'Respect of human rights linked with poverty alleviation'

01 Apr, 2005

Pakistan's permanent representative to the United Nations, Masood Khan said on Thursday that dreams about the respect of human rights across the world will not come true until the economic and social development is ensured for poor countries. In a telephonic interview with PTV from Geneva, Masood Khan said the human rights can not flourish in the conditions of poverty and deprivation.
He said it is imperative for the developed and rich countries to play their role to ensure economically and socially better living conditions for the population of the poor countries.
Masood said Pakistan along with other nations was stressing hard on this aspect at the ongoing session of Human Rights Commission in Geneva.
He said there existed a situation of political clash between the developed and developing nations at the forum.
Explaining, he said the poor and developing nations are of the view that they are being targeted on political grounds, while the West is saying that the forum is dominated by the countries whose Human Rights record is tinted.
To a question he said the Islamic countries are of the opinion that Islam is wrongly being projected as a threat while the fact is that the Muslims are being crushed world across under an applied campaign.
He said Pakistan is stressing on three areas at the session which include Kashmir, Palestine and the gap between Islam and West.
We have highlighted the fate of Kashmiris in Indian occupied Kashmir with pledge that severe human rights violation against them be stopped immediately. We have also stressed for the establishment of an independent Palestinians state at earliest, he said.
Bridging the gap between the Muslims and West is a dire need of hour, he said, adding we have impressed upon the need to an immediate end to the practice of spreading hatred against Muslims.
He said protection of civic, economic, political and cultural rights of the people world across are the ideal objective before the forum but when it comes to practice it is a very hard task of course.

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