LAHORE, Dec 10: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Tuesday observed the International Human Rights Day by focusing on the local theme of violence against women.

It also organised a demonstration and a number of activists, holding placards that depicted data about violence against women, stood at Liberty roundabout for more than two hours to register their protest.

Around 1,300 women suffered different kinds of violent acts in 2013. Of them, 347 were killed and 147 burnt, read the placards.

Husain Naqi, a journalist-turned-human rights activist, said these figures suggested only those numbers that had either been reported in the press or activists reported to the commission. “The actual situation could be even worse,” he told Dawn.

Rao Abid Hameed of the HRCP explained that the commission had selected the theme of violence against women for Pakistan to highlight this grave issue.

To mark the day, the Government College Township in collaboration with the Citizen Archive of Pakistan, also held a seminar. The speakers claimed that the role of the United Nations in safeguarding human rights was a mix of successes and failures. The UN charter was a hallmark of struggle but its enforcement had been selective and discriminatory, they said.

It’s adamant attitude of big powers that prevented the equilateral enforcement of human rights charter. In the days of Cold War both superpowers used the umbrella to protect their satellites in violation of human rights charter. In the present-day unipolar world, the United States was not playing its role in the enforcement of human rights, they said.

They said Israel and India were violating rights of the Palestinians and Kashmiris and the UN was only a silent spectator. In many situations human rights slogan had been used to browbeat someone for political gains, they said.