LAHORE – The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has condemned the assassination of Farida Afridi, a civil society activist working on women’s rights in Jamrud, Khyber Agency, as well as reports of a man accused of desecrating religious texts being snatched from police custody and burnt to death.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the HRCP said: “It is a matter of grave concern that the risks facing human rights defenders and those working to ameliorate the lot of marginalised segments remain very high across the country. The HRCP is utterly shocked at the targeted killing of Farida Afridi, whose only crime was working for the uplift of women in an area where they need such help the most.
“The HRCP would like to remind the government of its obligation to provide a safe working environment to human rights defenders all over the country, particularly more so in the FATA region, which faces about the worst turmoil in the country.
“The HRCP also strongly condemns not only the burning to death of a man in Bahawalpur, who had been accused of desecrating pages of the Holy Quran, but also the authorities’ failure to prevent a horrendous crime that was not at all unexpected. A credible inquiry should be launched and its findings made public. The government must not only compensate the family of the deceased for its failure to protect the life of a man in police custody from ‘mob justice’, but also adopt concrete measures to avoid such unfortunate incidents in the future.