[JURIST] A group of three UN human rights experts on Friday implored Pakistan to increase efforts to curb growing sectarian violence [official statement]. Noting a recent uptick in sectarian related attacks, the group of experts warned that "sectarian violence threatens to worsen if the Government does not respond swiftly and decisively to confront it." Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website], Rita Izsak [official profile], an independent expert on minority issues claimed:
[These attacks] have sadly become a recurrent practice in Pakistan, and we urge the Pakistan Government to identify and prosecute the perpetrators and do everything possible to establish strengthened security measures.
Heiner Bielefeldt [official profile, PDF], professor of human rights at the University of Erlangen-Nurnberg, said "these targeted killings once more display the appalling degree of religious hatred in a country where there seems to be a failure to protect the security of religious minorities."
Pakistan has seen a rash of bloody attacks [The Nation report] in recent weeks that were sectarian in nature. Last week at least 18 Shia Muslims were killed [BBC report] after their train was stopped and those on board were separated by sect. Earlier in February a suicide bomber killed 41 people [International News report] when he detonated a bomb outside a Shia mosque.
[JURIST] The Egyptian parliament [official website] began discussions [Egyptian Gazette report] Saturday regarding the make-up of the constitutional assembly that will be responsible for writing Egypt's new constitution. The newly elected parliament will choose the members of the 100-member council that will ultimately determine the structure of the government and the rights conferred by the constitution. This has caused an intense debate between the parties of parliament who have differing opinions on who should be included in the assembly. The ruling Freedom and Justice Party argues there should be 40 members of parliament and 60 legal experts on the panel. Other parties argue there should be greater representation of minority groups.
The debate comes after the voting system in the parliamentary elections was declared unconstitutional [JURIST report]. The make-up of the constitutional panel will be important to the expansion of rights called for [JURIST report] by Human Rights Watch in January. Meanwhile the prosecution in the case against Mubarak is seeking the death penalty for the former president, Hosni Mubarak, who defended himself in court [JURIST reports] late last month.
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Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible, ad-free format.
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Legal news from Sunday, March 4, 2012
