NEW YORK: The Human Rights Watch announced on Friday that its Pakistan director, Ali Dayan Hasan, had decided to leave the organisation after working with it for 11 years.

A press release by the Human Rights Watch paid tribute to Mr Hasan and said he was a “pioneering figure in the organisation’s internationalisation efforts”.

“With his background as a journalist, Hasan has shown what a gifted writer, tireless advocate, and constant media presence can accomplish in the most challenging of circumstances,” it said.

“In the face of public threats and at risk to himself, Hasan has been a powerful and relentless voice against abuses by government authorities and militant groups, and against complicity in such abuses by the US and British authorities.”

In his message, Brad Adams, the organisation’s Asia director, said: “Ali Dayan Hasan has been a constant and courageous defender of human rights in Pakistan over the past decade with Human Rights Watch.

“We will miss him greatly as he embarks on the next chapters of his professional life.”