Pakistan Under EU Scrutiny for Human Rights

STRASBOURG, France, April 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

The European Parliament today in urgency cautioned the Pakistani Government for its lack of respect for human rights and debated the impact on minorities of the recently passed 'Pakistan Protection Ordinance of 2014'.

The MEPs deliberated about how the European Parliament expresses strong reservations and condemns the draconian and controversial 'Pakistan Protection Ordinance 2014' passed recently by the Pakistani government notwithstanding widespread criticism against it by opposition political groups and independent human rights organizations on grounds of its high potential for misuse by the Pakistani military - security - intelligence apparatus to arbitrarily persecute ethnic as well as religious minorities, vulnerable sections of society; indulge in extrajudicial killings; violations of human rights and dignity; and circumvent the rule of law.

The European Parliament also discussed the need to put in place a framework where the European Union should monitor more closely the human rights atrocities continuing unabated in Pakistan and make the Pakistani Government accountable for the delay in justice provided to the victims and their families.