ISLAMABAD: State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmed informed the National Assembly on Wednesday that there had been a decline in human rights cases registered in all provinces except Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over the last two years.

The minister said that 12,884 cases had been registered since 2011 at four regional offices of the human rights department operating under the Ministry of Law and Justice in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta. He said there had been a marked decline in cases of acid attack, burning, domestic violence, karo kari/honour killing, kidnapping of minorities, missing people and police and prison-related matters.

The minister said there had been a decline in the number of cases of acid attack as only five cases were reported this year in comparison to last year’s 53. He said there were 20 such cases in Sindh last year and only three this year.

He said there had been an increase in acid throwing cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from two in 2012 to six this year.

While cases of burns and domestic violence were down in Punjab, Sindh and Islamabad, they were high in the KP. He said that cases of karo kari and honour killing had also declined in all provinces as 368 cases were registered in Sindh this year, 22 in Punjab and 28 in KP. Two cases of honour killing were registered in Islamabad.

The minister said the KP was the only province which saw an increase in the number of people going missing, adding that 22 people had gone missing in 2011, compared to 64 this year.

The NA was further informed that cases of violence against women had also gone up in KP from 70 in 2011 to 179 this year. The same was the case for violence against children in KP, which saw an increase from 67 cases in 2011 to 161 this year.