News Desk
Lahore, August 21, 2026:
Religious minorities in Pakistan continue to face concerns over accountability, protection from violence and the enforcement of laws protecting children and religious freedom, states Joseph Janssen, chairman of Voice for Voice, on the International Day Commemorating the Victims of acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief.
Janssen called on federal and provincial authorities to strengthen protection for religious minorities, ensure accountability for perpetrators of religiously motivated violence, enforce child-protection and child-marriage laws, and uphold equality before the law.
He referred to the August 16, 2023 attacks in Jaranwala, where mobs targeted Christian settlements, damaging 26 churches and more than 80 homes. Three years after the incident, Christian families continue to seek justice, he said.
“Jaranwala was an attack on an entire Christian community,” Janssen said, calling for those who participated in, organised, incited or facilitated the violence to be investigated and prosecuted.
He also cited the case of Shama and Shahzad, a Christian couple, who were killed at a brick kiln in 2014 after being accused of blasphemy. Janssen said all those accused in the mob violence in that case had subsequently been acquitted.
He also referred to the killing of Nazir Masih in Sargodha following a blasphemy allegation, as well as the cases of Shagufta Kiran and Asif Pervaiz, who were sentenced to death in separate blasphemy cases. Ahsan, also known as Shan, was sentenced to death in Sahiwal over an allegation involving a social media post linked to the Jaranwala attacks.
Janssen said such cases raised concerns about the risk of mob violence, prolonged imprisonment and due-process violations following blasphemy allegations. He called for fair trials, judicial independence and protection for defendants and lawyers.
The Voice for Voice chairman also raised concerns about cases involving minority girls who were allegedly abducted, converted and subsequently married. He cited the cases of Amber Nadeem, 13, who was allegedly abducted from Faisalabad on June 12, 2026; Sataish Mariam, 14, from Chichawatni in January; and Mariam Asif, 12, from Vehari in April.
According to Janssen, Amber told a magistrate that members of the accused person’s family had pressured and coached her to claim that she was an adult. He said such cases raised questions about the verification of age, the authenticity of documents, allegations of coercion and the assessment of whether a minor had given free and informed consent.
He argued that a minor’s alleged consent should not replace an independent assessment of the child’s age, safety, welfare and best interests.
Janssen said the cases reflected broader concerns about the protection of minority children and the effectiveness of investigations and judicial processes in cases involving alleged abduction, conversion and marriage.
Following Pakistan’s Independence Day and National Minorities Day commemorations, he urged authorities to translate constitutional guarantees of equality and freedom of religion into effective protection for citizens and accountability for human-rights violations.
The press release also said, religious minorities required effective state protection, impartial enforcement of the law and accountability for perpetrators. He added that minority children should receive the same legal protection as other children.
The International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief is observed annually on August 22 under a United Nations resolution adopted in 2019.