{"id":11943,"date":"2018-02-11T14:17:38","date_gmt":"2018-02-11T19:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=11943"},"modified":"2019-10-10T07:34:52","modified_gmt":"2019-10-10T11:34:52","slug":"pakistan-asma-jahangir-champion-of-human-rights-critic-of-pak-army-dies-at-66","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=11943","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan: Asma Jahangir, Champion Of Human Rights, Critic Of Pak Army, Dies At 66"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

. HUMAN RIGHTS .<\/p>\n

An article from New Delhi Television Limited<\/a><\/p>\n

Leading Pakistani human rights advocate Asma Jahangir has died, her family said Sunday, in a major blow to the country’s embattled rights community. She was 66.<\/p>\n

The lawyer and former UN special rapporteur died of cardiac arrest, according to her sister. “Unfortunately we have lost her,” Hina Jilani, also a prominent rights activist and lawyer, told AFP.<\/p>\n

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\nPakistan’s top rights advocate Asma Jahangir braved death threats in her long career (AFP)
\n<\/center><\/p>\n

The lawyer and former UN special rapporteur died of cardiac arrest, according to her sister. “Unfortunately we have lost her,” Hina Jilani, also a prominent rights activist and lawyer, told AFP.<\/p>\n

Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced, according to a statement by her daughter Munizae Jahangir, as the family waited for relatives to return to their hometown of Lahore.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi expressed grief at Asma Jahangir’s death, praising her contribution to upholding the rule of law and safeguarding human rights.<\/p>\n

Ms Jahangir’s supporters and former opponents alike\u00a0took to social media\u00a0to offer their condolences and express shock at news of her death.<\/p>\n

“Asma Jahangir was the\u00a0bravest human being\u00a0I ever knew. Without her the world is less,” wrote prominent Pakistani lawyer Salman Akram Raja.<\/p>\n

“I and many others didn’t agree with some of her views. But she was a titan. And one of the brightest and bravest ever produced by this country,” wrote journalist Wajahat Khan on Twitter.<\/p>\n

(Article continued in the right side of the page)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Question for this article:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
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Where in the world can we find good leadership today?<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

(Article continued from the left side of the page)<\/p>\n

In 2014 Asma Jahangir received France’s highest civilian award and Sweden’s Right Livelihood Award, for her decades of rights work.<\/p>\n

Few Pakistani rights activists have achieved the credibility of Ms Jahangir.She braved death threats, beatings and imprisonment to win landmark human rights cases while\u00a0standing up to dictators<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ms Jahangir also helped establish the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.<\/p>\n

The organisation made its name defending religious minorities and taking on highly charged blasphemy accusations along with “honour” killings — in which the victims, normally women, are murdered by a relative for bringing shame on the family.
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\nThere is still terrible violence against women, discrimination against minorities and near-slavery for bonded labourers, Ms Jahangir told AFP during an interview in 2014, but human rights have made greater strides in Pakistan than may be apparent.<\/p>\n

“There was a time that human rights was not even an issue in this country. Then prisoners’ rights became an issue,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Women’s rights was thought of as a Western concept. Now people do talk about women’s rights — political parties talk about it, even religious parties talk about it.”<\/p>\n

Asma Jahangir secured a number of victories during her life, from winning freedom for bonded labourers from their “owners” through pioneering litigation, to a landmark court case that allowed women to marry of their own volition.<\/p>\n

She was also an outspoken critic of the powerful military establishment, including during her stint as the first-ever female leader of Pakistan’s top bar association.<\/p>\n

Ms Jahangir was arrested in 2007 by the government of then-military ruler Pervez Musharraf. In 2012 she claimed her\u00a0life was in danger\u00a0<\/a> from the feared Inter Services Intelligence spy agency.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

. HUMAN RIGHTS . An article from New Delhi Television Limited Leading Pakistani human rights advocate Asma Jahangir has died, her family said Sunday, in a major blow to the country’s embattled rights community. She was 66. The lawyer and former UN special rapporteur died of cardiac arrest, according to her sister. “Unfortunately we have … Continue reading Pakistan: Asma Jahangir, Champion Of Human Rights, Critic Of Pak Army, Dies At 66<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,80],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-11943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-rights","category-south-asia","tag-south-asia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11943\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}