UN chief concerned on Pakistan rights

Mary Robinson discussed a range of issues

The UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson has urged Pakistan to ratify all UN conventions on human rights.

The UN High Commissioner acknowledged that there was a serious human rights situation [in Kashmir]

Pakistan's official news agency APP

But Mrs Robinson, who is in Islamabad on the last leg of a five-country tour, also praised Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's initiatives for reducing tension along the borders with India.

General Musharraf called Mrs Robinson's attention to "massive human rights abuses" in the Indian-ruled part of Kashmir.

India says more than 33,000 people have died in a 12-year-old separatist Muslim insurgency in the disputed area, while Pakistan and the separatists put the toll at 80,000.

"The UN High Commissioner acknowledged that there was a serious human rights situation [in Kashmir] which needed attention," the official Pakistani news agency APP reported.

Issues discussed

Before meeting with General Musharraf, Mrs Robinson's press officer Veronique Taveau told Reuters news agency the UN commissioner would "express all the concerns that she has in the region - women, on violence against women, on minorities, on Muslim groups etc".

Mrs Robinson and General Musharraf also discussed recent violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims in the western Indian state of Gujarat, which claimed more than 700 lives, APP reported.

Tension between Pakistan and India has escalated

General Musharraf urged Mrs Robinson to take note of alleged human rights abuses in the Indian-held part of Kashmir.

Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after a deadly attack last December on the Indian parliament.

That attack, which India blamed on Pakistan-based Kashmiri militants, triggered a build-up of up to a million troops along the border between the two countries.

India has rejected Pakistan's calls for peace talks, saying Islamabad must first stop "cross-border terrorism".

UN Conventions

The United States has criticised Pakistan's human rights record over the past year, saying it remained "poor".

But Islamabad rejected the US State Department report - which cited lack of freedom for the judiciary, exile of politicians and extra-judicial killings blamed on police - as "factually inaccurate and unwarranted".

Mrs Robinson urged General Musharraf to ratify all UN conventions on human rights. Pakistan has so far endorsed three of the six conventions.

On Tuesday, the human rights chief is scheduled to meet Pakistan's independent Human Rights Commission and other non-government organisations in the eastern city of Lahore.

Mrs Robinson visited Egypt, Bahrain, Lebanon and Afghanistan before coming to Pakistan for three days.

She will report back to the UN Commission on Human Rights at the annual six-week session, which opens in Geneva on 18 March.