NEW YORK: The Pakistani government should investigate allegations that elements in the Pakistani military and intelligence agencies have plotted to kill prominent lawyer and human rights activist Asma Jahangir, the Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.

Jahangir made the allegation in a television interview on June 4, 2012, the HRW said in a press release.

Pakistani authorities should urgently and thoroughly investigate the alleged plot against Asma Jahangir and hold all those responsible to account, regardless of position or rank, said Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan director at Human Rights Watch.

“A threat against Jahangir is a threat to all those in Pakistan who struggle for human rights and the rule of law.”

Jahangir told reporters on June 4 that through a security leak brought to her attention by a highly credible source, she had discovered that an assassination attempt was being planned against her from the highest levels of the security establishment.

She said that she thought it best to go public with the information as she feared that she could be killed and a member of her family framed for the murder.

Governments that have lauded Jahangir’s human rights advocacy both in Pakistan and internationally should be alarmed by this alleged plot and press for a prompt and persistent investigation, Hasan said.