Pakistan says protects rights, West disagrees

US ambassador  Eileen Donahoe to UNHC

"We have serious concerns about the human rights situation in Pakistan," U.S. ambassador Eileen Donahoe told the council on Tuesday, referring to army operations "aimed at silencing dissent" in the rebellious province of Baluchistan. She said Pakistan should ensure that those guilty of torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings there must be prosecuted, while laws often used to justify discrimination against religious minorities should be reformed. These remarks were directed at the country's "blasphemy" law, which provides for a range of harsh penalties up to execution for any act deemed to offend against Islam, and especially its Prophet Mohammed. A British delegate told the council that the recent case of a young Christian girl accused by an imam of burning pages of the Koran showed the danger of the law for ordinary Pakistanis, including Muslims outside the Sunni majority. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/30/us-un-rights-pakistan-idUSBRE89T1IN20121030?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29
U.S. Statement on the UPR of Pakistan: Halt operations aimed at silencing dissent in Balochistan, and ensure laws are fully and equally enforced to investigate and prosecute those responsible for torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, nationwide.  READ More; http://geneva.usmission.gov/2012/10/30/u-s-statement-on-the-upr-of-pakistan/