International Human Rights foundation pens open letter to UK, US on human rights abuses in Pakistan

INETRNATIONAL DESK: The International Human Rights Foundation has penned an open letter to the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States highlighting the “sharp deterioration of the political situation in Pakistan”.

“The International Human Rights Foundation urges the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom to use their influence with the Pakistani security establishment and politicians, especially the army generals and politicians who live in the US and UK and own vast amounts of property there, to ensure that democracy and the rule of law are upheld in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan,” the letter says.

It alleges that gross violations of human rights in Pakistan go unchecked “because of the safe haven that the corrupt generals and politicians enjoy in your countries”. It adds that the instability in the nuclear-armed country and a “major humanitarian crisis” pose a regional threat.

Sindhi human rights activists and scholars also raised the worsening human rights situation in Pakistan’s Sindh province during the 52nd Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

At an event titled ‘Human Rights Violations in Pakistan’, a panel of Sindhi activists, including Fatima Gul, Muzafar Talpur, Reva Tharwani and Sindhu Rustamani, highlighted the situation in the region.

Fatima Gul, Sindhi-American human rights activist, said: “When we talk about human rights violations, the big issues are actually abductions of thousands of young girls who are then converted to Islam and enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings cases.” (NEWS18)