{"id":10684,"date":"2018-02-11T12:54:07","date_gmt":"2018-02-11T17:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=10684"},"modified":"2018-02-11T12:54:07","modified_gmt":"2018-02-11T17:54:07","slug":"asma-jahangir-pakistan-human-rights-champion-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2018\/02\/11\/asma-jahangir-pakistan-human-rights-champion-dies\/","title":{"rendered":"Asma Jahangir: Pakistan human rights champion dies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prominent Pakistani human rights activist and lawyer Asma Jahangir has died at the age of 66.<\/p>\n

She reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest and was taken to hospital, where she later died.<\/p>\n

The pro-democracy activist championed women’s rights throughout her career.<\/p>\n

She was imprisoned in 1983 and put under house arrest in 2007. Five years ago, leaked documents suggested that some intelligence officers had planned to kill her.<\/p>\n

Ms Jahangir called for an inquiry<\/a>\u00a0at the time, demanding the government “find the forces who wanted to silence” her.<\/p>\n

More recently she spoke out against BBC Persian journalists being put on trial in Iran, as part of her role as UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi led tributes to Ms Jahangir, saying her death was a great loss for the legal fraternity, and praying for her and her family.<\/p>\n

Punjab state chief Shehbaz Sharif tweeted that he was “deeply saddened”<\/a>\u00a0at the news.<\/p>\n

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai called Ms Jahangir a “saviour of democracy and human rights”.<\/p>\n

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\"View<\/a>\"View<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n
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\"\"<\/span>Malala<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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\u2714<\/b><\/span><\/span>@Malala<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Heartbroken that we lost Asma Jahangir – a saviour of democracy and human rights.<\/p>\n

I met her a week ago in Oxford. I cannot believe she is no more among us. The best tribute to her is to continue her fight for human rights and democracy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Amnesty International’s South Asia director Omar Waraich said Ms Jahangir had “never wavered”.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/span>Omar Waraich<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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\u2714<\/b><\/span><\/span>@OmarWaraich<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Asma Jahangir was the bravest person I knew. She fearlessly stood up to dictators, thugs, misogynists. She was never daunted by the attacks that came her way. She never wavered from her principles. Her loss is incalculable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Raza Ahmad Rumi of the Pakistan Daily Times called her a hero.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/span>Raza Ahmad Rumi<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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\u2714<\/b><\/span><\/span>@Razarumi<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2018Speaking truth to power\u2019 a phrase, we often use. #<\/span>AsmaJahangir<\/span><\/a> lived,practiced till her last breath. Questioned mullahs, military, judges, politicians, all the powerful;defended downtrodden. Faced threats &
\nattacks. Was never afraid.What a hero. We have to contend with a void.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Another prominent Pakistani lawyer,\u00a0Salman Akram Raja, tweeted that Ms Jahangir was “the bravest human being I ever knew”<\/a>\u00a0and that the world was “less” without her.<\/p>\n

In her career, Ms Jahangir was a staunch defender of human rights and women’s rights, and a pro-democracy activist, and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.<\/p>\n

She worked closely with her sister Hina Jilani on many of her endeavours.<\/p>\n

In 2014 Ms Jahangir told AFP news agency she had seen changes in the perception of human rights in Pakistan.<\/p>\n

“There was a time that human rights was not even an issue in this country,” she said. “Then prisoners’ rights became an issue.”<\/p>\n

“Women’s rights was thought of as a Western concept. Now people do talk about women’s rights.”<\/p>\n

Asma Jahangir’s career:<\/h2>\n