LAHORE, Pakistan — Muslim justice groups are working with federal authorities to entice youths to share blasphemous content on social media to put them behind bars, according to an investigation by Pakistan’s National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR).

A steep rise a cases of blasphemy this year, many of them filed against Christians and other religious minorities, is linked to collusion between Muslim prosecutors and federal investigators, according to the NCHR report. Pakistan recorded three times more cases of blasphemy in the first seven months of this year compared to last year, according to the CNHR investigation.

As of July 25, there were 767 people accused of blasphemy in Pakistan’s jails, while there were 213 suspects incarcerated for blasphemy in 2023, 64 in 2022, nine in 2021 and 11 in 2020, according to data compiled by the NCHR.

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“Most of the blasphemy cases were registered with the Cybercrime Unit of the Federal Investigation Agency in collaboration with a private entity,” the NCHR noted, adding that youths were targeted through entrapment tactics involving women using pseudonyms to lure them engages in online blasphemy activities.

At least 594 blasphemy suspects were jailed in Punjab province alone, followed by 120 in Sindh province, 64 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and two in Balochistan province, the NCHR added.

The report follows a study by the Punjab Police Special Branch, released in January, which first revealed the presence of a “blasphemy business” exploiting controversial blasphemy laws to trap victims for extortion.

According to the Special Service report, most of the cases were prosecuted by private “vigilante groups” led by lawyers and supported by volunteers who search the Internet for criminals.

One such group was responsible for the conviction of 27 people who were sentenced to life imprisonment or the death penalty in the past three years, the report said. It recommended that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) launch a thorough investigation to determine the source of the justice groups’ funding, but the agency’s response was unknown.

The most active justice group is Pakistan’s Blasphemy Legal Commission, which is pursuing more than 300 cases, led by Shiraz Ahmad Farooqi, the plaintiff in the blasphemy conviction of a 40-year-old Christian woman, Shagufta Kiran. Kiran was sentenced to death by a special judge in Islamabad on September 18.

The NCHR report called for “a comprehensive review” of the roles and responsibilities of both government and private entities. He also noted the inhumane conditions of blasphemy suspects in prisons.

“Individuals accused of blasphemy are housed together in single, severely overcrowded barracks to protect them from possible harm from other inmates who may attack or threaten them,” NCHR reported. “However, this arrangement results in inhumane living conditions as the barracks lack adequate facilities and are grossly overcrowded.”

Inmates also face coercion, extortion and pressure from justice involved in their entrapment, “which sometimes encourages them to engage in other criminal activities in prison,” according to the report.

The NCHR recommended the engagement of the highest levels of government and the judiciary to address the FIA’s involvement with Muslim individuals and justice groups who trap people. He also called for the formation of a Joint Investigation Team, comprising officials from the Special Branch of the Intelligence Bureau, the ministries of Law and Home Affairs, the FIA ​​and other relevant departments to investigate cases of blasphemy.

Mere accusations of blasphemy in Muslim-majority Pakistan can ignite public outrage and sometimes lead to mob violence. Hundreds of people have been charged and imprisoned for alleged blasphemy, and some have received the death penalty, although none have so far been executed.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee on October 17 noted that Pakistani authorities have failed to reduce a number of human rights violations, including a sharp increase in blasphemy-related violence. Expressing deep concern over frequent attacks against religious minorities, including accusations of blasphemy, targeted killings, lynchings, mob violence, forced conversions and desecration of places of worship, the committee said Pakistani society has become increasingly intolerant of of religious diversity.

“Religious minorities face a constant threat of persecution and discrimination amid rising religious radicalism,” the commission said.

Pakistan ranked seventh on the 2024 World Watch List of the Most Difficult Places to Be a Christian, as it was the previous year.

Originally published at Christian Daily International–The Morning Star news