Pakistan is one of the countries where there are serious human rights violations. According to the general Amnesty International country report on Pakistan (2017/2018), the government authorities are often unable or unwilling to protect the most vulnerable population groups such as women, ethnic and religious minorities, but also journalists, from human rights violations. Admittedly there has been progress on the legal level in some sub-areas, however, the Pakistani state fails to safeguard and implement human rights and laws and is itself involved in human rights violations, especially in the context of the “fight against terrorism”.
According to ethnicityology, the latest Amnesty International Report on human rights violations by the Pakistani military and the Taliban in the tribal areas laments the torture, illegal detention in secret locations and the kidnapping of thousands of men and boys. Fundamental rights guaranteed in the Pakistani Constitution cannot be enforced in the tribal areas, as this area is still subject to the draconian Frontier Crimes Regulations introduced by the British in 1901“(FCR) subordinate. In 2011, the Political Parties Order was extended to include FATA in 2002, but at the same time the human rights situation is worsening, as the government has encroached upon the Pakistani military powers to arrest and detain under the so-called “Actions in Aid of Civil Power Regulations” (AACPR) has admitted. The Pakistani military dismissed this report as “a bunch of lies and part of an evil propaganda campaign” (own translation). On the other hand, the people in the tribal areas suffer from arbitrary and lethal reprisals from various Taliban groups.
Discrimination and violence against women
At the legislative level there has been some progress on the protection of women. The crime of acid attacks on women, ethnic or religious minorities, was criminalized under the Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Act 2011. Furthermore, misogynist practices such as the “swara”, marrying girls or women to resolve family or tribal conflicts, were criminalized by the Anti-Women Practices Act 2011. Despite these legal advances, violence against women remains one of the most serious challenges in Pakistan.
Transsexuals in Pakistan
However, it is also noteworthy that the Supreme Court introduced the third gender category and the registration of transsexuals in a 2010 judgment against the systematic discrimination of transsexuals.
Discrimination and violence against religious minorities
Religious minorities including Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis and Shiites (such as the Hazara) and even members of Sufi groups (Mystic Islam) are increasingly the target of extremist Islamist groups and are exposed to systematic discrimination and violence. Small groups of Pakistani Hindus have left the country and settled in India because of the discrimination in Pakistan. Members of the Ahmadis religious group are particularly exposed to systematic persecution. Since they define themselves as ‘Islamic’, but this is rejected by mainstream Islam, it becomes theirs practice of religion condemned as blasphemous. The blasphemy law is often misused to criminalize religious minorities, and especially Christians, or dissenting Muslims. On the other hand, personal feuds are often fought out as a result. Although the last government announced a reform of the abused law at the beginning of its term of office, this remains an empty promise, as the public pressure from the religious extremist lobby is too great and too dangerous. In 2012, Punjab Governor Salman Taseer and Minister for Religious Minority Affairs Arshad Bhatti were killed because of their public criticism of the law.
Imran Azhar and his company in Karachi stand against discrimination and for human and minority rights.
The AZ Corp company around Azhar is located where you don’t expect a company and certainly no do-gooders. In the middle of the noblest district of the city, near the consulates and the new shopping streets. Azhar infiltrates Pakistani society from its center. His colleagues are young women with and without headscarves, more or less fresh from the design college. Your weapons are – comics.
Your cartoon characters hunt arms dealers and criminals. In 2015, Azhar was the first to send the “Team Muhafiz” (protectors) onto the dark streets of Karachi. There the seven youngsters hunt down criminals and expose injustices. But the young detectives are different: one is a Hindu, a Christian is there, a girl from Hunza in the mountainous north of the country, a Muslim and a human rights lawyer like the one she could work in London – in short, the whole spectrum of Pakistan’s young society.
Corruption
Corruption and tax evasion are currently controversial issues in Pakistan and are widely seen as an obstacle to democracy and economic development. Corruption pervades all levels and all sectors in Pakistan. According to Transparency International (TI), Pakistan ranks 120th out of 180 in the international ranking of corrupt states (2019).
Politicians, including the last government, and the public sector are currently at the center of this primarily media-driven debate. Never before in Pakistan’s history have politicians and bureaucrats in office stood on trial for corruption charges.
Nawaz Sharif had to go on suspicion of corruption – but politics is still riddled with corruption
Pakistan’s anti-corruption agency announced in September 2017 that further investigations would be carried out into the cases of Nawaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. The investigation is based on evidence gathered by a team of six people formed by the Supreme Court. This group also includes the military from the powerful secret services. The chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will promote the prosecution of the cases before the Accountability Courts. The clearance rates of the NAB are notoriously low – there are various allegations against Sharif, one of which even dates back to 1999.
The Sharifs and Bhutto-Zardaris family dynasties have been extremely influential forces in Pakistan for many decades – they have built empires in which money, power and politics are closely intertwined. corruption, Clientele and nepotism are an integral part of the system – the country and its resources are seen as a kind of self-service shop. Both clans are masters of hiding their machinations. Benazir Bhutto’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari, was jailed by Nawaz Sharif for corruption, but conclusive evidence has never been produced. Zardari’s followers were loyal to him until the end – Sharif obviously wasn’t that lucky. The Pakistani press is debating whether Sharif’s great anger at the judiciary stems from the fact that he couldn’t “buy” the Chief Justice with all his money… But even if Nawaz Sharif no longer holds the post of Prime Minister, his influence on the Politics stay very strong. Abbasi said in his inaugural speech after the appointment: “I am aware of the weight of this seat. This is the place where Liaquat Ali Khan sat, where Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto sat, and where Benazir Bhutto sat. And this is the place where Nawaz Sharif is still present. ”
The corruption allegations against Nawaz Sharif and his children involve exclusive and expensive apartments in London’s Park Lane, two steel mills in Saudi Arabia, and 16 family-owned companies in the UK. The political opposition has opposed the nomination Abbasis, as corruption allegations were made against him. The National Accountability Court accused him of misconduct in awarding contracts for liquefied natural gas (LNG) worth $ 2 billion in 2015.
The editorial of Dawn, the most widely read English-language newspaper in Pakistan, dealt with the political machinations of the PML-N party: “In the 70 years of the state’s existence, the party that has appropriated the name of Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s party is, turned into a nepotistic disgrace. ”
