Pakistan denounces US human rights report as “politicized, double standard”

Pakistan has unequivocally rejected the contents of the “2023 Country Report on Human Rights Practices,” calling it “unfair, based on inaccurate information and completely divorced from the ground reality,” as the US State Department issued its appraisal of the human rights situation per country.

Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement on Thursday that the US State Department’s yearly exercises in producing such unsolicited reports “lack objectivity and remain inherently flawed in their methodology.”

“These publications assess human rights in foreign nations in an unfair and politically biased way by using a home social lens. The politicization of the international human rights agenda and lack of impartiality in this year’s report are notable once again.

“It plainly demonstrates double standards, undermining the international human rights discourse,” the speaker continued.

“It is deeply concerning that a report purported to highlight human rights situations around the world ignores or downplays the most urgent hotspots of gross human rights violations, such as in Gaza and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK),” Baloch said, drawing attention to the US’s “double standards” on serious humanitarian issues.

She said that a study with political motivations alone might overlook the dire circumstances in Gaza, the weaponization of aid, and the murder of more than 33,000 people. “The stated goals of the so-called country reports on human rights are contradicted by the United States’ silence on the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”

The spokesperson reaffirmed that Pakistan is committed to strengthening its own human rights framework, engaging constructively to advance the international human rights agenda, and upholding fairness and objectivity in the international human rights discourse, all in accordance with its constitutional framework and democratic ethos.

According to an official statement released by the FO, “if the US must engage in this exercise, then we expect the US State Department to at least exercise due diligence when conducting an assessment of complex issues, demonstrate objectivity, impartiality, and responsibility in finalizing such reports.”

“It should exhibit the necessary moral bravery to speak the truth in all circumstances and contribute positively to international efforts to put an end to atrocities in the most critical hotspots of grave human rights violations,” the report said.