Amina Masood Janjua
Amina Masood Janjua is a prominent human rights defender from Pakistan. Amina Masood Januja started her journey in human rights following the enforced disappearance of her husband in 2005. She founded Defence of Human Rights Pakistan in 2006, dedicated to ending enforced disappearances in Pakistan and supporting victims and families seek justice and redress. Amina Masood Januja is also a poet, artist and human rights lawyer who has supported victims and families in court and continues to be a powerful voice for justice and human rights in Pakistan.
Human rights defenders in Pakistan are subjected to a range of attacks and abuses, including extra-judicial killings and violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, brutal sectarian violence, abduction and enforced disappearance, surveillance, threats and judicial harassment. Many HRDs have even had their offices attacked or burnt down and their colleagues killed. There exists a culture of impunity for killings of HRDs and this has emboldened perpetrators and fuelled further violence against them. Behind the veil of national security, the government continues to muzzle those critical of it’s policies and of Islam. In addition to this, HRDs are further threatened and intimidated by various non-state actors such as militants and interest groups.
Defenders investigating human rights violations in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) face a particularly hostile climate, as they are targeted by security agencies, religious groups, militants, and armed gangs. Women HRDs face particular risks due to their gender. Besides threats by security agencies and armed groups, WHRDs can receive threats from their own family members, who exert pressure on them to quit their human rights work, or be threatened with the safety of their children. While the transgender community in Pakistan has made some strides in recent years, attacks on transgender HRDs remain widespread and the violence has been increasing. HRDs working on religious freedom and minority rights are also targeted.
