Munir Akram should be removed as Pakistan's envoy to UN: Women's Rights Organisation

KARACHI: A leading women's rights organisation has filed a petition seeking the removal of Munir Akram as Pakistan's ambassador to the United Nations, calling his re-appointment "illegal, unlawful and void-ab-initio".

The petition in the Sindh High Court, filed by the Women's Action Forum (WAF) on Thursday, also mentioned the allegations of domestic abuse against the diplomat, according to Pakistani media reports.

The Pakistan government has appointed Akram as permanent ambassador to the UN replacing Maleeha Lodhi.

Akram had previously served in the same post from 2002 to 2008. The US, however, asked Pakistan to waive Akram's diplomatic immunity in 2003 so he could be prosecuted on assault charges after allegations that he had beaten a woman on December 10, 2002.

In its petition, the WAF said Akram's appointment by the government and the Foreign Affairs Ministry was illegal. The petition called upon the court to restrain Akram "from performing functions of the Ambassador / Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations".

The women's rights body noted that, according to Pakistani 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.

"In light of the accusation of domestic violence, it is requested of the Honourable 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," the petition read.