Karachi, December 09, 2022 (PPI-OT):Chairman Pakistan People’s Party and Foreign Minister of Pakistan Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that our commitment to human rights is unshakable and every effort will be made to ensure the protection and promotion of the rights of every citizen of the country.
In his message on the eve of International Human Rights Day being observed tomorrow, the PPP Chairman said that his Party has fought for decades against the usurpers of democratic and human rights of the people enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan, unanimously approved under the first directly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
Human Rights Day is celebrated every year on 10 December. On this day United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. This year, the day is celebrated under the theme “The 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”.
In this regard, the United Nations is set to launch a year-long campaign to showcase the UDHR by focusing on its legacy, relevance and activism. Significantly, Pakistan was one of original signatories of the Declaration in 1948 which reflects commitment of the country to human rights.
UDHR provides for a range of fundamental rights and freedoms, most of which humans intrinsically possess. These freedoms and rights include, but are not limited to, right to life, liberty and security of person, right to freedom of opinion and expression, the equality before the law, fair trial and right to vote. Most of these rights and freedoms provided in UDHR are ensured under Chapter 1 on Fundamental Rights in the Constitution of Pakistan.
Foreign Minister said that Pakistan is party to 27 International Conventions including 7 core Human Rights Treaties. On account of being party to 27 Conventions, government of Pakistan entered into the GSP+ agreement with the EU in 2014. Under these obligations, Pakistan has shown significant progress on human rights at legislative, institutional and policy reforms level.
At national level these developments include, but are not limited to, establishment of the Treaty Implementation Cell (TIC), National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) such as National Commission on Human Rights, National Commission on the Rights of Child and formulation of the National Action Plan for Human Rights.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari further pointed out that at provincial level, PPP government has also exhibited profound commitment to human rights. Government of Sindh has developed a very robust legal, institutional and policy framework protecting, promoting and fulfilling rights of the marginalised sections of the society, such as children, women, religious monitories, agriculture workers, home-based workers, bonded labourers, and informal workers.
The major laws enacted by provincial government of Sindh include, but are not limited to , Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2013, Sindh Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act, 2013, Sindh Senior Citizens Welfare Act, 2014, Sindh Differently-Abled Persons (Employment, Rehabilitation and Welfare) Act, 2014, Sindh Bonded Labour System Abolition Act, 2015, Sindh Hindus Marriage Act, 2016 and Sindh Hindu Marriage Amendment Act 2018, Sindh Empowerment of ‘Persons with Disabilities’ Act, 2018 and Sindh Prisons and Corrections Services Act, 2019.
Major Human Rights Commissions established by the government of Sindh include, the Sindh Child Protection Authority (SCPA) set up under the Sindh Child Protection Authority Act (SCPAA), 2011; the Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC), set up under the Sindh Protection of Human Rights Act, 2011, the Sindh Commission on the Status of Women (SCSW) set up under the Sindh Commission on the Status of Women Act (SCSWA), 2015.
It may be recalled that Human Rights Department, GoS which is the key department in the domain of human rights has recently made key strides. It has prepared a draft Human Rights Policy for the Province of Sindh with the technical support of Huqooq-e-Pakistan Project (Europen Union Project) team and other experts.
Realizing importance of GSP+, the department organized a conference on “Human Rights Reforms in Sindh – GSP+ and beyond” in the Month of May 2022 in Karachi. Chargé d’Affaires of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Pakistan Thomas Seiler also attended the conference as a speaker.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said he has been informed that legal aid to poor and needy people has been granted by Human Rights Department. A Provincial Human Rights Vigilance Committee has been reconstituted by Human Rights Department with additional members with mandate to support, to suggest, to tender expert opinion and offer comments on burning issues of human rights in Sindh and to suggest ways and means of redressal of human rights grievances of general public suffering from human rights violations.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that brutal violations of human rights in Indian-Occupied Kashmir and Palestine are continuing unabatedly and international community needs to raise its voice against it during the United Nations year-long campaign by focusing its attention on grave trampling of human rights by the occupying forces in these territories.
PPP Chairman reiterated the conviction of upholding the basic human rights, which is the founding stone of Party and for these non-negotiable rights the Party leadership and workers have offered huge sacrifices during the untiring struggle.
For more information, contact:
PPP Media Cell (Sindh)
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)
Peoples Secretariat Shikarpur Colony,
Behind Mazar-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Karachi, Pakistan
Cell: +92-305-3370383
Email: contact@ppp-tu.com
Website: https://www.ppp.org.pk