Pledging to promote and protect the human rights of its people, Pakistan on Thursday chided some of the so-called champions of human rights for showing a lack of interest in a special meeting held at UN to mark the end of the International Year of Human Rights Learning.Surveying the General Assembly hall, where the meeting took place, and noting the scarcity of UN ambassadors in the room, Pakistans Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon sounded a note of disappointment that the event lacked the vibrancy of past meetings on human rights. Today, he said, was an important day, but with inadequate representation in the spacious hall, the United Nations might not be sending the best message the rest of the world, especially those that were suffering from the inability to exercise those rights. Indeed, those that often saw themselves as the arbiters of human rights, by their absence might more rightly be called the pallbearers of those fundamental rights, the Pakistan envoy said in a forthright intervention. Ambassador Haroon went on to say that, despite efforts over the past six decades to promote universal respect for human rights, regrettably there had been gaps between rhetoric and implementation of those rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights stressed that everyone had the right to education ... to the full development of human personality and to strengthen the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. With that in mind, he said that one sure way to fill gaps in human rights was to promote broader implementation through enhanced learning and education. Indeed, he said Pakistan recognized the important role education could play in that regard and acknowledged the contributions of the various initiatives that had been launched during the International Year. Believing that all human rights were universal, the Government of Pakistan had, over the past year, organized a series of activities to create awareness on the importance of the promotion of human rights among all segments of society. Pakistan had decided that its initiatives should be launched under the motto Human Rights and Peace, Ambassador Haroon said, adding the element of peace, which had so captured the countrys collective imagination of late. He said different events would be taking place over the next eight days to commemorate Human Rights Day, organized by the Ministry of Human Rights and in consultation with Pakistans vibrant media and civil society, which were now playing a critical role in fostering a culture of transparency and accountability. Pakistans Constitution, he said, was built on the principle of equal rights and equal treatment of all its citizens. It guaranteed freedom of thought, expression, belief and faith and directed the State to take appropriate measures to ensure that women participated in all spheres of life and community activities. Ambassador Haroon said that the Assembly, though todays meeting seemed to lack the vibrancy of past meetings on human rights, needed to reaffirm its commitment to take up the challenges of ensuring the protection and promotion of fundamental rights for all. The democratic Government of Pakistan had and would continue to do all it could towards that end, as well as to uphold its international human rights treaty obligations. We urge the international community to do so as well, he said.