January 25, 2003	Saturday	Ziqa’ad 21, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 24: Ambassador of France Yannick Gerard has said that human rights are in great danger in the backdrop of Iraq crisis and the rise in the hazardous idea of “clash of civilization”.

He said the danger consisted in regarding human rights as a simple cultural item, originating from the western countries, and which would thus be a weapon for the west in a hypothetic struggle of civilization.

“Such a manner of considering human rights, denying their universality, is aimed at getting rid of their embarrassing questioning of non-democratic or totalitarian countries or movements. This idea needs to be contradicted, wherever in the world, by the human rights militants and workers,” Mr Gerard said.

The ambassador was speaking at a ceremony to give the prestigious French human rights award to a Pakistani NGO here on Friday. Joseph Francis, the coordinator of the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), received the French Republic Human Rights award for the year 2002.

The French government has selected the NGO for the award in recognition of its services for providing relief to the down-trodden and the poor people in the country.

“The award has been bestowed upon Joseph Francis by Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Renaud Muselier on behalf of the Prime Minister of France, on December 19 in Paris.

“Mr Francis was in Paris to receive the award,” the French ambassador said, adding the award was created in 1988, a year before the bicentenary of the French declaration of human rights and 40 years after the universal declaration of human rights of 1948.

“Since then it is granted every year by the French National Human Rights Committee, functioning for 55 years advising the government and promoting human rights in France and abroad,” the ambassador said.

Mr Gerard, while speaking about the Iraq crisis said: “Another danger has appeared today in this time of struggle against terrorism, crisis in Iraq and rise of the hazardous idea of ‘clash of civilisations’.”

He said the human rights prize of the French republic aimed at helping and distinguishing the champions of human rights who every day fight for this ideal or dignity for men, sometimes at the risk of their lives.

He said that it is for the first time that a Pakistani NGO has won this prestigious award for its contribution while making efforts to address human rights issues faced by the disadvantage groups, religious minorities, women and children, to provide legal assistance, protection and settlement to the victims of violence and to make these services accessible to people.

Francis Joseph, in his brief speech on the occasion said that he started working back in 1965, knowing little as to what the human rights were at that time.

“I felt like working in this field when during the 1965 Pakistan-India war a Christian was killed in Lahore on the charges of being an Indian agent. Since then I am continuing with my efforts and it was formally turned into CLAAS in 1992,” Mr Francis said.

“Now, we have expanded our activities and are busy trying to help downtrodden people in need of a crisis situation without discriminating about the cast, colour or creed,” he said.

However, Mr Francis said, he had been focussing on the cases of young Christian women who were subjected to forced conversion to Islam. “We have been making efforts to help such victims to live a free and honourable life”.

He HR activists has also established Apna Ghar (own home) where such victims are provided shelter and protection and also free legal aid.

It was a selected gathering which also included the PPP MNA from Islamabad Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari, two women parliamentarians, Shehry Rehman and Sumaira Malik.