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	2016 has been a bad year for human rights across the globe by Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein UN High Commissioner for Human Rights   “2016 has been a disastrous year for human rights across the globe, and if the growing erosion of the carefully constructed system of human rights and rule of law continues to gather momentum, ultimately everyone will suffer,” says Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.   “Many of us are fearful about the way the world is heading,” he said. “Extremist movements subject people to horrific violence. Conflicts and deprivation are forcing families from their homes. Climate change darkens our horizons. Discrimination, yawning economic disparities and the ruthless desire to gain or maintain power at any cost are the principal drivers of current political and human rights crises. Humane values are under attack – and so many people feel overwhelmed, unsure what to do or where to turn.”   “Many leaders are failing to grapple effectively and honestly with these complex social and economic issues,” Zeid said. “So people are turning in desperation to the siren voices exploiting fears, sowing disinformation and division, and making alluring promises they cannot fulfil.”   “But we have learned, through the bitter lessons of history, that humanity will only survive, and thrive, if we seek solutions together. Human rights were intended to be, and still are, the antidote to all of this: everyone has rights – economic and social rights, as well as civil and political rights and the right to development – and it is time to stand up for those rights, not just for yourself but for everyone else.”   “A world where people focus only on the needs of their narrow social, national or religious group, and ignore or attack the equal needs of others, is a world which can very quickly descend into misery and chaos,” Zeid said.   “Human rights are the basis of effective policy, in societies where people know they can trust government and rely on the law. Tearing up the laws and institutions that were so painstakingly built up over the last half of the 20th century – designed to protect all individuals, as well as promote stability and economic well-being – is shortsighted and dangerous. These are not trifles to be tossed aside for personal or political gain,” he added.   “Syria is the starkest example of failure across the board. A conflict that was totally avoidable, had President Assad chosen to listen to the voices of those protesting peacefully and legitimately against human rights violations. Then, instead of working together to stop the fighting and restore order, individual States stoked the conflict, supported the murderers, provided arms, encouraged extremists – in short, collectively, threw international humanitarian law and human rights law out of the window.”   “The results? The strengthening of Daesh and other extreme groups, who then stimulated another war and massive abuses -- very probably including genocide -- in Iraq. The repeated use of chemical weapons. A vast movement of Syrian refugees, which overran the capacity and goodwill of neighbouring countries, and spilled into Europe – where the suddenness and scale of the influx provoked fears which blended with existing economic strains and anti-foreigner sentiment and led to political upheaval.”   “In some parts of Europe, and in the United States, anti-foreigner rhetoric full of unbridled vitriol and hatred, is proliferating to a frightening degree, and is increasingly unchallenged. The rhetoric of fascism is no longer confined to a secret underworld of fascists, meeting in ill-lit clubs or on the ‘Deep Net.’ It is becoming part of normal daily discourse.”   “And that is just one set of problems facing one part of the planet,” Zeid said. “In South Sudan, Myanmar and potentially Burundi, ethnic or religious tensions and violence risk billowing out of control. In Yemen, the rules of war with regard to the protection of civilians have routinely been flouted, and the humanitarian crisis is so great children are starving. In the Philippines, drug users and dealers are routinely being killed in the streets, with the not-so-tacit encouragement of the authorities. Other countries are bringing back the death penalty. Elsewhere civil society organizations are being bullied and banned, human rights and political activists and investigative journalists who try to speak truth to power, or stand up for human rights, are being jailed, or killed. And what are we doing about it?”   “At a time of enormous turmoil and rapid change, the values which uphold peace across the world are too important to be left to international institutions and governments alone. It is within the power of every woman, man and child to stand up for respect and tolerance and push back the violence and hatred which threaten our world.”   “In the coming years, the protections provided by international and national human rights laws and systems will be of the utmost importance, not just for those who have yet to fully enjoy them, but also for those who currently take them for granted,” the UN human rights chief said.   “Ultimately, human rights are for everyone, and everyone will be affected if we do not fight to preserve them. They took decades of tireless effort by countless committed individuals to establish, but – as we have seen all too clearly in recent months -- they are fragile. If we do not defend them, we will lose them.”   “We don’t have to stand by while the haters drive wedges of hostility between communities – we can build bridges. As well as understanding our own rights, we can make a real difference by supporting others. In the street, in school, at work, in public transport; in the voting booth, on social media, at home and on the sports field. Wherever there is discrimination, we can step forward to help safeguard someone''s right to live free from fear and abuse. We can all lobby for better leadership, better laws and greater respect for human dignity.”   “The time for this is now. ‘We the peoples’ can take a stand for rights. Local actions can add up to a global movement to save the rights that a global movement, composed of countless committed individuals and some inspired leaders, created in the first place''.   Human rights under increasing attack worldwide   Speaking on Human Rights Day, the largest body of independent experts of the United Nations Human Rights system urges all Governments around the world to stand up for human rights.   “The greatest achievement of the international community since the end of World War II has been the construction of an international human rights system based upon the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was adopted 68 years ago.   Since that time, enormous strides have been made in establishing universal standards, encouraging the very widespread domestic adoption of those standards, and in effectively defending the rights of groups and individuals who are under threat in their own societies.   But today, a chill wind is blowing through much of the world and the very notion of human rights is under increasing attack. So-called populist movements are invoking nationalism and traditionalism to justify racist, xenophobic, sexist and other forms of blatant discrimination, taking advantage also of the difficulties of the current economic climate.   Hate speech aiming to incite violence, hostility, and discrimination is dramatically on the rise, as is violence against women, children, ethnic, religious or belief groups, persons with disabilities, sexual minorities, migrant and many other groups.   Inequality is growing dramatically and democratic institutions are being systematically undermined.   More and more governments are turning to increasingly intrusive technologies which systematically embed and exploit means of mass surveillance which threaten a whole range of fundamental human rights.   In many parts of the world these assaults on human rights are being reinforced by attacks on the human rights movement.   The space for civil society, without which there can be no enduring and meaningful respect for rights, has been effectively closed down by many governments. International treaties, such as the International Criminal Court Statute, are being denounced, funding for human rights bodies is shrinking, attacks on the integrity of monitoring mechanisms are increasing, and any form of international solidarity is rejected as a threat to national interests.   As the United Nations largest body of independent human rights experts, we call upon governments to recognize that a world which repudiates fundamental human rights values, retreats from established standards, and undermines international human rights institutions, is a world which will be less secure, more vulnerable to devastating conflicts, and utterly incapable of protecting the rights of vast numbers of people who do not happen to look or think like those in power.   Human Rights Day 2016 represents a watershed moment when all of us will need to stand up and be counted if the huge achievements of the past 68 years are to be protected and advanced.” http://bit.ly/2hz9krW Visit the related web page
	Working as a news photographer and camerawoman in Pakistan presents plenty of challenges by Shazia Bhatti Agence France Presse, agencies Pakistan   A few years after I started working as a camerawoman in the region where I live in Pakistan, I got attacked by a group of men furious over my filming. They pushed and shoved me and broke my camera. My worried mother and siblings urged me to stop with the journalism and find work in an office, or a job that I could do from home. I refused.   “There is no place that is completely safe for a woman in Pakistan,” I told them. “There is danger everywhere you go, there is risk everywhere. I know this job and I like this job, despite the risks. When I work amid danger, it just makes me strong. I feel more alive.”   Working as a news photographer and camerawoman in Pakistan presents plenty of challenges. The country is very socially conservative to begin with and where I live -- the central city of Multan in Punjab -- is a region known for violence against women. It is rampant with stories of so-called “honour” killings, gang-rapes approved by village councils, and of young girls being given to rivals in order to settle disputes. Any woman venturing out on the street here faces hostility.   It is even more challenging when you’re doing something that people aren’t used to seeing women do -- filming news events. Often I have to keep one eye on the viewfinder and the other on the swarms of ogling men who invariably materialize around me. And when I venture south, into rural areas to do stories on extremist outfits, I take special precautions.   My start with the world of video began in a less-than-stellar way. I was 18 and a neighbor asked me to help him shoot a wedding -- he needed a woman to record in the women’s section. I had never held a camera before, but he gave me some quick training, handed me a bulky VHS video camera and sent me on my way.   The result wasn’t too bad and he offered me another job. I was thrilled -- the work would provide me with an opportunity to supplement the meager income that my family received from my father’s goat-selling business.   But on that second shoot, I mixed up the camera settings and the video came out all blue. The client was so angry that he didn’t pay my neighbour. I called it quits and continued with school. I intended to finish 12th grade and get the certification that you get in Pakistan with it, but had to drop out when my mother fell ill -- I had to look after my sick mother in the hospital, manage the house in her place and take care of my two younger siblings.   I contacted my neighbor, Iqbal Butt, again and asked him to teach me video filming properly. He agreed and soon I was earning 400 rupees (40 dollars) per day filming wedding videos. I also learned video editing and started looking after the office.   Breaking into the news business   My break into journalism came a year later, in 1997, when an international news organization called us, asking us to shoot a roof collapse at a wedding ceremony in the town of Dera Ghazi Khan 80 kilometres (49 miles) away, in which several people had died. I went to shoot the collapse with my boss -- the area was a deeply conservative one and my boss would not be allowed into the house, so he took me along.   The roof collapsed because the family was having a wedding ceremony on it and it couldn’t sustain the weight of the people. I don’t remember how many people exactly had died, but nearly a dozen people including women and children were buried alive in the rubble. I shot some video and also took still photos. After that, I just started going with Iqbal and other news photographers to news events.   Professional hazards   Covering news events came with its own set of hazards and some of the countless scenes stand out more than others.   The first time that I was in a dangerous situation was in October 2001, when I covered a protest in the town of Jacobabad, some 360 kilometers southwest of Multan. I was filming outside an airbase that was handed over to the US after the 9/11 attacks. The demonstrators were protesting the handing over of the airbase to US forces to carry out strikes inside Afghanistan. Police charged the hundreds of protesters, beating them with sticks and firing tear gas. Fourteen of them were wounded and 200 arrested.   It was one of the most violent protests that I have covered. The police were beating everyone in their way, even the reporters and cameramen who were filming. When I found myself in the middle of this violence, I didn’t know what to do. Somehow, I managed to remain on the scene and continue working. People were running in all directions, police were chasing and beating them with batons. At one point I thought that I may not get home alive. I still don’t know how I managed to avoid the violence all around me.   It was the first time that I was afraid while working. It was so different from wedding parties, where everyone was happy, all dressed up, smiling, the women donning their best gold and silver jewelry and colorful flowing dresses embroidered in glittering beads, the atmosphere festive.   Here it was total chaos. You had the demonstrators and police pulsing with anger, mayhem all around, teargas stinging the eyes and making you choke. Danger everywhere.   But amid it all, I had to keep my head and film the chaos and the violence. And I did it. It was so rewarding to see my footage carried by international news networks. It was a huge motivational boost. Not only did I manage to do a good job, I could work in difficult situations just like the male journalists.   It’s difficult to convey just how powerful that emotion is for a woman in Pakistan -- the confidence that you are an equal. It was then that I realized that I wanted to continue with news work. It was challenging and dynamic. I realized I could make a name for myself in this profession. And that I would have more respect than a female party videographer.   Like I told my family after another violent protest, when I was manhandled and my camera broken (I still managed to film) -- when I worked in dangerous situations I felt more alive. It made me stronger.   Probably the most dangerous situation that I’ve been in came this year in June. I went to a house of a man who had been killed in an acid attack by a woman with whom he’d had an affair. When they saw the camera, the entire family got enraged. The relatives said that they were mourning and that I had come to film them in pain for the “entertainment” of their rivals. Some of the men started pushing me away. My assistant and I found ourselves surrounded by a mob of dozens of men shouting, swearing and getting physical. We had to flee for our lives.   Tragedy strikes   The personal and professional strands of my life came together in 2005, when I married my boss, Iqbal, following the death of his wife. Over the years of working together, Iqbal and I had gotten to know each other well. He always encouraged me in my work and always told me to be brave and to show others that a woman can work just as well as a man. After his wife died, he proposed, as he thought that I could take care both of the business and of his kids. My family had gradually also come to accept my work and became confident that I would manage to make my way. I was so happy. But tragedy struck three years later.   My husband had high blood pressure and six years ago he died suddenly. I was devastated. I didn’t know what to do. I felt so lonely and helpless. I did not have my own children, but I was looking after his kids from his first marriage. We had lived in a house adjoining his family’s. But after his death, the in-laws wanted me to leave. I went back to my parents’ house and started to put my life back together.   I began stringing for different news networks. Those were very busy times, when a mega flood hit Pakistan in 2010. I covered several bomb blasts, crime stories and camel and dog fights. I also covered the story of Mukhtar Mai, the woman who was gang-raped but fought back in court and became a global symbol for hope and resilience.   Mai''s story has been my favorite one to cover. I saw her voice against rape spreading to all parts of the world from that tiny dusty village in central Pakistan. It was also a unique experience to see a village woman rising to become a global anti-rape icon and starting schools for girls and shelters for women facing violence at the hands of their husbands and families. She was inspiring.   Working as a woman has both advantages and disadvantages. Often, it has helped me take photos or videos at places not accessible to men. I can talk to both men and women, but I am at a distinct advantage in places where both women and their male relatives are reluctant to be filmed or photographed by male journalists.   Most of the time in Multan I can work alone. But in the towns and villages outside the city, where men are not accustomed to seeing female journalists taking pictures and videos on the streets, it is unthinkable to venture out alone.   When I work, I invariably attract a crowd. Some are just curious, but many men have tried to push or touch me when I’m trying to film in crowded places. Which makes my job harder, since I have to get the vital shots and avoid the oglers.   So to make my job easier, I have hired a male assistant, who goes with me in the field and works both as an apprentice and keeps irritating men at a distance. You can say he’s my personal bodyguard.   Over the years, I have trained many of the men who today work as cameramen with leading television channels in Multan. I won’t tell you who they are, because some of them will be embarrassed, or will be taunted by their male colleagues that they were taught the trade by a woman.   Once they learn to fly by themselves, they don’t want to look back and acknowledge that a woman taught them what they know. It’s not surprising, considering where they live -- a male-dominated society where women have to struggle on a daily basis to make their way in the world. But it doesn’t matter if they acknowledge it or not. I know.   * This blog was written with Masroor Gilani in Islamabad and Yana Dlugy in Paris. Hina Jilani a human rights activist discusses women''s rights in Pakistan: http://bit.ly/2kMla3Z   http://www.dw.com/en/pakistan-journalism-student-latest-victim-of-blasphemy-vigilantes/a-38433834 http://reliefweb.int/report/pakistan/dreams-turned-nightmares-attacks-students-teachers-and-schools-pakistan   (Access more photo collections and stories from AFP correspondents via the link below). Visit the related web page
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