Human Rights and Democracy - Official Documents

ights commitments is integral to ensuring long-term prosperity and stability, and is in
our national interest.
In 2010 the FCO continued to work closely with other UK government departments,
the government of Pakistan, other governments and NGOs to address key human
rights challenges. In particular, we focused on supporting the government of
Pakistan in ratifying and implementing key international human rights instruments;
tackling the discrimination and abuse faced by women and minority groups; and
enhancing international coordination on human rights. Our lobbying contributed to
the government of Pakistan’s decision to ratify the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture, although we are concerned
by the reservations that it made when doing so. Our support also helped the Ministry
for Women’s Development to make significant progress towards the criminalisation
of domestic violence, along with other legal measures to remove discrimination
against women. We also provided capacity building and support to civil society
groups to support their work in speaking out against extremism and intolerance, and
in support of democracy and reform.
The year 2010 was an extremely challenging one for Pakistan, and 2011 is likely to
follow a similar course. It is estimated that 20 million people were directly affected
by the unprecedented flooding. We are working closely with Pakistan and
international partners to ensure that there is a credible recovery plan in place.
We will continue to intervene on human rights issues in Pakistan where we believe
we can make a positive difference. For 2011, our focus will be on four key priorities:
to support an end to discrimination and violence against women; to strengthen
freedom of expression, religion and belief; to encourage stronger implementation of
Pakistan’s international commitments; and to build the capacity of civil society and
bodies mandated to challenge the state’s effectiveness on human rights, such as the
Parliamentary Committee for Human Rights.
Elections
The elections of 2008 were described by the EU as relatively fair and free. Election
observation missions made several recommendations about how the electoral
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