March 17, 2016 Genocide Declaration On ISIS And Call For Immediate Halt To Any Pakistan Christian Refugee Deportations From Thailand

March 17, 2016 Genocide Declaration on ISIS and Call for Immediate Halt to Any Pakistan Christian Refugee Deportations from Thailand

On March 17, 2016, the United States of America State Department declared that persecution and violence against minority Christians by the international ISIS (aka IS, ISIL, Daesh) movement was designated as "genocide" and "crimes against humanity."

Given the continuing threat of such genocide and crimes against humanity in the greater Middle East, including ISIS growth in the nation of Pakistan, human rights and non-governmental organizations, and friends of the United Nations and the Kingdom of Thailand, are calling for the Thailand government to immediate halt any plans for the deportation of any Pakistan Christian refugees from Thailand to Pakistan, where the forces of ISIS are increasing in number and influence.

Human rights and non-governmental organizations also call for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Thailand office to immediately re-assess any Refugee Status Determinations (RSD) denied to such Pakistan Christian refugees, and to immediately halt any activities leading to deportation, which could expose such refugees to the threat of growing genocide in the region. We call for the UNHCR Thailand to grant such refugee candidates new RSD hearings, while their cases are re-assessed to determine if they are in alignment with Refugee Resettlement Handbook requirements, and to assess the growing risk of denying refugees protection from those supporting genocide of such religious minorities.

The growing threat of genocide must be a matter for serious consideration by all organizations, nations, and individuals of conscience. This is further complicated by existing institutional persecution of Pakistan Christians and other religious minorities, including to the "blasphemy laws," which has been condemned in reports by the United Nations (Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, 2012, UN Doc.A/HRC/23/43/Add.2, para 57, p. 13), and in the November 2015 report by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), provided to the UNHCR and the Kingdom of Thailand government.  In the United Nations report, the United Nations Special Rapporteur has stated "the blasphemy laws are abused to target Christians."

The state of persecution has allowed the growth of the ISIS terrorist movement to spread and expand, not only from its current genocide in Syria and Iraq, but also to expand with the nation of Pakistan.

On March 2, 2016, the Associated Press stated that: "Here in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, IS loyalists have set up their strongest presence, carrying out multiple attacks in the past year and setting up networks." On February 10, 2016, Pakistan media The Nation reported that "Giving a briefing to the Senate Standing Committee on Interior about Intelligence Bureau's counter-terrorism operation, the Director General of the country's top civilian intelligence agency said Daesh is emerging threat in Pakistan as all other militant groups have soft corner for it."  On February 18, 2016, the Diplomat reported: "The Director General of Pakistan’s Intelligence Bureau (IB), in a recent testimony given before a Senate committee, admitted that the Islamic State (IS) was posing a serious threat to the security of the country." On February 11, 2016, the Nation reported that: "Intelligence Bureau Director-General Aftab Sultan yesterday testified before a Senate committee that hundreds of fighters from Pakistan were joining" the ISIS movement.  On November 10, 2014, ABC reported that "DAISH claims to have gathered 10-12 thousand followers from Hangu and Kurram Agency."

We have already seen repeated ISIS terrorist attacks against religious minorities in Pakistan.  Given the environment of persecution of religious minorities and the rise of an international movement seeking genocide against Pakistan Christians and other religious minorities, we call to conscience of the Kingdom of Thailand and the UNHCR that it would be wrong to deport such religious minority refugees back to be endangered by the growing forces of genocide.

The UNHCR must respect the challenge of genocide, in accordance with the United Nations international commitment to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by Resolution 260 (III) A of the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1948.  We urge the UNHCR Thailand office to make decisions on Pakistan Christian and other religious minorities, not to endanger them to the ISIS and other extremist forces of genocide.  With the March 17, 2016 designation of ISIS genocide of Christian minorities by the U.S. Department of State, we urge the UNHCR to re-assess refugees coming from areas where ISIS threats are growing against such refugees.

Furthermore, we note the statement, also today, March 17, 2016, by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: "Human rights abuses by violent extremists directly assault the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights." We agree and urge that all refugees endangered by such violent extremists get equal protection, including the Pakistan Christian refugees and Pakistan religious minority refugees who have fled to Thailand.

The Kingdom of Thailand also has a history of ethical stands of conscience, in accordance with its national respect for human rights, as well as international law which it supports.  Such commitment to ethical stands on human rights has included the Kingdom of Thailand signature of the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on October 2, 2000.  It has included the Kingdom of Thailand signing the Geneva Conventions I through IV, since December 29, 1954.  The Kingdom of Thailand voted to adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on December 10, 1948, and has been a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) since October 29, 1996.

The Kingdom of Thailand's ethical stand against the common enemy of terrorism includes being a signatory to numerous international acts renouncing terrorism, including the: Convention Against the Taking of Hostages 1979, Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings 1997, Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism 1999.

We call for the UNHCR Thailand office and the Kingdom of Thailand to respect the full impact of this designation of ISIS genocide and crimes against humanity for Christians and other religious minorities.  We urge them do not permit the endangerment of Pakistan Christians and other religious minorities who have fled to Thailand from persecution in Pakistan, and where the ISIS forces of genocide are growing every day.


Pakistan Christian Congress, Dr. Nazir Bhatti
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.), Jeffrey Imm
British Pakistan Christian Association (BPCA), Wilson Chowdhry Ilford

Recent Reports of ISIS Terrorism Growth in Pakistan

March 18, 2016: Foreign Policy: NDS: Kunar next likely IS hideout
-- "On Thursday, Gen. Dad Mohammad Harifi, the National Directorate of Security chief for Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, said that IS would likely move to Kunar province following defeats in Nangarhar (Pajhwok). Harifi stated: “[IS] has been comprehensively suppressed in Nangarhar and limited to Achin and Haska Mena districts. Up to 250 Daesh fighters are seen in Kunar, so I think the province would be their next hideout after Nangarhar.” Nangarhar Police Chief Maj. Gen. Fazal Ahmad Sherzad added: “We have killed 762 militants in the past one year and conducted hundreds of operations and cleared many areas from the presence of insurgents.”"
http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/03/18/musharraf-leaves-pakistan-afghan-intel-agency-kunar-next-likely-is-hideout-pakistani-investigators-to-arrive-in-india-on-march-27/

March 4, 2016: Pakistan Today (PT) "ISIS offers a cause JuD jihadists are finding hard to resist"
http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2016/03/04/national/isis-offers-a-cause-jud-jihadists-are-finding-hard-to-resist/

March 2, 2016: AP/CBS News: "ISIS courts white-collar recruits in Pakistan"
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/isis-recruiting-karachi-competition-taliban-al-qaeda/

March 2, 2016: Antiwar: "ISIS Engages in Heavy Recruiting in Pakistan - New Affiliate Has Growing Presence in Karachi"
http://news.antiwar.com/2016/03/02/isis-engages-in-heavy-recruiting-in-pakistan/
-- "Karachi, one of the biggest cities on the planet, seems to be the center of ISIS recruitment in Pakistan, reflecting the different approach ISIS has to take in Pakistan than in, say, Libya."

March 2, 2016: AP: "Islamic State group in competition for recruits in Pakistan"
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f5137e5a1f1d452c90b7d3d2b9d36140/islamic-state-group-competition-recruits-pakistan

February 18, 2016: Financial Times: "Pakistan militants align with ISIS"
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ba2e1a4c-c315-11e5-808f-8231cd71622e.html

February 18, 2016: The Diplomat: "The Islamic State Threat Is Real in Pakistan"
http://thediplomat.com/2016/02/the-islamic-state-threat-is-real-in-pakistan/

February 10, 2016: The Nation: "Hundreds of Pakistanis joining Daesh: Intelligence Bureau"
http://nation.com.pk/national/10-Feb-2016/hundreds-of-pakistanis-joining-daesh-intelligence-bureau
-- The Nation reports: "Giving a briefing to the Senate Standing Committee on Interior about Intelligence Bureau's counter-terrorism operation, the Director General of the country's top civilian intelligence agency said Daesh is emerging threat in Pakistan as all other militant groups have soft corner for it."

February 2, 2016: New York Times: "Pakistan’s Hand in the Rise of International Jihad"
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/opinion/sunday/pakistans-hand-in-the-rise-of-international-jihad.html

November 10, 2014: ABC: "ISIS Has Master Plan for Pakistan, Secret Memo Warns"
-- "DAISH claims to have gathered 10-12 thousand followers from Hangu and Kurram Agency"
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-uncovered/isis-has-master-plan-pakistan-secret-memo-warns-n244961