The United States has raised serious concerns over human rights “violations” in Pakistan in its annual 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released on Monday.
The State Department’s report points out incidents of extrajudicial killings, arrests and enforced disappearances at the hands of government forces in Pakistan.
“There was a lack of government accountability, and abuses, including corruption and misconduct, often went unpunished, fostering a culture of impunity among perpetrators. Authorities seldom investigated or punished government officials for reported human rights abuses or acts of corruption,” the report said in its executive summary on Pakistan.
The US report covers 198 countries and territories.
The section on Pakistan is divided into seven parts: “respect for the integrity of the person, respect for civil liberties, freedom to participate in the political process, corruption and lack of transparency in government, governmental posture towards international and non-governmental investigation of alleged abuses of human rights, discrimination and societal abuses and workers rights”.
As per the State Department’s assessment “physical violence, inhumane treatment and illegal invasion of people’s privacy was reported in Pakistan in 2022”.
Restrictions on freedom of expression and media in Pakistan and the torture of journalists was also highlighted.
