Lahore, The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), concluding its 75th council meeting, has urged political parties to establish a human rights charter. This call comes in response to the diminishing state of democracy, pre-election manipulations, and growing challenges to human rights in the country.
According to Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the HRCP highlighted several pressing issues, including increased censorship of the media and deliberate internet outages aimed at particular political groups and their supporters. The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) notices to numerous social media users for an alleged ‘malicious campaign’ against the judiciary, following its decision regarding the PTI’s electoral symbol, were pointed out as examples of the erosion of freedom of expression. Concerns were also raised about potential internet restrictions during elections, which would violate citizens’ rights to information and peaceful assembly.
The HRCP expressed alarm over recent Senate resolutions advocating for election delays and the endorsement of military courts. Another worrying development is the allocation of over 52,000 acres of land in Sindh to an army-backed company for corporate farming, indicating an overreach by the military establishment.
The commission noted the disenfranchisement of approximately 10 million women lacking national identity cards, preventing them from voting. This situation reflects the state’s failure to recognize citizenship as a fundamental right. Additionally, the HRCP criticized the continued marginalization of the Ahmadiyya community through separate electoral lists and advocated for reserved seats for transgender political representatives.
HRCP’s statement also addressed the state’s neglect of the Baloch people, evident in the response to the women-led march in Islamabad protesting extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. The lack of accountability for extrajudicial killings in Turbat and Sakrand (Sindh) was highlighted. Similarly, the indifference to protests in Gilgit-Baltistan is concerning.
The commission is deeply troubled by the revelation that over 26 million children in Pakistan are out of school, indicating a crisis in education. Reports of forced conversions of young women from religious minorities and worsening law and order in Sindh’s katcha areas were also mentioned. The killing of miners in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the continued use of internment centers and private jails were cited as human rights violations.