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These principles have been highlighted in a recent UK- Pakistan Judicial Conference On child and Family Law, in particular addressing three key issues facing people of Pakistani and Kashmiri origin, these being ‘Enabling Cross jurisdictional contact of children, responding to child abduction, and marriages formed under Duress and forced marriages’. (...) A second issue of concern, which is of particular concern to the UK, Pakistani and other Commonwealth countries, is that of responding to child abduction. (...) -4- A third challenge facing the Pakistani and Kashmiri community is that of tackling with the issue of marriages formed under duress, and forced marriages.

Kidnapping middle-class Sindhis for ransom is frequent in the province, and the Pakistani police are generally unconcerned about the treatment of Hindu victims. (...) In addition, Hindu Sindhis were intimidated by Pakistani soldiers who accompanied the census takers in Sindh. (...) Pakistani authorities have used various overt and covert means to control these newspapers.

Further, women belonging to religious minorities face discrimination from the double standards held by the Pakistani authorities. The Muslim majority receives some due process in crimes committed against them, whereas cases involving Christians and Hindus are regularly neglected and ignored. (...) The case has been ongoing for almost two years, with no official action to find M.J., and no changes since our last report. Moreover, the Pakistani government has instituted a system called Zainab Alert, similar in theory to Amber Alert in the United States of America, after a minor Muslim girl was kidnapped, raped, and murdered. (...) Andrea Morris, “We Just Want Justice”: 12-Year-Old Pakistani Christian Girl Kidnapped by Muslim Man, Christian Broadcasting Network (Nov. 11, 2022), https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2021/november/we-just-want-justice-12-year-old-pakistani- christian-girl-kidnapped-by-muslim-man. 6.

Claim: “Rights of the child remains one of the major areas of focus for Pakistan.” Facts: Pakistani children are subjected to multiple forms of violence and abuse including exploitative labor practices, sexual abuse and child marriage. (...) Four journalists and a blogger were killed in 2019.10 In 2018, Pakistani journalist Taha Siddiqui fled country after escaping an attempted abduction by the military. (...) Blasphemy laws are exploited to attack and persecute members of religious minorities, particularly Christians.12 Christian mother of five Asia Bibi spent eight years on death row in Pakistan for blasphemy after she got into a dispute with local Muslim women over a cup of water. Two Pakistani politicians were killed for supporting her.13 In April 2017, Pakistani student Mashal Khan was brutally lynched after he was accused of posting blasphemous content on social media.14 Human Rights Record • Unlawful or arbitrary killings • Forced disappearances • Torture • Arbitrary detention • Arbitrary interference with privacy • Restrictions on freedom of expression and the press • Violence against journalists • Restrictions on freedom of association • Restrictions on religious freedom • Recruitment of child soldiers by nonstate militant groups • Human trafficking • Violence against racial and ethnic minorities • Violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons • Criminalization of same-sex conduct • Child labor 7 2020 World Press Freedom Index, RSF, https://rsf.org/en/ranking, (last visited August 16, 2020). 8 Pakistan, RSF, https://rsf.org/en/pakistan, (last visited August 16, 2020). 9 Freedom in the World 2020: Pakistan, Freedom House (2020), https://freedomhouse.org/country/ pakistan/freedom-world/2020. 10 Pakistan, RSF, supra note 8. 11 Drazen Jorgic, Pakistani journalist critical of military escapes kidnap attempt, Reuters (January 10, 2018), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-media-kidnapping/pakistani-journalist-critical-of- military-escapes-kidnap-attempt-idUSKBN1EZ0TK. 12 Freedom in the World 2020: Pakistan, supra note 9. 13 Emma Graham-Harrison, Asia Bibi: Pakistani woman jailed for blasphemy releases photos in exile, Guardian (January 28, 2020), https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/28/asia-bibi-pakistani- woman-jailed-for-blasphemy-releases-photos-in-exile. 14 Jibran Ahmed, Pakistani student accused of blasphemy beaten to death on campus, Reuters (April 13, 2017), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-blasphemy/pakistani-student-accused-of- blasphemy-beaten-to-death-on-campus-idUSKBN17F1ZL.

JS12 estimated that 30 percent of all marriages are child marriages. JS1 recommended, among others, the Child Marriage Restraint Act (1929) be amended and strengthened, and noted conflicting laws such as Shariah law provide for legal loopholes regarding child marriage.81 37. (...) STP noted that on 8 August 2011, Pakistani authorities in contrary to human rights obligations, deported five Uyghurs to their home country, where they may be at risk of imprisonment or the death sentence.151 14. (...) Society for Threatened Peoples (STP), p. 2. and Joint submission of Global Human Rights Defence, The Hague (―GHRD‖) and Human Rights Focus Pakistan, Faisalabad (―HRFP‖) (JS8) p. 2 and Justitia et Pax and 10 Pakistani CSOs (JS7) p. 3. 20 Justitia et Pax and 10 Pakistani CSOs (JS7) p. 3.

The report stated in paragraph 499 that Pakistani law did not recognize any matrimonial relationship which had not been religiously sanctioned. (...) Chughtai (Pakistan) said that under Pakistani law the natural guardian of children of divorced parents was the father. (...) The law allowed the mother to remarry after obtaining a divorce. Pakistani law stemmed from Islamic jurisprudence, under which the responsibility for earning a living fell to men.

For example, in 2013 the Sindh Assembly had passed the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, which criminalized marriage under the age of 18 years. 4. (...) In 1990, a number of the provisions of Pakistani criminal law had been amended and aligned with sharia law. (...) In March 2016, a bill to amend Pakistani criminal law to afford children greater protection against violence had been passed by the national Parliament and was pending adoption by the Senate.