WAF moves SHC seeking Munir Akram’s removal as Pakistan’s UN envoy

KARACHI: The Women's Action Forum (WAF) on Thursday filed a petition in the Sindh High Court seeking the removal of Munir Akram as Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

The government appointed Akram as Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in September. He had served previously on the same post from 2002 to 2008.

In 2003, the US asked Pakistan to waive Akram’s diplomatic immunity so he could be prosecuted on assault charges.

“According to press reports, New York police were called to Akram’s home on Dec. 10, 2002 by a woman who alleged the envoy had beaten her. The woman told police dispatchers that the envoy had smashed her head into a wall, that her arm hurt and that he had hit her before, according to the newspaper accounts,” AFP reported. 

In its petition, the WAF said Akram's appointment by the government and the ministry of foreign affairs as a Pakistani diplomat was “illegal, unlawful and void-ab-initio”.

The petition called upon the court to restrain Akram “from performing functions of the Ambassador / Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations”.

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The women’s rights organisation noted that, according to Pakistani the law, a retired civil servant cannot be re-hired by the federal government unless the grounds for the re-employment are concerned with the public interest.

The organisation lashed out at the government and the ministry of foreign affairs for whimsically and capriciously making appointments of civil servants.

The petition also mentioned the allegations of domestic abuse against the diplomat that had made headlines around the globe. Citing reports from international media, WAF noted that Akram was involved in assaulting a woman in an incident of domestic violence in 2003.

“It was also reported that the gravity of the actions of Respondent No. 3 [Munir Akram] produced an official request by the State Department of the United States of America to Pakistan to withdraw the diplomatic immunity enjoyed as a diplomat by Respondent No. 3 [Munir Akram] so that he could be proceeded against under American law,” it noted.

“In light of the accusation of domestic violence, it is requested of the Honorable Court, to reflect on the impression this creates in the global environment, and also the impression made of the standards of behaviour reflective of official representatives,” read the petition.

WAF’s petition called upon the court to direct Munir Akram to show on what authority he claims to hold the office of the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations.

The women’s rights organisation urged the high court to declare Akram’s appointment illegal and issued without lawful authority. WAF also requested the court to ‘permanently restrain’ Akram as the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN.