ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday it “categorically” rejected the 2023 country report on human rights practices issued by the US State Department, saying the report was politically motivated, lacking in objective evidence and followed an agenda of “politicization of international human rights.”

The annual human rights assessment released earlier this week identified arbitrary killings, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearance, torture and “cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government or its agents” in Pakistan last year.

The report also said the government “rarely took credible steps” to identify and punish officials who may have committed rights abuses.

“The contents of the report are unfair, based on inaccurate information and are completely divorced from the ground reality,” the Pakistani foreign office said in a statement, adding that the assessment used a “domestic social lens to judge human rights in other countries in a politically biased manner.”
 
“This year’s report is once again conspicuous by its lack of objectivity and politicization of the international human rights agenda. It clearly demonstrates double standards thus undermining the international human rights discourse.”

The foreign office said it was “deeply concerning” that a report purported to highlight human rights issues around the world was ignoring or downplaying the “most urgent hotspots of gross human rights violations” like Gaza and Kashmir. It also called on the US demonstrate the “requisite moral courage” to speak the truth about all situations and play a constructive role in supporting international efforts to end human rights violations.

“In line with its constitutional framework and democratic ethos, Pakistan remains steadfast in its commitment to strengthen its own human rights framework, constructively engage to promote international human rights agenda, and uphold fairness and objectivity in the international human rights discourse,” the FO added. 

Political leaders, rights groups and families of victims have long accused the government, the army and intelligence agencies of being behind cases of arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, among other rights abuses. Families say people picked up by security forces on the pretext of fighting militancy or crime often disappear for years, and are sometimes found dead, with no official explanation. Pakistani state agencies deny involvement in such cases. 

On Tuesday, Pakistan’s law minister said the government would reconstitute a committee to address enforced disappearances, hours after the release of the US report.

“Now the work is being initiated on this again on the directives of the prime minister. A committee is going to be reconstituted, there will be parliamentary presence in that committee,” Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said. 

“There is no lack of seriousness on the government’s part to resolve this issue.”

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will be eyeing a comeback today, Thursday, in the fourth match of the T20I series against New Zealand in Lahore after suffering a defeat at the hands of a second-string Kiwi squad last week. 

Pakistan will head into today’s match against Michael Bracewell’s squad without star batter and wicketkeeper Muhammad Rizwan, who has been pulled from the series after he felt discomfort in his right hamstring. 

New Zealand are missing key players including Trent Boult and skipper Kane Williamson as they opted to play in the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) while pulled out of the Pakistan series due to injuries. 

Despite that, the Kiwis managed to beat Pakistan on Sunday by seven wickets in Rawalpindi, shocking the 2009 T20I world champions on their own turf. 

“We did not lose because of any two or three players,” Pakistan captain Babar Azam said at a press conference in Lahore on Wednesday night. “We lost as a team. In the batting, bowling and fielding [areas] we did collapse a little.”

Pakistan’s premium fast bowlers Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi failed to impress against New Zealand in the third T20I. However, Azam backed both bowlers, describing them as Pakistan’s “best” bowlers. 

“They know how to make a comeback, even if it [bad performance] happens in one game. It is part of life,” he said. “It can’t happen that one person performs every single day.” 

The series is an important one for both sides as they gear up for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and USA scheduled to be held in June. 

The last match of the Pakistan-New Zealand series will be played in Lahore on May 27. Pakistan and New Zealand have both won one match against each other so far, with the first T20I fixture washed away by rain. 

The match begins at 7:30 p.m. Pakistan Standard Time.