Amnesty petitions Pakistan over human rights

16 Nov, 2007

Amnesty International on Thursday handed in a petition to the Pakistani embassy in London demanding an end to the country's "assault on human rights and justice", during a day of international action.
Irene Khan, the London-based human rights organisation's secretary general, led a delegation of lawyers, judges and journalists to hand in the petition to the high commission in west London following a 100-strong protest.
"General Musharraf must put an end immediately to his outrageous assault on Pakistan's vibrant human rights community, institutions of justice and independent media," said Khan.
"In the name of the "war on terror" he is destroying the very guarantors of the stability that he claims to be defending," she added in a statement. Amnesty's petition, addressed to Musharraf, demanded "full respect for freedom of expression the release of all those detained under the state of emergency, reinstatement of the independent judiciary, justice for the victims of enforced disappearance and no introduction of military tribunals for civilians", the group said beforehand.

Read Comments