Karachi: Pakistan had a disastrous 2011 in terms of human rights amid rising militant attacks, food and fuel prices while vulnerable minorities faced unprecedented insecurity and persecution, a human right report said.
In its report of Pakistan, the Human Rights Watch, an international independent organisation dedicated to defending and protecting human right, said the freedom of belief and expression came under severe threat as Islamist groups killed Punjab governor Salman Taseer and federal minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti.
"Pakistan's elected government notably failed to provide protection to those threatened by extremism to hold the extremists accountable," the report commented. Suicide bombings, armed attacks and killings by Taliban, Al Qaida, and their affiliates targeted nearly every sector of Pakistani society, including journalists and religious minorities, resulting in hundreds of deaths.
Aerial drone strikes by the US on suspected members of Al Qaida and the Taliban in northern Pakistan continued in 2011, with some 70 strikes taking place through early November."As in previous years these strikes were often accompanied by claims of large numbers of civilian casualties, but lack of access to the conflict areas has prevented independent verification," the rights report said. The report also mentioned the destructive floods for the second consecutive year in 2011 which left 700,000 people displaced.
Karachi, the largest city of the country and financial hub, suffered from hundreds of targeted killings perpetrated by armed groups who are patronised by political parties, the report said.In what it called an exceptionally high level of violence, some 800 people were killed during last year. "Despite a Pakistan Supreme Court ruling calling for an end to the violence, authorities took no meaningful measures to hold perpetrators accountable," it said.
Mistreatment of women and girls including rape, domestic violence, and forced marriage remains a serious problem. Public intimidation of, and threats to, women and girls by extremists increased in major cities last year.
"In Balochistan, the situation deteriorated further. Continued disappearances and an upsurge in killings of suspected militants and opposition activists were documented," the report claimed.
On the regional and international front, the report observed that though tensions increased between the United States and Pakistan, neighbouring China repeatedly expressed support for Pakistan.
gulfnews : Rights record 'disastrous in 2011'


