Human rights in Pakistan

Pakistan’s human rights record is generally regarded as poor by domestic and international observers, although there have been some improvements since 2000.

Pakistan's security forces use excessive and sometimes lethal force and are complicit in extrajudicial killings of civilians and suspected militants. The police and military have been accused of engaging in physical abuse, rape, and arbitrary arrest and detention, particularly in areas of acute conflict.

Although the government has enacted measures to counter these problems, abuses continue. Furthermore, courts suffer from lack of funds, outside intervention, and deep case backlogs that lead to long trial delays and lengthy pretrial detentions. Many observers inside and outside Pakistan contend that Pakistan’s legal code is largely concerned with crime, national security, and domestic tranquility and less with the protection of individual rights.

Human Rights Violations of Christians

Blasphemy Laws

In Pakistan, 1.5% of the population are Christian. Pakistani law mandates that any "blasphemies" of the Quran are to be met with punishment. On July 28, 1994, Amnesty International urged Pakistan's Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto to change the law because it was being used to terrorize religious minorities. She tried but was unsuccessful. However, she modified the laws to make them more moderate. Her changes were reversed by the Nawaz Sharif administration which was backed by Religious/Political parties.

Ayub Masih, a Christian, was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death in 1998. He was accused by a neighbor of stating that he supported British writer, Salman Rushdie, author of "The Satanic Verses". Lower appeals courts upheld the conviction. However, before the Pakistan Supreme Court, his lawyer was able to prove that the accuser had used the conviction to force Mashi's family off their land and then acquired control of the property. Masih has been released [ [http://www.religioustolerance.org/rt_pakis.htm Religious Intolerance In Pakistan ] ] .

On September 22, 2006, a Pakistani Christian named Shahid Masih was arrested and jailed for allegedly violating Islamic "blasphemy laws" in Pakistan. He is presently held in confinement and has expressed fear of reprisals by Islamic Fundamentalists [ [http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=7248 PAKISTAN Young Christian arrested for blasphemy - Asia News ] ] .

Attacks on Pakistani Christians by Islamists

On October 28, 2001 in Lahore, Pakistan, Islamic militants killed 15 Christians at a church. On September 25, 2002 two terrorists entered the "Peace and Justice Institute", Karachi, where they separated Muslims from the Christians, and then executed eight Christians by shooting them in the head.Fact|date=May 2008

On September 25, 2002, unidentified gunmen shot dead seven people at a Christian charity in Karachi's central business district. They entered the third-floor offices of the Institute for Peace and Justice (IPJ) and shot their victims in the head. All of the victims were Pakistani Christians. Karachi police chief Tariq Jamil said the victims had their hands tied and their mouths had been covered with tape. Pakistani Christians have alleged that they have "become increasingly victimised since the launch of the US-led international war on terror." [ [http://www.domini.org/openbook/pak20020925.htm Gunmen 'execute' Pakistan Christians ] ]

In November 2005, 3,000 militant Islamists attacked Christians in Sangla Hill in Pakistan and destroyed Roman Catholic, Salvation Army and United Presbyterian churches. The attack was over allegations of violation of blasphemy laws by a Pakistani Christian named Yousaf Masih. The attacks were widely condemned by some political parties in Pakistan [ [http://www.missio-aachen.de/menschen-kulturen/nachrichten/Sangla_Hill_attack_continues_to_draw_condemnation.asp Asien, Pakistan: Sangla Hill attack continues to draw condemnation - missio ] ] . However, Pakistani Christians have expressed disappointment that they have not received justice. Samson Dilawar, a parish priest in Sangla Hill, has said that the police have not committed to trial any of the people who were arrested for committing the assaults, and that the Pakistani government did not inform the Christian community that a judicial inquiry was underway by a local judge. He continued to say that Muslim clerics "make hateful speeches about Christians" and "continue insulting Christians and our faith". [ [http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=4928 PAKISTAN Islamic extremists still unpunished 40 days after the Sangla Hill attack - Asia News ] ] .

In February 2006, churches and Christian schools were targeted in protests over the publications of the Jyllands-Posten cartoons in Denmark, leaving two elderly women injured and many homes and properties destroyed. Some of the mobs were stopped by police [ [http://www.christianresponse.org/articles/291/cartoon-protestors-in-pakistan-target-christians International Christian Response: Cartoon Protestors in Pakistan Target Christians ] ] .

In August 2006, a church and Christian homes were attacked in a village outside of Lahore, Pakistan in a land dispute. Three Christians were seriously injured and one missing after some 35 Muslims burned buildings, desecrated Bibles and attacked Christians [ [http://www.christianpost.com/article/20060822/23922.htm N.J. Civil Unions Hung Up on 'Marriage' | Christianpost.com ] ] .

Based, in part, on such incidents, Pakistan was recommended by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in May 2006 to be designated as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) by the Department of State. [ [http://www.christianpost.com/article/20060822/23922.htm N.J. Civil Unions Hung Up on 'Marriage' | Christianpost.com ] ] .

Human Rights Violations on Hindus

There have been severe persecution of Hindus by Muslims in Pakistan since its formation in 1947. The increasing Islamization has caused many Hindus to leave Hinduism and seek emancipation by converting to other faiths such as Buddhism and Christianity. Such Islamization include the blasphemy laws, which make it dangerous for religious minorities to express themselves freely and engage freely in religious and cultural activities [cite news | first = | last = | author = | coauthors = | title =Pakistan asks Hindus to quit military area | url = http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/nov/07pak.htm| publisher =Rediff.com | date =November 07, 2003 10:04 IST | language = ]

Minority members of the Pakistan National Assembly have alleged that Hindus were being hounded and humiliated to force them to leave Pakistan. [cite news | first =B. Murlidhar | last =Reddy | title = Hindus in Pakistan allege humiliation| url =http://www.hindu.com/2005/09/23/stories/2005092314831800.htm | | publisher =The Hindu | accessdate =2006-08-26 ] Hindu women have been known to be victims of kidnapping and forced conversion to Islam. [ cite news | first =Grant | last =Swank| title =Kidnap Hindu Girl, Force Marriage to Muslim: Pakistan | url =http://www.michnews.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/242/11159 | accessdate = 2006-08-26] Krishan Bheel, a Hindu member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, came into news recently for manhandling Qari Gul Rehman. [cite web|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/print.asp?page=2005%5C12%5C09%5Cstory_9-12-2005_pg1_7 |title= Opp MNAs fight in PM’s presence|accessdate= 2006-08-23]

Hindus in what is now Pakistan have declined from 23 % of the total population in 1947 to less than 2% today. The report condemns Pakistan for systematic state-sponsored religious discrimination against Hindus through bigoted "anti-blasphemy" laws. It documents numerous reports of millions of Hindus being held as "bonded laborers" in slavery-like conditions in rural Pakistan, something repeatedly ignored by the Pakistani government.

Forced and coerced conversions of religious minorities to Islam occurred at the hands of societal actors. Religious minorities claimed that government actions to stem the problem were inadequate. Several human rights groups have highlighted the increased phenomenon of Hindu girls, particularly in Karachi, being kidnapped from their families and forced to convert to Islam.

Kidnapping charges were pending against a Muslim man who abducted a fifteen-year-old Christian, Samina Izhaq, and forced her to convert in August 2004.

On September 2, 2005, Ghulam Abbas and Mohammad Kashif reportedly drugged and kidnapped Riqba Masih, a Christian woman, from the village of Chak, Punjab, and took her to Lahore. The kidnappers repeatedly raped Masih and threatened to kill her and her family if she did not convert to Islam but Masih refused. On September 3, 2005, another unidentified accomplice took Masih into custody and detained her until September 6, 2005, raping her repeatedly. Later that day, the kidnappers took Masih to Faisalabad and abandoned her at a bus stop from where she made her way to her parents' home. Police arrested Ghulam Abbas and Mohammad Kashif and charged them with kidnapping and rape. Following an October 24, 2005, hearing in which a Faisalabad court denied bail, Kashif escaped from the courtroom and remained at large at the end of the reporting period. Abbas remained in police custody, and police are attempting to find Kashif [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71443.htmhindu] .

On October 18, 2005, Sanno Amra and Champa, a Hindu couple residing in the Punjab Colony, Karachi, Sindh returned home to find that their three teenage daughters had disappeared. After inquiries to the local police, the couple discovered that their daughters had been taken to a local madrassah, had been converted to Islam, and were denied unsupervised contact with their parents [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71443.htmhindu] .

Human Rights Violations on Muslims

Several minority Muslim communities, such as the Mojahir and the Ahmadiyya have been attacked in pogroms in Pakistan over the years [ [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71443.htm U.S. Department of State - Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor - Pakistan - International Religious Freedom Report 2006] ] . Plus, the ethnic Balochi have allegedly been severely discriminated against, leading them to start a secessionist movement under Nawab Akbar Bugti called the balochistan Liberation Army.

Political abuse of Human Rights

In addition, provincial and local governments have arrested journalists and closed newspapers that report on matters perceived as socially offensive or critical of the government. Journalists also have been victims of violence and intimidation by various groups and individuals. In spite of these difficulties, the press publishes freely, although journalists often exercise self-restraint in their writing. In 2002 citizens participated in elections for the National Assembly, but those elections were criticized as deeply flawed by domestic and international observers. Societal actors also are responsible for human rights abuses. Violence by drug lords and sectarian militias claims numerous innocent lives, discrimination and violence against women are widespread, human trafficking is problematic, and debt slavery and bonded labor persist. The government often ignores abuses against children and religious minorities, and government institutions and some Muslim groups have persecuted non-Muslims and used some laws as the legal basis for doing so. The Blasphemy Law, for example, allows life imprisonment or the death penalty for contravening Islamic principles, but legislation was passed in October 2004 to eliminate misuse of the law. Furthermore, the social acceptance of many these problems hinders their eradication. One prominent example is honor killings (“karo kari”), which are believed to have accounted for more than 4,000 deaths from 1998 to 2003. Many view this practice as indicative of a feudal mentality and as an anathema to Islam, but others defend the practice as a means of punishing violators of cultural norms and view attempts to stop it to as an assault on cultural heritage.

Pakistan was recommended by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in May to be designated as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) by the Department of State because of its government’s engagement or toleration of systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom [http://www.christianpost.com/article/20060822/23922.htm] .

See also

* Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
* Feudalism in Pakistan

External links

* [http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/158/ Censorship in Pakistan] - IFEX

References

* - [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Pakistan.pdf Pakistan]