Zarteef Afridi
Zarteef Afridi was a coordinator of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) where he served as the coordinator in Khyber Agency, one of the tribal areas in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in the northeast of Pakistan. HRCP was founded in 1986 to provide an informed and independent voice in the struggle for human rights in Pakistan. Mr Afridi was a school teacher in Khyber Agency of FATA and had been a member of HRCP since 1992. On 8 December 2011, human rights defender Mr Zarteef Afridi was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Ghundai area near Jamrod Bazaar, Khyber Agency.
Pakistan is one of the most challenging countries in the region for human rights defenders, who face high risks including killing, arbitrary arrest and detention, abduction and kidnapping, surveillance, threats and judicial harassment. Many HRDs have had their offices attacked or burnt down and their colleagues killed.
