Blasphemy and apostasy laws curtail religious freedom in Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Mauritania - report

The U.S. Department of State revealed Wednesday that blasphemy and apostasy laws in countries such as Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Mauritania served to repress their people's religious freedom.

The "2015 Annual Report on International Freedom (IRF)" examined the state of religious persecution in several countries "in which entire communities are in danger of being driven out of their homelands based solely on their religious or ethnic identities."

The latest report brought to light the concerned countries' "chilling" and potentially fatal blasphemy and apostasy laws as crucial tools employed by repressive governments to persecute religious minorities while upholding a favored religion of the state.

It accounted almost a quarter of the countries around the world with blasphemy laws while more than one in 10 have apostasy laws.

"These government failures weaken trust in the rule of law, creating an atmosphere of impunity for those who would resort to violence or make false claims of blasphemy," said David Saperstein, ambassador-at-large for the IRF.

The predominantly Muslim country of Pakistan oftentimes puts to death, including extrajudicial killings, those charged with blasphemy. Enraged Muslim villagers assaulted and burned to death a Christian couple two years ago. Minority Rights Group (MRG) also urged the Pakistani government back in May to take action on the targeted violence against Christians and the use of blasphemy law as a religious persecution tool.

The report also noted that Sudan enforces both blasphemy and apostasy laws yet only against those desecrating Islam. The country amended its penalty for non-Muslim blasphemers last year to five-year imprisonment and 40 lashes.

Saudi Arabia continues to be a repressive state as it recognizes Sunni Islam its official religion. Open Doors, a Christian non-profit organization, ranks the Arab country as 14th among countries with the most rates of Christian persecution. United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) also reported that Saudi Arabia "remains uniquely repressive in the extent to which it restricts the public expression of any religion other than Islam."

Similarly, Mauritania recognizes Sunni Islam as its sole religion and sentenced to death apostates and blasphemers of the Prophet Muhammad.