ISLAMABAD: The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday the body had raised concerns directly with the Pakistan government and urged steps to ensure the protection of journalists and human rights defenders who had been subjected to recent threats. 

In a statement released on Tuesday, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, said the UN had followed with increasing concern numerous instances of incitement to violence – online and offline – against journalists and human rights defenders in Pakistan, in particular women and minorities. 

Last month, Pakistani women journalists publicly warned of what they described as a “coordinated campaign” of social media attacks against those who have been critical of government policies.

In one such case, journalist and human rights defender Marvi Sirmed received numerous messages on social media containing highly derogatory and violent language, including gender-based slurs and death threats. Accusations of blasphemy on social media were followed by actual police complaints filed against Sirmed, whose personal details were also revealed on Twitter.

“Last year, at least four journalists and bloggers were killed in connection with their reporting,” Colville said. “In the vast majority of such cases, those responsible have not been investigated, prosecuted and held to account.”

Colville said the UN had stressed the need for “prompt, effective, thorough and impartial investigations” from the Pakistan government with a view to ensuring accountability in cases of violence and killings. 

“Victims and their families have the right to justice, truth and reparations,” he said. 

The statement also called on the Pakistani leadership to “unequivocally condemn incitement to violence against religious minorities and what appears to be an increase in the use of blasphemy laws for personal or political score-settling.” 

“We encourage the government to address impediments to the active protection of the right to freedom of expression," Colville said, "including by carrying out legal reforms such as those recommended by the UN Human Rights Committee and other international human rights mechanisms."

The UN Human Rights Committee, which oversees implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, reviewed Pakistan in 2017.