Daily Times

Pakistan has outrightly dismissed the 2023 Country Report on human rights practices recently released by the United States State Department. “The contents of the report are unjust, relying on inaccurate information and are disconnected from the realities on the ground,” stated the foreign office on Thursday. In a strongly worded statement, the foreign office criticised the annual practice of the US State Department in preparing such reports, labeling them as lacking objectivity and flawed in methodology. It accused these reports of applying a domestic social lens to judge human rights situations in other nations, driven by political biases. The 2023 Human Rights Report from the US State Department, unveiled this week, accused Pakistan and India of intimidating or seeking reprisals against individuals beyond their borders, including activists, defenders, and journalists. Both nations were indicted for significant human rights violations such as arbitrary and extrajudicial killings, torture, inhumane treatment, and arbitrary arrests, with a lack of accountability contributing to widespread impunity. Furthermore, the report alleged that successive Pakistani governments tacitly endorsed enforced disappearances, citing figures from the government’s Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances. It noted that out of 9,967 reported missing-person cases since 2011, 7,714 were resolved while 2,253 remained pending. The report also highlighted military trials of civilians accused of rioting on May 9, following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan.