I refer the Deputy to my reply of 16 January concerning this matter. The Deputy will be aware that there was widespread revulsion at the attempted murder of Malala Yousafzai last October. The shooting was condemned by the High Representative/Vice President of the European Commission, Catherine Ashton, and the Secretary General of the Nations, Ban Ki-Moon. I too expressed and continue to express my utter condemnation of this appalling act. Like many others, I admire Malala Yousafzai’s courageous efforts to promote the fundamental right to education and her efforts to achieve education for women and girls in Pakistan and other regions worldwide.
During Pakistan’s most recent UN Universal Periodic Review in October 2012, Ireland urged the Government of Pakistan to give consideration to adopting measures to protect individual and minority rights in line with its Constitution and with international human rights standards and conventions. We also recommended that the Government of Pakistan invite the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders to conduct an independent visit to Pakistan.
The EU engages in regular dialogue with Pakistan on human rights and democratic principles, including the right to freedom of opinion and expression. The EU has called on the Pakistani authorities, at the highest level, to adopt measures to protect individual and minority rights in line with the Constitution and with international human rights standards and conventions. In particular, High Representative Ashton, met Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in December 2012 to discuss a range of issues, including an exchange on the case of Malala Yousafzai.
The Government of Pakistan has confirmed to my Department that the views espoused by Malala Yousafzai, in the words of Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, represent Pakistan’s future and Pakistan’s hope. The President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari and his daughter, during a visit to Britain recently, visited Malala Yousfazai in hospital in Birmingham, while undergoing treatment for and recuperating from her injuries. I am also informed that Malala Yousafzai is applauded and supported by all political parties in Pakistan.
The Government of Pakistan, to underline its support for the views espoused by Malala Yousafzai has, I understand, appointed her father as Education Attaché at the Pakistani Consulate in Birmingham, and that by these acts there is a clear message of Pakistani Government support for equal access to education for boys and girls.
