Human Rights and Democracy Report 2017 - Pakistan

The main human rights issues in Pakistan in 2017 were restrictions on freedom of expression, intolerance towards and discrimination against religious and other minorities, violations of the rights of women and children, the prevalence of modern slavery, and the use of the death penalty. Pakistan strengthened laws aimed at protecting the rights of members of religious minorities, female voters and vulnerable children, and at the provincial level took steps to tackle child labour. These were positive developments, but it is vital that Pakistan moves to ensure full and effective implementation of such laws and policies.

Freedom of expression and the ability of civil society to operate came under increased pressure in 2017. In January, five bloggers went missing after criticising state institutions and religious groups. Reports of further abductions and of the intimidation of journalists, activists and political party workers followed. In May, the government introduced new restrictions on online freedoms and the media's ability to operate. In December, a number of international NGOs had their applications to renew their registrations denied without explanation, and were told to cease operations by the Government of Pakistan.

Discrimination and violence against members of religious minorities increased, especially against Ahmadiyya and Christians, but also against Hindus, Sikhs and Shia Muslims. Misuse and abuse of the blasphemy laws were frequent. For example, in April a student was murdered following an accusation of committing blasphemy. The Supreme Court later found the claim to be false. The National Assembly called for reform of the blasphemy laws, but the legislation was not changed. In June, a Shia Muslim was sentenced to death after allegedly making blasphemous remarks on social media, the first time that the death penalty has been imposed for blasphemy on the internet. In October, hate speech in the National Assembly against Ahmadiyya was condemned by political leaders, but restrictions on their ability to vote and worship remained. There were recurrent reports of forced conversions and forced marriages of Hindu and Christian women. On the other hand, parliament in February passed the Hindu Marriage Act, strengthening the rights of members of Pakistan's second largest minority and particularly of Hindu women.

There was an increased number of major terrorist attacks against civilians and faith targets in Pakistan. Although the majority of terrorist attacks targeted the security forces, other notable incidents included attacks against Sufi shrines in Sindh and Balochistan, Shia areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and a Methodist church in Balochistan. The downward trajectory of terrorist attacks since 2014 continued, with a total of a little under 400 terrorist incidents leading to around 1,000 deaths in 2017.

Discrimination and violence against women and girls remained widespread. Pakistan ranked 143rd out of 144 countries cited in the World Economic Forum 2017 Gender Gap Index, with 33% of women over 15 having experienced physical violence, female literacy at just 49% and low levels of women's political representation. Education is enshrined as a right in the Constitution of Pakistan but girls make up just 38% of children in government-run schools and 40% of those enrolled at private schools. Despite stronger laws to protect women from violence, including from 'honour killings', enforcement remained weak. In October, the Elections Act 2017 was passed, which will support greater participation of women in general elections due to take place in 2018.

Modern slavery, including bonded and child labour, continued to be a major problem. The Global Slavery Index estimated that Pakistan has the third highest number of modern slaves in the world. A high profile case illustrated the problem: the media reported that a ten-year old domestic servant was regularly beaten by her employer, the wife of a judge. The UK welcomed legislative and policy reforms undertaken by the Government of Punjab with support from UNICEF and DFID to combat child labour, including child labour surveys to generate evidence of exploitation, better access to child protection services, improved case management systems, and greater birth registration to support minimum age employment laws.

Pakistan retained the death penalty for 27 separate offences. Fewer executions took place in 2017 than in the previous two years: the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan estimates that 44 prisoners were executed, compared with 87 in 2016 and 333 in 2015. However, particular concerns remained over prisoners with mental and physical illnesses on death row. In March, parliament approved the continued use of military courts to try terrorism suspects. These courts lack transparency and are not subject to independent scrutiny, making it difficult to assess their compliance with international obligations. There were ongoing reports of the detention of prisoners without trial and of extrajudicial killings by the security forces.

LGBT people continued to face violence and discrimination. In a positive move, a new category of 'third gender' was introduced for transgender persons applying for ID cards.

Education is enshrined as a right in the Constitution of Pakistan but only 51% girls are enrolled in school according to the Government of Pakistan. Girls' enrolment has increased from 36% to 39% from 2014 to 2016 and the number of girls out of school has fallen by more than 1.6 million since 2012. The Government of Pakistan has committed to spending 4% of GDP on education by 2020. It currently spends about 3%.

Since 2011, over 15 million children in primary and secondary school – including 6.9 million girls – have benefited from DFID support to education reforms. The UK government is investing in better-trained teachers, improved textbooks, better data and assessment, and improved infrastructure with an increasing focus on the most marginalised communities. DFID's education programme in Pakistan exceeded £175 million in 2017/18. Through DFID, the UK helped nearly 1 million Pakistani children attend school including specific programmes to enable more girls to receive a quality education.

The Government of Pakistan continued to support human rights institutions, including the National Commissions for Human Rights and for the Status of Women, which contributed positively to monitoring the human rights situation in Pakistan. In September, parliament passed legislation establishing a National Commission on the Rights of the Child.

The UK continued to urge the Government of Pakistan to improve the human rights situation for all its citizens. British ministers raised concerns about human rights, including the rights of women and of people belonging to minorities, modern slavery and the death penalty, during visits to Pakistan in 2017. At the UN Universal Periodic Review of Pakistan in November, we pressed Pakistan to take action on the protection of people belonging to minorities, human trafficking and the death penalty. We supported projects to promote tolerance and religious freedom, and to improve capacity in provincial human rights ministries. Through DFID, the UK helped nearly one million Pakistani children attend school, including through specific programmes to enable more girls to receive a quality education.

In 2018, we will support projects to improve citizens' awareness of their constitutional rights and to promote acceptance and tolerance of cultural diversity. Our Conflict, Stability and Security Fund will continue to help to strengthen democracy and human rights institutions, and to improve the capacity of the justice system to be more accountable to citizens. We welcome the continuing efforts by the government, including by the Attorney General, to monitor implementation of international treaty commitments. We will continue to encourage Pakistan to take the necessary steps towards meeting in full its international obligations on human and labour rights, in line with the EU review of Pakistan's performance against 27 UN and ILO conventions within the EU Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus framework.