United Nations Releases Professor Bennoune's Statement on Forced Evictions in Pakistan
Acting in her capacity as the United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Professor Karima Bennoune issued a statement on the Pakistani government's forced evictions of residents in the path of construction work on the Orange metro line in Lahore.
"The project passes through the historic center of Lahore, threatening pre-partition buildings, minority places of worship, historic tombs and shrines, and great gardens, many of which are registered protected heritage sites," Bennoune said in a January 25 UN news release. "These are of importance not only to local people and the entire cultural landscape of Lahore but are of national significance for the history and cultural heritage of Pakistan."
Karima Bennoune is an author, lecturer, teacher, and international law scholar as well as the first Arab-American to be honored with the Derrick A. Bell Award from the Section on Minority Groups of the Association of American Law Schools. In October 2015, she was appointed UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights.