WASHINGTON, April 5: The US State Department on Wednesday recognised the peace negotiations between India and Pakistan as a positive development for South Asia and noted that the two neighbours also cooperated with each other in helping the victims of the Oct 8 earthquake.
The department’s 2005-2006 report on democracy and human rights praised Pakistan’s efforts in preventing human trafficking, noting that the country’s Anti-Trafficking Unit became fully functional, resulting in an increase in arrests and prosecutions of human traffickers.
“Cooperative efforts between the Pakistani military, ATU and international organisations prevented an increase in human trafficking following the Oct 8 earthquake,” the report said.
Despite these positive developments, the report warned, “long-standing ethnic conflicts and insurgencies hindered progress, and numerous human rights and development challenges continued to threaten stability and democracy in South Asia.”
In a unique recognition of the courage and fortitude of Pakistani rights activist and rape survivor Mukhtar Mai, the State Department began its report with a quote from her, saying: “One person alone cannot do this. I am only able to stand up if the whole world is behind me. The little hope that I’ve got for justice is because of the support I’m getting from the rest of the world.”
The US, the report said, has continued to press the government of Pakistan to reform discriminatory legislation and encouraged Pakistan’s efforts to prevent abuse of the blasphemy laws.
In a separate entry, the report described the emergence of the electronic media in Pakistan as a major positive development, “raising public voice (and) strengthening freedom of expression” in the country.
“In an effort to promote awareness of women’s rights, Pakistani female journalists developed a radio programme entitled “Meri Awaz Suno,” which focused on groundbreaking topics affecting women,” the report noted.
The report said that the US also supported training for journalists in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and for students at Peshawar University.
Describing India as a vibrant democracy with strong constitutional human rights protections, the report noted that in some parts of the country “numerous serious problems remained”.
These included extrajudicial killings, disappearances, custodial deaths, excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests, torture, poor prison conditions and extended pre-trial detention, the report said.
These abuses were “especially related to combating insurgencies in Jammu and Kashmir,” the report added.
“Societal violence and discrimination against women, trafficking of women and children for forced prostitution and labour, and female feticide and infanticide remained concerns.
“Poor enforcement of laws, widespread corruption, a lack of accountability, and the severely overburdened court system weakened the delivery of justice.
“Caste-based discrimination and exploitation of workers, including indentured and bonded servants and child labourers continued, as did religiously motivated violence against Christians and Muslims.”
But the State Department also noted that the Indian government addressed a number of human rights concerns that arose in recent years. It rewrote school textbooks that had previously espoused a Hindu nationalist agenda.
Also, for the first time, the Prime Minister apologised for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. “Efforts by the government, such as withdrawing troops from Jammu and Kashmir, opening bus routes between Indian and Azad Kashmir, and releasing several detainees, were positive steps toward addressing some past human rights concerns.”
