A UNGA Resolution Proposed to Oppose Pakistan’s Membership in the Human Rights Council

The General Assembly, guided by the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and recalling the International Covenants on Human Rights and other relevant human rights instruments,

Reaffirming that all Member States have an obligation to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms and the duty to fulfill the obligations they have undertaken under the various international instruments in this field,

Considering that the promotion of respect for the obligations arising from the Charter and other instruments and rules of the international law is among the basic purposes and principles of the United Nations,

Affirming the responsibility of the international community to promote human rights and ensure respect for international law,

Gravely concerned at the deplorable situation of human rights in Pakistan, where widespread and fundamental violations of human rights are taking place with alarming regularity, affecting the weakest populations disproportionately, namely women, children, and minorities;

1. Expresses grave concern at the volatile security situation in Pakistan and its implications for the human rights situation, and urges the Government of Pakistan to improve the security situation while respecting human rights, and to work with particular urgency to stop extrajudicial killings and the widespread use of detention without charge, forced evictions, and house demolitions;

2. Calls upon the Government of Pakistan to guarantee the right to freedom of expression of all its citizens, and to do so in an environment free from harassment, intimidation, and abuse, including at the hands of the Government of Pakistan and its agents,

3. Condemns the abduction and torture in September 2010 of journalist Umar Cheema and the murder of journalists Abdul Hameed Hayatan and Hamid Ismail following their arrest at a security forces checkpoint near Gwadar city on 25 October 2010;

4. Also calls upon the Government of Pakistan to abide by its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which it has been a party since 23 June 2010, and which guarantees, inter alia, the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion;

5. Further calls upon the Government of Pakistan to protect journalists and human rights defenders from all attacks by armed groups in Pakistan and expresses grave concern at the violent death of dozens of media workers in recent years;

6. Demands that the Government of Pakistan launch independent investigations into widespread allegations of police and army abuses in violation of basic human rights, particularly with regard to torture and summary executions, having regard to numerous recent incidents, including that of robbery suspects filmed being held down and whipped by police in Chiniot city, and that of soldiers executing a group of men and boys in the Swat Valley;

7. Expresses grave concern at ongoing and routine violence against religious minorities in Pakistan, including Sufis, Shiites, Ahmadis, and Christians;

8. Calls upon the Government of Pakistan to act with haste to ensure the safety of all minorities, to investigate and prosecute all cases of harassment, intimidation, and violence against them, and to prevent further attacks on religious minorities, such as those of 28 May 2010, which killed 94 people at two Ahmadiyya mosques in Lahore, the 1 July 2010 suicide bomb attack on the Data Darbar Sufi shrine in Lahore that killed 42 people, and the 3 September 2010 suicide bomb attack on a Shi’a gathering in Quetta that killed at least 65 people;

9. Recognizes that Pakistan’s blasphemy laws constitute a clear and fundamental violation of the right to freedom of religion of all Pakistani citizens;

10. Strongly urges the Government of Pakistan to guarantee the right to freedom of religion of all its citizens and also urges the Government of Pakistan to amend blasphemy laws in order to ensure the free exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and religion;

11. Calls upon the Government of Pakistan to halt all prosecutions under the blasphemy laws;

12. Strongly condemns the conviction and sentencing to death of Asia Bibi, a mother of five, for blasphemy, and urges the Government of Pakistan to commute her sentence and protect opponents of the blasphemy laws, having regard to the murders of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer and Christian Minority AffairsMinister Shahbaz Bhatti, over their opposition to the blasphemy laws;

13. Expresses grave concern at systematic discrimination and widespread gender-based violence against women and girls in Pakistan, including, but not limited to, murder, rape, domestic violence, forced marriages, “honor killings”, and acid attacks, and deplores the fact that the vast majority of cases of such crimes are not investigated by police and go unpunished;

14. Strongly urges the Government of Pakistan to investigate and prosecute all cases of discrimination and violence against women and girls and to bring to an end the culture of impunity that surrounds these crimes;

15. Condemns the decision of Pakistan’s Supreme Court to free the five men convicted of gang-raping Mukhtar Mai, and deplores the message this sends to thousands of Pakistani women victimized of rape.

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