[Representational Photo : iStock]
Last year, Pakistan “categorically” rejected a US State Department report on human rights abuses in the country, saying that “only a politically motivated report can ignore the alarming situation in Gaza.”
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement late on Thursday: “It is alarming that a report purporting to highlight the human rights situation around the world ignores or downplays the most pressing hotspots of gross human rights violations, such as Gaza. There are concerns.”
The ministry said the content of the report, entitled ‘Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2023: Pakistan’, is based on inaccurate information, is unfair and completely divorced from the reality on the ground. .
This year’s report once again highlights a lack of objectivity and the politicization of international human rights issues, it added.
“This clearly shows double standards and undermines the international human rights debate,” the ministry said.
A US State Department report released on April 22 said there had been no significant changes in Pakistan’s human rights situation over the past year.
The report said the Pakistani government is threatening or seeking retribution against civil society activists, human rights defenders, journalists, and other individuals across the border.
The report also claimed that successive Pakistani governments had tacitly approved enforced disappearances.
