In January 2004, Afghanistan adopted a new constitution which provided freedom for non-Muslim religious groups to exercise their faith, and declared that the state would abide by the UN Charter, international treaties, international conventions, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  The Afghan Constitution, however, stopped short of providing explicit guarantees for the right to freedom of religion or belief to every individual, particularly if they happen to be Muslim. Moreover, in September 2008, the Afghan Parliament passed a law governing the media, in which they prohibited books or other materials considered contrary to the principles of Islam, or offensive to other religions and sects, and forbade any religion in the country other than Islam.

 

In June 2010, the Afghan television station "Noorin TV" aired some brief footage of Afghan men purportedly reciting Christian prayers in Dari while they were being baptized. The station's commentator claimed that the men had been converted to Christianity by Norwegian Church Aid and Church World Services of the US.  The government subsequently suspended both humanitarian aid agencies from continuing their assistance to the Afghan people, even though the station later admitted that there was no evidence against either agency, and that they had been identified in the piece only because the word "church" appeared in their name. Ignoring these truths, an Afghan parliament member suggested that Muslim converts to Christianity should be executed, while another lawmaker observed that killing converted Muslims was "not a crime."

 

All of these persecutions notwithstanding, the underground church of Afghan Christians continues to exist. The US State Department estimates the size of the group as between 500 - 8000 souls, but God alone knows the true number.