UNO Award for Mohtrama Benazir Bhutto. (2008-4)

The United Nations has conferred the Prestigious United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights for 2008 on Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed. The citation describes her as an ardent advocate for democracy and for human rights of most vulnerable sections of society particularly women, children and minorities. By awarding this prize, the international community and United Nations have acknowledged the tireless work and invaluable contribution of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto for the Promotion of democracy and human rights.2. The Human Rights Prize is awarded every five years in accordance with a resolution of the General Assembly that was adopted in 1966. The prize was first awarded on 10 December 1968, the International Year for Human Rights and the 20th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.3. The UN human rights awards are intended to \"Honour and commend people and organizations which have made an outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of the human rights embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in other UN Human rights instruments_.\"4. The recipients of the prize were selected by a committee comprised for the President of the General Assembly (Chairperson), the President of the Economic and Social Council, the President of the Human Rights Council, the Chairperson of the Commission on the Status of Woman, and the Chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the Human Rights Council.5. The Committee met in New York with the assistance of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on 21 November 2008, to select the awardees from amongst 189 nominations received in accordance with the established rules.6. Previous recipients have included Nelson Mandela, Amnesty International, Jimmy Carter, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Reverend Dr. Martin L. King as well as Ra\'ana Liaquat AN Khan, wife of Pakistan\'s first Prime Minister, who was also assassinated in Rawalpindi.7. Shaheed Benazir Bhutto was twice elected Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1988 and 1995. After returning to Pakistan following years in exile, she was assassinated in an attack following a political rally in Rawalpindi in December 2007.Life of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed8. Benazir Bhutto Shaheed was born in Karachi, Pakistan on 21st June 1953 to Begum Nusrat Ispahan! and Zulfikar AN Bhutto Shaheed, the founder of Pakistan Peoples Party, who has been Prime Minister of Pakistan. She attended the Lady Jennings Nursery School and then the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Karachi. She passed her O-level examination at the age 15. She then went on to complete her A-Levels at Karachi Grammar School.9. After completing her early education in Pakistan, she pursued her higher education in the United States. From 1969 to 1973 she attended Radcliff College at Harvard University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree, She was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She would later call her time at Harvard \"four of the happiest years of my Life\" and said it formed \"the very basis for her belief in democracy\".10. The next phase of her education took place in the United Kingdom. Between 1973 and 1977 she studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, during which time she completed additional courses in International Law and Diplomacy. After LMH she attended St. Catherine\'s College, Oxford and in December 1976 she was elected president of the Oxford Union, becoming the first Asian woman to head the prestigious debating society. On June 2006 she received an Honorary LLD degree from the University of Toronto.11. On 18 December 1987 she married Asif All Zardari in Karachi. The couple had three children Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Asefa.12. Benazir Bhutto Shaheed who had returned to Pakistan after completing her studies, found herself placed under house arrest in the wake of her father\'s imprisonment and subsequent execution. Having been allowed in 1984 to return to the United Kingdom, she became a leader in exile of the PPP, her father\'s party, though she was unable to make the political presence felt in Pakistan until after the death of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. She had succeeded her mother as leader of the PPP and the pro democracy opposition to the Zia-ul-Haq regime,13. On 16 November 1988 in the first open election in more than a decade PPP won the largest block of seats in the National Assembly. She was sworn in as Prime Minister of a coalition government en December 2 becoming at age 35 youngest person —— and the first woman —— to head he government of a Muslim-majority state in modern times. In 1989 she was awarded the Prize for Freedom by the Liberal International. Her accomplishments during this time were in initiatives for nationalist reform and modernization. Benazir Bhutto Shaheed\'s government was dismissed in 1990 following fake charges of corruption, for which she was never tried. Nawaz Sharif came to power after the October 1990 elections. She served as leader of the Opposition while Nawaz Sharif served as Prime Minster for the next three years.14. In October 1993 elections were held again and her PPP coalition was victorious, returning Benazir Bhutto Shaheed to office and allowing her to continue her reform initiatives. In 1996 her government was again dismissed by the then President Farooq Laghari who used discretionery powers under 8th amendment of constitution to dissolve the government.15. She remained in exile for 08 years and after eight years in exile in Dubai and London, Benazir Bhutto Shaheed returned to Karachi on 18 October 2007 to prepare for the 2008 national elections.16. She was well aware of the risk to her own life that might result from her return from exile to campaign for the leadership position. In an interview on September 28, 2007, with reporter Wolf Blitzer of CNN she readily admitted the possibility of attack on herself.17. En-ro-ute to a rally in Karachi on 18 October 2007 two explosions occurred shortly after Benazir Bhutto Shaheed had Landed and left Jinnah International Airport. She was not injured but the explosion, later found to be a suicide-bomb attack killed 136 people and injured at least 450. The dead included at least 50 of the security guards from her PPP who had formed a human chain around her truck to keep potential bombers away, as well as six police officers. 18. On 27 December 2007, Benazir Bhutto Shaheed was targeted while leaving a campaign rally for the PPP at Liaquat National Bagh, where she had given a spirited address to party supporters in the run-up to the January 2008 parliamentary elections. After entering her bulletproof vehicle, she stood up through its sunroof to wave to the crowds. At this point a gunman fired shots at her and subsequently explosives were detonated near the vehicle killing approximately 20 people. She was critically wounded and was rushed to Rawalpindi General Hospital. She was taken into surgery at 17:35 local time, and she breathed her last at 18:16 hours.To highlight the event of award of the U.N. Human Rights Prize to Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed, Pakistan Post is issuing a special postage stamp of Rs.4/- on December 10, 2008.