To
President Asif Ali Zardari
President of Pakistan
President's Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
16 January 2013
Dear President Zardari,
Re: Protection of Civil Society Members and Respect for their Rights
I write to you from CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, an international alliance of civil society with members and partners in over a hundred countries. CIVICUS supports citizens’ rights and democratic freedoms across the globe, including the freedoms of expression, association and assembly.
Amidst the worsening violence in Pakistan over the last 6 weeks, CIVICUS has become increasingly concerned by the spate of murders targeting male and female NGO workers and campaigners simply for performing their professional responsibilities. In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in December 2012, the shooting of six female workers and one male NGO worker, in addition to the targeted killings of nine polio health care workers, 5 of which were female, have horrified the international community and civil society around the world. Moreover in January this year, the offices of an NGO were bombed and two further aid workers reported killed in separate incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, while a 71 year old charity worker was shot in Lahore.
Now, three months since the shooting of the courageous young female activist Malala Yousafzi, the situation for Pakistani civil society has not improved and security measures to protect those carrying out civil society activities appear grossly insufficient.
Mr President, we call upon your government to improve policing and security measures for those working on essential healthcare initiatives, and for those working in the field of women’s rights, particularly in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. We call upon your government to continue to strongly and publicly condemn the ongoing attacks on NGO workers and women human rights defenders, and also explain to the public why these attacks are poorly conceived and wrong.
In addition, as a new member of the United Nations Human Rights Council since November 2012, we urge you to respect and protect the role of civil society and a free press in Pakistan.
In 2012 alone seven journalists were killed in Pakistan making it the world’s deadliest country for journalists for the second consecutive year.
We appeal to your office to acknowledge and protect the role of the press, free from unnecessary or excessive state control, as essential, if sometimes adversarial, partners to the attainment of Pakistan’s human rights goals.
Pakistan has made international commitments to provide human rights protections for all members of civil society through its ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights. We believe that these require not only legislative reform but also action on the ground. Moreover, the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders passed by the UN General Assembly requires all UN member states to put in place concrete measures to ensure the protection of human rights defenders.
CIVICUS urges you to address the above-mentioned safety and security issues and also take them up with the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the relevant administrations of the Federally Administered Tribal Authorities (FATA) region. We make the following recommendations for your consideration:
(i) Carry out consultations with civil society and the media on how to ensure increased and effective security protection for NGO workers, women human rights defenders and journalists;
(ii) Ensure thorough and independent investigations into all attacks against NGO workers, women human rights defenders and journalists;
(iii) Carry out a public information campaign to counter negative propaganda against health care workers administering vaccinations against polio and other infectious diseases while dispelling the false notion of them being linked to foreign intelligence agencies;
(iv) Carry out a public information campaign in support of women’s rights and civil society activities;
(v) Officially denounce community and religious leaders who oppose Women’s Rights;
(vi) Provide increased financial and administrative support for organisations that promote the rights of women; and
(vii) Provide compensation to victims of human rights violations, including to the families of murdered NGO health workers administering polio vaccinations.
We appreciate your prompt consideration of all these concerns mentioned in this letter.
Please do not hesitate to contact CIVICUS Policy and Advocacy Officer Charlotte Allan with any questions at c or + 27 - 11-833-5959, ext. 110.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Katsuji Imata
Acting Secretary General
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
