Political Manipulation in Human Rights Violations: A

“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State ” (United Nations, 1948). But “The right to life of women in Pakistan is conditional on their obeying social norms and traditions ” (Amnesty International, 1999). Pakistan ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1996, still women continue to be ‘commoditized’(Amnesty International, 1999, p. 4), bartered for land or money, given as swara (compensation for murder/dispute settlement) or watta satta (men acquire a wife by offering a sister or daughter in exchange), women are abused, raped or murdered by close relatives. ‘Honor ’ killing was once an unusual custom but has more recently evolved into a common practice in which men kill sisters