[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 167 (Tuesday, October 9, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1385-E1386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           CALLING FOR THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF ABDUL SHAKOOR

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JAMIE RASKIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 9, 2018

  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call for the immediate 
release of Abdul Shakoor, a prisoner of conscience currently 
incarcerated in Pakistan, and a man who has been persecuted for his 
belief in the Ahmadiyya Muslim faith. Mr. Shakoor is an 82-year old who 
manages an optician's store and bookshop in the main bazaar of Rabwah 
in Punjab province. Rabwah is the de facto headquarters of Pakistan's 
Ahmadiyya Muslim community, known as Ahmadis.
  Mr. Shakoor is a beloved figure in Rabwah where he is known as a 
pillar of the community, a leader, a conciliator, and peacemaker. He is 
referred to by all as ``Brother'' Shakoor.
  In 1997, Pakistan passed the Anti-Terrorism Act, which provided for a 
broad definition of terrorism and created special Anti-Terrorism Courts 
to try individuals accused of violating the law. In the 20 years since 
it became law, the Anti-Terrorism Act has been increasingly used as a 
cudgel to persecute religious minorities within Pakistan, with a 
specific malicious focus trained on Ahmadi Muslims. This is because 
Pakistan's Constitution declares members of the Ahmadiyya faith as non-
Muslims, and Pakistan's Penal Code criminalizes their existence for 
``posing as Muslim,'' subjecting them to three years imprisonment and 
potential capital punishment. Thus, Ahmadis are legally rendered 
heretical and thus illegal in Pakistan because Ahmadi Muslims believe 
that the founder of their faith, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was divinely 
appointed as the promised Mahdi and Messiah.

[[Page E1386]]

  On December 2nd and 9th of 2015, Brother Shakoor's bookshop was 
raided by the Counter Terrorism Department of the Punjab police and the 
counterterrorism focused Elite Force. He and his assistant, Mazhar 
Abbas, a Shia Muslim, were arrested for the crime of distributing 
Ahmadiyya commentaries on the Qur'an. Brother Shakoor was charged with 
violating both the Anti-Terrorism Act, for ``disseminating any material 
to incite hatred,'' and the Pakistani Penal code for committing acts or 
speech that insult a religion or defile the Qur'an or the Prophet 
Muhammad.
  Brother Shakoor was brought to trial within a month before the Anti-
Terrorism Court in Faisalabad, Punjab. The only witnesses at the trial 
were the officers who raided his bookstore who entered into evidence a 
letter supposedly recovered during the December 9 raid. The letter, 
purportedly from the Ahmadiyya Director of Public Affairs, notified 
Brother Shakoor that some Ahmadiyya literature had been banned and he 
should neither display nor sell it. However, the literature cited in 
the letter, and for which Brother Shakoor was prosecuted, was not 
banned until January 20, 2016, after the trial had concluded. 
Obviously, religious literature cannot be banned under international 
human rights law in any case.
  Brother Shakoor contended at trial, and maintains the position, that 
while he was in possession of the literature, he did not distribute it. 
Yet, the anti-terrorism court Judge Raja Parvaiz Akhtar announced 
Brother Shakoor's conviction under the Anti-Terrorism Act and Sentenced 
him to eight years imprisonment for his alleged crimes, dealing a 
terrible blow to the local Ahmadiyya community. The shop assistant, Mr. 
Abbas, was convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Act as well and was 
sentenced to five years in prison.
  Since his conviction, Brother Shakoor has appealed the verdict and 
petitioned for bail on appeal to the Lahore High Court, but he has 
remained in jail. The case has been listed on the Lahore High Court's 
daily docket on several occasions, but it has been repeatedly 
postponed. The last postponed hearing date is believed to have been 
June 22, 2017, and the matter has not been noticed since to the best of 
our knowledge. Brother Shakoor remains in prison and is suffering from 
medical conditions which we cannot say are being attended to, including 
hernia and severe weakness owing to old age. For example, the distance 
within the jail facility between the daily meeting point and his cell 
is very long, and so he needs to be transported with help from a warden 
because he cannot even make that basic walk by foot.
  When anti-terrorism statutes are used to persecute practitioners of 
minority religious communities who have done nothing but observe their 
faith, they are obviously illegitimate instruments of tyranny and 
threaten public support for legitimate anti-terrorism policies. Brother 
Shakoor's imprisonment is a scandalous abuse of an anti-terror law and 
demands international condemnation. He should be freed immediately.
  As the world's first constitutional democracy, America must defend 
the freedoms of speech, expression, and religion against state 
persecution everywhere. So today, I ask my colleagues to join me in 
standing with Brother Shakoor and calling for his release, as well as 
that of Mr. Abbas.

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