Pakistan: women's rights NGO banned
Event- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 25, 2013
- Event Description
On 25 February 2013, the Home Secretary of Gilgit-Baltistan, upon reception of a letter from the Home Department of Gilgit-Baltistan, issued an order to deputy commissioners and police officers of various districts to put a halt to all activities of AGHE-Pakistan. In this letter, the Home Department informed that AGHE-Pakistan was no longer a registered NGO, and that a "No Objection Certificate' was required from both the economic division and the Government of Gilgit in order for the NGO to continue its activities. AGHE-Pakistan was reportedly never informed of this decision, which is believed to have been taken due to pressure from religious extremist groups, who previously made threats to members of the NGO to compel them to stop working on women's rights and girls' education. AGHE-Pakistan has reportedly been the target of a defamation campaign by sectarian and fundamentalist groups which publicly labeled the NGO as a foreign organization which "implements the agenda of Western countries". Furthermore, it is reported that a number of governmental agencies exerted pressure on the organization to stop its project called "Citizens' Voice for Effective Legislative Governance", funded by USAID, as well as some other activities partially funded by USAID and the Aurat Foundation's Gender Equity Program.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association
- Freedom of Religion and Belief
- Right to education
- Right to work
- Women's rights
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Event Location
Latitude: 35.802566699999964
Longitude: 74.9831808
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 25 February 2013, the Home Secretary of Gilgit-Baltistan (Pakistan) issued an order to halt the activities of AGHE-Pakistan, a women's rights NGO. It appears that the order was the result of pressure on the authorities from religious extremist groups. These groups had previously threatened AGHE-Pakistan members and mounted a defamation campaign against them. On 22 March 2013, a Joint Allegation Letter was sent to Pakistan by the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, and the Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice. On 25/03/2013, Pakistan responded with an acknowledgement of receipt.