Asma Jahangir awarded UN prize for work in human rights

ISLAMABAD: The late Asma Jahangir, a renowned lawyer and human-rights activist, has been awarded the United Nations Human Rights Prize in recognition of her tireless and dedicated devotion to the cause. The prize is presented every five years by the UN in recognition of outstanding achievements by individuals or organizations in the field.
Jahangir died in February 2018 at the age of 66, and her death was seen by many as a mighty blow to Pakistan. Though at times a polarizing figure politically, she was a relentless advocate for the rights of the disenfranchised and voiceless, in particular taking on the causes of children, women, minorities and laborers, and she was an outspoken supporter of secular laws.
During the course of her campaigning she was arrested and placed under house arrest on several occasions, but remained unafraid to take on anyone in defense of human rights. She was an outspoken critic of the Zia-ul-Haq regime in Pakistan in the 1970s and 1980s, and dictatorships in general, which led one spell of house arrest, and she encouraged citizens to always take their governments to task.
Jahangir’s career stretched from the courtroom to activism in the streets. She was the co-founder and chairwoman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, and a grass-roots member of the Lawyers’ Movement. She also served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, and as a trustee at the International Crisis Group. In addition, she was the first woman to serve as Pakistan’s President of the Supreme Court Bar Association.
Jahangir joins notable international winners of the prize, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. There have been two other winners from Pakistan: Begum Ra’ana Liaquat Ali Khan, in 1978, and Benazir Bhutto who was awarded the prize in 2008, the year after she was assassinated.
The announced was made by the president of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, María Fernanda Espinosa. Jahangir is being honored alongside Rebeca Gyumi of Tanzania, Joênia Wapichana of Brazil, and the Ireland-based organization Front Line Defenders.