UN: Pakistan abducts own citizens, muzzles rights watchdog
Pakistan must address a catalogue of human rights failings including state-sponsored abductions and a death penalty that amounts to torture, but its national watchdog is muzzled, the UN Human Rights Committee said on Thursday.
Human Rights Minister Kamran Michael defended Pakistan's record before the committee earlier this month, but members of the committee said his delegation had given few responses to their questions and very general answers.
They were also concerned at a no-show by the chairman of Pakistan's National Commission for Human Rights, who was allegedly barred from travelling to Geneva to meet them and was not able to probe wrongdoing, they said.
"The Commission is prevented from fully cooperating with United Nations human rights mechanisms, cannot inquire into the practices of the intelligence agencies, and is not authorized to undertake full inquiries into reports of human rights violations by members of the armed forces," the UN committee report said.
Pakistani officials in Islamabad could not immediately be reached for comment on the committee's findings.
