ISLAMABAD, 30 March 2005 — Pakistan government rejected US criticism of its human rights record yesterday saying it had taken a number of drastic measures to address the problem.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani said critics should appreciate efforts being made by Pakistan to improve human rights in the country.
“No country is perfect as far as the human rights situation is concerned,” Jilani told The Associated Press in the capital Islamabad.
“The important thing is to look at the efforts which are being made to improve human rights.
“Improvement of the human rights situation is a matter of high priority with the government,” he said.
In Washington on Monday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice issued a report that focused on efforts by America to improve human rights in 98 countries, including Pakistan and neighboring China.
While the report said Pakistan had made some improvements, it said the country’s human rights record remains poor.
Washington’s criticism came days after it agreed to fulfill a long-standing request to sell American-made F-16 fighter jets to the South Asian nation — a move that is seen aimed at rewarding Pakistan for its close cooperation in the war against terrorism.
“The United States believes that the success of Pakistan’s democratization efforts is critical to the strength of our long-term relationship and will positively contribute to its effective participation in the global war on terrorism,” it said.
The US report also criticized President Gen. Pervez Musharraf for consolidating his power at the expense of Parliament, and for remaining chief of the powerful army, whose generals have dominated power since the country’s independence from British rule in 1947.
The US report “Supporting Human Rights: The US Record 2004-2005” pledged to keep up the pressure.
“In all that lies ahead, our nation will continue to clarify for other nations the moral choice between oppression and freedom,” Rice told reporters while presenting the report.
