UN urges Pakistan, Afghanistan to ensure justice for women

(July 20, 2012) Denouncing the recent attacks on women leaders in Pakistan and Afghanistan, an independent United Nations human rights expert has urged the two countries to carry out impartial investigations into the killings; and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice. “The failure of States to guarantee women’s right to a life free from violence allows for a continuum of violence which can end in their death,” said Rashida Manjoo, the expert charged by the UN Human Rights Council with investigating and reporting on violence against women, its causes and consequences.
She referred to the recent killing of Fareeda Afridi, a human rights defender in Pakistan, and of Hanifa Safi, a provincial head of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Afghanistan, as well as the public execution of Najiba, a woman accused of adultery in Afghanistan. “Whether labelled murder, homicide, femicide, feminicide, or ‘honour’ killings, these manifestations of violence are culturally and socially embedded, and continue to be accepted, tolerated or justified – with impunity as the norm,” the expert said. She urged both the Pakistani and the Afghan Governments to carry out prompt and impartial investigations into the killings and to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.