New Delhi, Jun 03: Criticising Pakistan for "human rights abuses", an international rights body has flayed the country for "systemic human rights violations" including torture, deaths in custody and extra-judicial killings." In its report for 2003, Amnesty International (AI) said, "Human rights abuses committed in the context of the government's continued support for the US-led war on terrorism included the arbitrary detention of hundreds of people.....In addition, systemic human rights violation including torture, deaths in custody and extra-judicial killings, continued."
"Torture in police custody continued to be reported; at least 26 people reportedly died as a result," it said, adding that at least 140 people were sentenced to death, bringing the total number of people under death sentence by the end of the year to over 5,500 and at least eight people were executed. Noting that abuses committed against women, children and religious minorities, including Christians and Shia Muslims, continued to be ignored, the report said, "The state continued to ignore abuses inflicted by private individuals or groups against members of minority communities."
"At least 40 members of the minority Shia community, mainly doctors and other professionals, and some 65 westerners and Christians died in targeted killings. Preventive and protective measures were non-existent or inadequate, and action was taken to investigate such killings only following domestic and international pressure," the AI said. Pointing out that women and girls rights continued to be abused with impunity, the report said, "Hundreds of women were killed in so-called 'honour' killings." Bureau Report