Whereas the Government of Pakistan has encouraged the people of Pakistan to commit acts of persecution against Ahmadis, including murder, attacks on mosques used by Ahmadis, and the defacement of religious property;

Whereas Ahmadis have fled Pakistan and have sought political asylum in other countries because of religious persecution;

Whereas 2 organizations in the United States, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights and the Human Rights Advocates, have determined that Ahmadis are being subjected to systematic and extensive discrimination on the basis of religious belief; and

Whereas, in August 1985, the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights determined in resolution numbered 1985-21 that Ordinance XX violates the right of religious minorities to profess and practice their own religion, and called on the Government of Pakistan to repeal Ordinance XX: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that the Government of Pakistan should -

1. Repeal Ordinance XX;
2. cease persecution of, and discrimination against, Ahmadis;
3. provide that any trial of civilians by military courts be reviewed by civilian courts; and
4. restore all internationally recognized human rights to all of the people of Pakistan.…

248	H.R. Con. Res. 370, supra note 14.