Human rights activists, lawyers and journalists are frequently murdered in Pakistan - especially when their investigations or work impinges on the interests of powerful groups.
Source/Credit: Sky News | UK
By Alex Rossi | June 06, 2012
Asma Jahangir says she is not planning to leave the country, despite her fears
One of Pakistan's leading human rights activists has told Sky News she fears for her life after receiving information from a "credible source" that she is being targeted for assassination.
Asma Jahangir believes Pakistan's security bureau - the Inter Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) - is behind the plot.
The respected and well known lawyer, who works to prevent the persecution of women and religious minorities, said: "I received an information leak that an assassination was sanctioned and planned.
"I was made aware that my travel plans had been under surveillance for some time. It is very obvious to me that it would be the ISI pulling the strings."
Ms Jahangir's work as a human rights activist - which has included defending people from Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws - has frequently seen her targeted by religious extremists.
But she says this latest alleged plot, which she believes has been hatched at the "highest level of state agencies", may be as a result of her work in one of Pakistan's unruly provinces.
It is possible intelligence chiefs have been angered by her mission to highlight human rights violations by security forces in restive Baluchistan.
Ms Jahangir also recently defended Pakistan's controversial former ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani.
He was accused of being behind a mysterious memo, sent to the Obama administration, asking for help to prevent a military coup after the killing of Osama Bin Laden in May last year.
Human rights activists, lawyers and journalists are frequently murdered in Pakistan - especially when their investigations or work impinges on the interests of powerful groups.
Asma Jahangir did consider leaving the country when she heard about the alleged plans for the "murderous attack" but has decided it is not an option.
"I have seen more frightening times than this. Unfortunately we get numb to the signs of danger in Pakistan because we see so much of it around us," she said.
International human rights groups have condemned the alleged assassination plot. Human Rights Watch has demanded a full investigation.
Its director in Pakistan, Ali Dayan Hasan, said: "Pakistani authorities should urgently and thoroughly investigate the alleged plot … and hold all those responsible to account.
Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi before her murder on December 27, 2007.
There are allegations the authorities were involved in Benazir Bhutto's murder
"A threat against Jahangir is a threat to all those in Pakistan who struggle for human rights and the rule of law."
The ISI and figures within Pakistan’s powerful military have been accused before of being involved in high profile killings.
In April 2010, a UN report into the 2007 assassination of prime minister Benazir Bhutto, concluded that the Pakistani authorities failed to provide her with adequate security and went on to say that elements within the military may have played a role in her murder.
The report was also critical of the "pervasive role" played by the ISI in the events leading up to her killing.
Read original post here: Lawyer Says Pakistan Spies Aiming To Kill Her
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