Pakistan
Pakistan: Women Intensify Push to Pass Law Against Acid Attacks
KARACHI - Almost seven years after Naila Farhat, 20, became another victim of an acid throwing attack by a spurned suitor, she is finally seeing more vigorous efforts toward the passage of a law seeking to amend existing legislation to reinforce protection of women against violent assaults.
Pakistan: Freedom of Expression on Internet Must be Respected
Decisions by a Pakistani High Court to ban numerous international websites and services violate international human rights law.
The Lahore High Court on 19 May ordered the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to block the social network website Facebook and hundreds of other pages in response to a Facebook user calling for an “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day”. The court later ordered the blocking of YouTube for the same reason. The ban has resulted in numerous other websites also being affected, including Flickr, Wikipedia, Google, Twitter, some parts of the BBC, and accessing the internet through the Blackberry mobile service. The Express Tribune has reported that the total number of blocked websites has reached 1,000.
Participants of a media forum held yesterday in Karachi to discuss the ban were attacked by protesters accusing the organisers of blasphemy.
Pakistan: Over 600 women killed in name of honour in 2009
The Urdu expression `chaddar aur chardawari’ is often quoted in Pakistan to suggest that women are safest under their shawl (`chaddar’) and within the four walls (`chardawari’) of their home. This may hold true for many women, but for some, such as 25-year-old Naseeba Bibi, it could not be further from the truth. Naseeba said she had suffered continual abuse from her husband since they got married six years ago in Kasur, about 55km southeast of Lahore, Punjab Province.
“My husband is jobless and a drug addict. He slapped and beat me daily, sometimes with a stick. I still have scars on my back. Recently, he started to tell people I was involved with another man, and would kill me for `honour’. I believed this was his plan, as he wished to marry someone else,” she said.
So she ran away to Lahore with her three children - the youngest is seven months old - and now struggles to make ends meet by selling hand-crafted toys on the pavement.
Pakistan: ‘Karo Kari’ victim’s family in Islamabad to seek justice
With his clothes ragged, face tired and body trembling, Dhatti Bakhsh Baloch entered ‘The News’ office here and narrated the story of her teenage daughter, who was allegedly killed in September last year by her husband Wahid Bakhsh with the help of his brothers in the wake of the centuries-old tradition of ‘Karo Kari’.
Pakistan - Important to Expedite Domestic Violence Legislation & Pass Enforcement Tools for Law Criminalizing Sexual Harassment
New Law Criminalizing Sexual Harassment Welcome but Needs Enforcement Tools
January 11, 2010
Editorial: Dishonored killings in Balochistan
Dishonoured killings in Balochistan
2 January 2010
PAKISTAN - Asian Human Rights Commission – Urgent Appeal
PAKISTAN - Asian Human Rights Commission – Urgent Appeal
RAPE - ACID MAIMING +: CALL FOR GENDER JUSTICE BEYOND IMPUNITY
28 August 2009
‘Violence against women on rise as perpetrators go scot-free’
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Karachi