HRCP says country failing on human rights

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)said Monday that the country has failed to make progress on several issues over the past year, ranging from forced disappearances to women's rights and protection of religious minorities.
The damning report card issued by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan says people continue to disappear, sometimes because they criticize the military or advocate better relations with neighbouring India. The 296-page report was dedicated to one of the commission's founders, Asma Jahangir, whose death in February generated a worldwide outpouring of grief and accolades for the 66-year-old activist.
Monday's report also took aim at religious bigotry in Pakistan and the government's reluctance to push back against religious zealots. It said conservative groups continue to resist laws aimed at curbing violence against women, giving greater rights to women and reducing gender segregation.
"Freedom of expression and freedom of association is under attack, except for those who carry the religious banner," commission spokesman I.A. Rehman said at the release of the report, which accused Pakistani authorities of ignoring "intolerance and extremism."
The report pointed to a few signs of progress, including a "landmark development" in the country's largest province, Punjab, where authorities now accept marriage licenses within the Sikh community at the local level, giving the unions protection under the law.
But it said religious minorities continue to be targeted by extremists.
"In a year when freedom of thought, conscience and religion continued to be stifled, incitement to hatred and bigotry increased, and tolerance receded even further," the report said.
Last year was a troubling year for activists, journalists and bloggers who challenged Pakistan's military. Several were detained, including five bloggers who subsequently fled the country after their release. From exile, some of them said their captors were agents of Pakistan's intelligence agency, ISI. The agency routinely refuses to comment on accusations it is behind the disappearances. The bloggers were also threatened with charges of blasphemy.