All Pakistan Minorities Alliance
The All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) is a non-Muslim human rights organization for the religious minorities in Pakistan , who make up around 5% of the population. The APMA was founded around 1990 on the initiative of the Christian Liberation Front (CLF) together with other organizations of Christians , Hindus , Sikhs and Baha'i . The chairman was the Christian MP Shahbaz Bhatti until his death in 2011 when he was murdered by the Taliban. He was succeeded by his brother Jamel Bhatti.
The motivation for the formation of the alliance was the strict Islamic laws passed after the military coup in 1977, in particular the blasphemy articles 295 and 298 of the penal code, which make any criticism of Islam under severe punishment up to a death sentence . Soon after the founding, organizations of the Balmeek , Bheel , Maingwal , Kelash and Zoroastrianism also joined.
Numerous lawyers and some members of parliament work in the alliance to argue for more tolerant laws and to submit appropriate petitions to government agencies. Other focal points are lobbying and media work for the minorities, support for political prisoners and discriminated Christians as well as victims of Islamist terror. She also advocates better women's rights, which have increasingly deteriorated since the Islamization of criminal law (as part of the Hudood Ordinances ).
APMA operates a nationwide network of offices covering 80 of Pakistan's 106 political districts. You cooperate with international organizations for human rights such as AI and CSI .