Qasim Rashid, Esq.

Richmond Journal of Law and Public Interest, Volume 16.1, Forthcoming Fall, 2012

The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”) superseded the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”), which the Supreme Court held unconstitutional in its application to states in 1997. A two-pronged law, RLUIPA protects prisoners from unjust impositions to their freedom of worship and also ensures religious institutions may use their property for legitimate worship purposes without burdensome zoning law restrictions. This paper focuses specifically on the latter prong, and particularly analyzes RLUIPA in light of the growing Islamophobia in America during the previous twenty-four months. For example, the United States Department of Justice reports that, “of the twenty-eight RLUIPA matters involving possible discrimination against Muslims that the Department has monitored since September 11, 2001, eighteen have been opened since May of 2010.”[1] This paper finally repudiates the assertion that RLUIPA is an unconstitutional exercise of Congressional power, and instead demonstrates that RLUIPA in fact ensures effective and legal protection from religious discrimination for all Americans.

Richmond Journal of Global Law and Business Volume 11.1 Winter 2011 Issue: Pakistan’s Failed Commitment: How Pakistan’s Institutionalized Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Violates the ICCPR 

Abstract: The United Nations (“UN”) adopted the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”) in 1966 and officially implemented it in 1976 to ensure, among other guarantees, that no human is denied his or her right to equal voting, freedom of political association, due process of law, freedom of life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is among 166 nations that have signed and ratified the ICCPR. Since signing the ICCPR in 2008 and ratifying it in 2010, however, Pakistan has perpetuated state-sanctioned and violent persecution of religious minority groups such as Ahmadi Muslims, Christians, and Hindus, through anti-blasphemy legislation and voting disenfranchisement. This article examines the plight of Pakistan’s religious minorities, focusing primarily on the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, in the context of the ICCPR. It demonstrates that Pakistan’s Ahmadi Muslims are robbed of basic human rights in violation of the ICCPR and the imminent threats such violations pose to the international community. It concludes with an analysis of the practical steps the international community should take to remedy these threats, methods to revive religious freedom in Pakistan, and better ensure national and international security.