Proportionality of punishment was a key criteria for the researchers. “That is why Iran and Pakistan are the two highest countries because they explicitly have the death penalty in their law.”
Source/Credit: The Malay Mail Online
By Reuters | August 29, 2017
GENEVA, Aug 29 — Laws prohibiting blasphemy are “astonishingly widespread” worldwide, with many laying down disproportionate punishments ranging from prison sentences to lashings or the death penalty, the lead author of a report on blasphemy said.
Iran, Pakistan, and Yemen score worst, topping a list of 71 countries with laws criminalising views deemed blasphemous, found in all regions, according to a comprehensive report issued this month by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.
The bipartisan US federal commission called for repeal of blasphemy statutes, saying they invited abuse and failed to protect freedoms of religion and expression.
“We found key patterns. All deviate from freedom of speech principles in some way, all have a vague formulation, with different interpretations,” Joelle Fiss, the Swiss-based lead author of the report told Reuters.
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