Pakistan

Pakistan: Disastrous year for human rights

Publication Date: 
January 24, 2011
Source: 
Human Rights Watch
Man uses police tape to cordon off site of a suicide bomb blast in Karachi on November 11, 2010. (Reuters)


Militant Attacks, Judicial Misconduct Mark the Year.

(New York) January 24, 2011 -- The Taliban and other religious extremists in Pakistan increased their deadly attacks against civilians and public spaces during 2010, while the Pakistani government response was marred by serious human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said today in its .

Pakistan - Sindh Province Resolution Condemns Honour Killings

Publication Date: 
November 6, 2010
Source: 
Daily Times


KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly (SA) on Friday unanimously passed a resolution condemning honour killings in the province.

Pakistan People’s Party legislator Farheen Mughul presented the resolution, recommending that the provincial government should take special steps to prevent honour killings.

Pakistan: clerics say anyone who mourns murdered politician is a “blasphemer” and will suffer the same fate

Publication Date: 
January 7, 2011
Source: 
National Secular Society
Salmaan Taseer: Governor of the Punjab region, murdered this week for opposing the country’s blasphemy law


More than 500 Muslim clerics in Pakistan have said that anyone who mourns the murder of Salmaan Taseer, the Governor of the Punjab region who was murdered for opposing the country’s blasphemy law, will suffer the same fate. They also praised the “courage and zeal” of Taseer’s killer, saying his action has made Muslims around the world proud.

Pakistan: Alarming development - Shariat Court Challenges Protection of Women Act

Publication Date: 
December 23, 2010
Source: 
Asian Human Rights Comission


Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission  - December 23, 2010

On 22 December 2010, after three years and four petitions, the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) of Pakistan declared several critical clauses of the Protection of Women (Criminal Laws Amendment) Act of 2006 unconstitutional. In place of this act that created protections for women, the FSC supports the reinstatement of the Hudood Ordinances VII of 1979, which were used to discriminate against, falsely convict and imprison, and otherwise destroy the lives of hundreds of women.

Pakistan - Sexual Violence & Incest - Shrouded in Silence - Analysis

Publication Date: 
December 14, 2010
Source: 
Equality Now


Lahore, Pakistan – International human rights organization Equality Now, in conjunction with WAR Lahore, an organization dedicated to addressing sexual abuse convened a two day workshop on sexual violence in Pakistan. The meeting was held at the Punjab University Law College in Lahore on 13-14 December 2010, and brought together over 40 activists, lawyers and service providers from across Pakistan. There was also representation of judges and medico-legal personnel.

Pakistan: Please support - Online Petition on the Bill on Domestic Violence in Pakistan by Baidarie

Publication Date: 
December 2, 2010
Source: 
Baidarie Sialkot
Baidarie Sialkot


Sign the petition on the Domestic Violence Bill in Pakistan!

 The 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence Campaign symbolically links November 25th (International Day against Violence against Women) and December 10th (International Human Rights Day).“International Day against Violence against Women” was first declared in 1981 to commemorate the violent assassination of the Mirabel sisters on that date in 1960 by the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic.

Pakistan: Asia Bibi, sentenced to death for blasphemy, may get pardon

Publication Date: 
November 22, 2010
Source: 
New York Times
The daughters of Asia Bibi posed with an image of their mother outside their residence in Sheikhupura.


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A Christian woman who was sentenced to death by a municipal court for blasphemy against Islam could be pardoned by the president in the next few days, a senior government official said Monday.

Asia Bibi, 45, an agricultural worker and mother of five, is the first woman to be sentenced to death for blasphemy, according to human rights groups.

Pakistan: Walk Against Honour Killing

Publication Date: 
November 30, 2010
Source: 
Express Tribune Pakistan / The Nation
Lahore - March against 'honour' killings


LAHORE: There were slogans and chanting in front of the Lahore Press Club on Monday when more than 80 women rallied for about an hour to mark the International Women Human Rights Defenders’ Day.

The walk, arranged by Shirkat Gah, a non-governmental organisation working to protect women rights, started from the Press Club.

Pakistan: Family leads outcry at blasphemy death penalty

Publication Date: 
November 11, 2010
Source: 
The Independent
Asia Bibi, who has been sentenced to death for blasphemy (Photo: Reuters/The Independent)

 

Take Action Here.

Campaigners in Pakistan say the case of Asia Bibi – the first woman to be sentenced to death for blasphemy – highlights the need for urgent reform of laws that are routinely used to persecute minorities and settle grudges. The 45-year-old Christian, who has at least two children, was sentenced to death by a court in Sheikhupura, near Lahore, after prosecutors accused her of insulting the Prophet Mohamed and promoting her own faith. Her family have rejected the allegations and launched an appeal. "We have never ever insulted the Prophet or Islamic scripture, and we will contest the charges," said her husband Ashiq Masih.

One Day One Struggle: International Campaign to Promote Sexual and Bodily Rights across Muslim Societies

Publication Date: 
November 9, 2010
Source: 
Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR) / Women for Women's Human Rights (WWHR)
One Day One Struggle Campaign


On November 9, 2010, the 2nd international “One Day One Struggle” Campaign to promote sexual and bodily rights in Muslim societies will take place in 12 countries across Middle East, North Africa, South and Southeast Asia. With diverse, groundbreaking actions and events, almost 50 participating Human Rights organizations, Universities and Municipalities will simultaneously call for public attention to issues like Right to Information, Sexuality Education, Sexual Health, Bodily Autonomy and Sexual Rights of Individuals, LGBTTQ Rights, Sexual Diversity and Islam, Sexuality and Shari’a as well as the struggle to stop sexual rights violations ranging from Polygamy to killings of women, gay people and transsexuals.