Asma
Jilani Jahangir is a Pakistani lawyer and human rights activist who has served
as a United Nations Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights since
1998. She has been involved in human rights issues for much of her life -- her
father, a former colonel in the Pakistani army, spent years in prison and under
house arrest for opposing military dictatorships, and Asma began protesting at
a young age against the military regime in Pakistan. In 1980 Asma Janhangir and
her sister Hina Jilani organized the first all-female law firm in Pakistan and
worked to defend the rights of Pakistani women. In 1986 she helped to found the
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent group of lawyers and activists
who work to protect Pakistani citizens against some of the many injustices in
her society, such as women who are imprisoned after being raped, or women whose
families try to murder them when they leave abusive husbands; death sentences
by stoning for blasphemous statements; and working for the release of prisoners
who arrested and tortured illegally. In
1995 Asma Jahangir was honored with the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders
as well as the Ramon Magsaysay award for "greatness of spirit shown in service
of the people" and in 2003 she was featured by Time Magazine as one of
Asia's most noteworthy heroes. In 2005 she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize
as part of the 1000 Women for Peace project.
