ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Human Rights on Saturday declared the protection and promotion of human rights as a cornerstone of Pakistan’s domestic policy. An official of the Ministry informed APP that Pakistan has ratified several key international human rights instruments, which have been transposed into the domestic regime through a wide variety of Federal and Provincial laws. He said that these included a range of obligations contained in seven of the nine core human rights treaties of which Pakistan was a signatory party. These include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention against Torture (CAT), he added.