Month: April 2023

Lahore, April 30, 2023 (PPI-OT):On concluding its biannual meeting, the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)’s governing Council has expressed serious concern over the country’s dire economic situation, purported increase in child labour and exploitative practices, and reports of suicides allegedly triggered by poverty.

HRCP reiterates the need for urgent land reforms to reduce economic inequality and views the growth of high-income housing societies with alarm, given the consequent depletion of agricultural land and associated risk of rising food insecurity.

HRCP strongly feels that the growing political polarisation has undermined parliamentary supremacy. Concerns over the census and allegations of undercounting must also be addressed, given the implications for delimitation of electoral constituencies.

Local governments need to be made much more effective in all the provinces to protect people’s rights. HRCP also demands greater judicial accountability and transparency in the appointment of judges.

Unseasonal rains and the growing prospect of floods in Sindh and Balochistan are cause for alarm. Those displaced by the earlier floods must be rehabilitated in areas that are not vulnerable to further natural disasters.

HRCP is also alarmed by the deteriorating law and order in northern Sindh and southern Punjab, including the increase in dacoities and kidnappings, as well as reports of the growing presence of militants in Gilgit-Baltistan and Kohistan.

The state must make a concerted effort to protect the rights of vulnerable groups, including Afghan refugees settled in makeshift camps in Islamabad. It must meet the long-standing demand for compensation for people displaced by the 2010 Attabad disaster and Kargil war in Gilgit-Baltistan and make every effort to repatriate Pakistani fisher folk incarcerated in Indian jails. HRCP is also concerned over the continuing legal challenges being mounted against the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2018.

HRCP is especially concerned over the situation of religious minorities, who continue to face discrimination and violence. A bill criminalising forced conversions, currently with the Sindh government, should be passed without further delay. The Sindh Students Union Act must also be implemented promptly.

The continued use of Schedule IV of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 to harass human rights defenders, political dissidents and journalists in Gilgit-Baltistan must cease. Additionally, the journalists’ safety commission instituted under the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Act 2021 must be made operational.

HRCP reiterates its utter dissatisfaction with the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, given that perpetrators of enforced disappearances are still not held accountable. We also call for transparency into the resources that were supposed to have been allocated to the newly merged districts in KP and reportedly have not. Additionally, there needs to be a concerted effort to remove landmines in KP.

For more information, contact:

Chairperson,

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)

Aiwan-i-Jamhoor, 107-Tipu Block,

New Garden Town, Lahore-54600

Tel: +92-42-35864994

Fax: +92-42-35883582

Email: hrcp@hrcp-web.org

Website: www.hrcp-web.org

Karachi, April 30, 2023 (PPI-OT):Labour leaders on the eve of the May 1st, International Workers Day, has decried that the real wages of the workers have been declined by 45percent due to brisk inflation, especially food inflation. Nasir Mansoor of National Trade Union Federation (NTUF), Zehra Khan of Home Based Women Workers Federation (HBWWF), Hassnia Khatoon of Association of the Affectees of Baldia Factory Fire, and Riaz Abbasi of SITE Labour Forum in a joint statement paid rich tributes to the workers martyred in Chicago in 1886.

They said the worst exploitation against which the workers of Chicago had bravely fought is still present in our society. More than seven Crore labours are compelled to work for 12 to 14 hours a day in factories and workplaces and resultantly their quality of life is going from bad to worse.

Today the workers despite the announcement of the Sindh government about Rs25000 per month minimum wage are getting meagre wages that are not enough to even buy basic kitchen items like wheat flour, pulses, rice, milk, cooking oil and vegetables.

Their current wages are not enough to pay for the utilities of electricity, gas, education and healthcare whose rates have been doubled and tripled. Due to fast depreciation of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar the real wages of the Pakistani workers have already fallen by up to 45 percent.

They said irrespective of which political party is ruling the country, the factory owners are not ready to give their workers the government-announced minimum wage. The voice against the exploitation of Capital is being silenced with force.

They said that on the Labour Day, the NTUF and HBWWF will arrange rallies, processions and demos in different cities of Pakistan to pay homage to the martyrs of Chicago. In Karachi a grand Workers Rally would be taken in Karachi on May 1 at 4:00 PM that would march from Regal Chowk to Karachi Press Club (KPC).

For more information, contact:

Home Based Women Workers Federation (HBWWF)

726, Mashrique Centre, Block 14, Gulshan-e-Iqbal,

Karachi, Pakistan

Tel: +92-21-37075324

Website: https://hbwwf.org/