BackThe Spanish Ombudsman, Soledad Becerril, has asked the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (ICC) to promote a request for pardon for Asia Bibi, a Christian Pakistani woman sentenced to death for blasphemy in her country.
Asia Bibi, Christian and mother-of-five, was accused of blasphemy for drinking water from a Muslim-only fountain and sentenced to death in November 2010.
The Spanish Ombudswoman asked that this be one of the issues addressed during the annual meeting of the ICC held in Geneva on March 11th, 12th, and 13th
Before attending the meeting, Soledad Becerril sent a letter to its president, Mabedle Lourence Mushwana, and to the Pakistani Ombudsman, Salman Faruqui, as well as to the presidents of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI), the Association of the Mediterranean Ombudsmen (AMO), and the Ibero-American Federation of Ombudsmen (FIO).
According to her, National Human Rights Institutions have the duty of urging Pakistani authorities to comply with international standards and to respect the human rights of all its citizens.
Soledad Becerril, who presided over a session about violence against women held in Geneva, assured that 2015 will be a crucial year in the international arena to guarantee that violence against women and girls is a priority in political and public agendas.
The Ombudswoman underlined in her intervention that ill-treated women are a priority attention group for her Institution, and she recalled the legislative reforms that have been carried out thanks to the proposals suggested by the Spanish Defensor del Pueblo.
Source: Defensor del Pueblo, Madrid, Spain
