Asma Jahangir

Asma Jahangir co-founded the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in 1987, an independent organization that became one of the most prominent human rights advocacy groups in South Asia. She also co-founded the Women's Action Forum in 1981, which challenged the Islamization laws enacted under General Zia-ul-Haq's military regime.

Jahangir served as the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions from 1998 to 2004, and later as the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief from 2004 to 2010. In these roles she investigated human rights violations in countries around the world and reported her findings to the UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly.

Jahangir died on February 11, 2018, in Lahore, Pakistan, at the age of 66, after suffering a cardiac arrest. Her death prompted an outpouring of grief and tributes from across Pakistan and the international human rights community, reflecting her decades of fearless advocacy for women, religious minorities, and marginalized groups.

Yes, Jahangir made history in 2010 by becoming the first woman to serve as president of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan. Her election to this position was a landmark for women in Pakistan's legal profession and underscored her stature as one of the country's most respected and influential lawyers.