Press Trust of India (19 April 2008)


Karachi, Apr 19 (PTI) -- Noted Pakistani human rights activist and lawyer, Ansar Burney has welcomed ratification of a key UN human rights treaty and signing of two other important conventions by the country's new government.

Burney, who is a member of the Advisory Committee of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Geneva and former federal minister for human rights, said Pakistan took an important step to ensure that human rights are respected, protected and realised for all in the country by becoming a state party to the United Nations' human rights conventions.

On April 17, Pakistan ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and signed both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT).

"I congratulate Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani and the other government officials for taking this historic step," Burney said.

He called on the authorities to grasp this opportunity and address the pressing human rights problems without any further delay in the greater interest of human dignity.

The former minister played a big role in the release of Indian national Kashmir Singh, who spent 35 years in Pakistani jail on charges of being a spy.

Burney is also working on the case of Sarabjit Singh, another Indian who is on the death row for terrorism-related charges in Pakistan.

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