FO rejects US report on human rights practices

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday rejected the recently released 2023 Country Report on human rights practices issued by the US State Department.

“The contents of the report are unfair, based on inaccurate information and are completely divorced from the ground reality,” said the Foreign Office in a statement.

The US State Department’s annual exercises of preparing such unsolicited reports lack objectivity and remain inherently flawed in their methodology. These reports use a domestic social lens to judge human rights in other countries in a politically motivated 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. 

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 Occupied Jammu & Kashmir. 

Only a politically motivated report can ignore the alarming situation in Gaza, the weaponization of humanitarian assistance and the massacre of over 33,000 civilians. Silence of the United States on the continuing genocide in Gaza runs counter to the stated objectives behind the so-called country reports on human rights. 

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. 

If the US must engage in this exercise, then we expect the US State Department to at least exercise due diligence when conducting assessment of complex issues, demonstrate objectivity, impartiality and responsibility in finalizing such reports.

It should demonstrate the requisite moral courage to speak truth about all situations and play a constructive role in supporting international efforts for bringing an end to atrocities in the most urgent hotspots of gross human rights violations.