(HRCP) – Page 2 – Newswire Pakistan

February 18, 2023February 20, 2023

HRCP mission to northern Sindh finds poor law and order, slow flood relief

Karachi, February 18, 2023 (PPI-OT):The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has concluded a high-profile fact-finding mission to northern Sindh and expressed its alarm over the state of law and order, the high incidence of gender-based violence, safety of journalists and slow pace of rehabilitation of flood-affected communities. The mission is also concerned by the level of political and feudal influence over state institutions and agencies, which makes people’s access to justice unpredictable and affects their ability to realise their rights.

The mission comprised HRCP chairperson Hina Jilani, vice-chair Sindh Qazi Khizar Habib, Council member Sadia Bokhari, and senior activist Imdad Chandio. Accompanied by HRCP co-chair Asad Iqbal Butt, the team visited Ghotki, Kandhkot, Jacobabad and Larkana.

Of particular concern to the mission were reports that families affected by the devastating 2022 floods have yet to receive compensation or assistance in rebuilding their homes. The mission was told by the deputy commissioner in Qambar Shahdadkot that over 142,000 in this area alone had been destroyed. Additionally, the number of schools destroyed have severely interrupted children’s education, with little sign of the situation improving.

The mission was alarmed to find that at least 300 cases of kidnapping for ransom were reported in Ghotki, with women and children the primary targets. Police reports suggest that military-grade weapons have been used in such instances, allegedly sourced from Balochistan and thus calling into question provincial border security, although residents have alleged the complicity of security forces, given the hundreds of check-posts that line the border.

The incidence of forced conversions was raised by numerous respondents, who said that they now feared sending their daughters to school in case they were abducted for this purpose. The mission also noted reports of extrajudicial killings as well as law enforcement agencies’ view that the police remain vulnerable to losses, given the poor state of law and order.

During their visit to Kandhkot and Jacobabad – which appears to account for the highest rate of karo Kari [honour killings] in the province – the mission was appalled to learn that victims included underage girls, married women and even elderly women. Victims’ families also complained of needlessly long delays in investigation as well as in the courts.

The mission was concerned to learn that journalists based in Ghotki, Kandhkot and Larkana found it difficult to report against influential persons for fear of reprisal in the shape of death threats, kidnappings, and assault and fabricated FIRs.

During their visit to Larkana, the mission found that reports of enforced disappearances were rampant, with victims’ families complaining that they were forced to travel to Karachi to attend successive hearings of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances – in many cases, this was financially impossible to sustain. Families also recounted receiving threatening phone calls from unidentified persons when they reported such cases.

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

February 16, 2023February 17, 2023

Economic justice means fairer wealth distribution

Lahore, February 16, 2023 (PPI-OT):The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) held the third Asma Jahangir Memorial lecture today in remembrance of its former chairperson. The lecture was delivered by senior economist Dr Pervez Tahir, who spoke on economic justice in light of Pakistan’s deteriorating economic climate.

Detailing the legal, political and administrative developments in Pakistan’s history, Dr Tahir recalled how founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah had emphasised the need for economic reforms to reduce poverty. However, political instability and successive imprudent financial policies had only led to one economic crisis after another and growing economic disparities, he said.

Despite an emphasis on economic justice in Pakistan’s constitutional and legal framework, the policies required to realise economic justice were not devised. Moreover, the state has failed to allocate sufficient financial resources to alleviate poverty and reduce economic disparity, one of the primary factors behind economic injustice and exploitation in Pakistan.

Dr Tahir recommended that the focus of Pakistan’s budgetary allocations must be pro-people above all; the federal government’s size must also be cut down in conformity with the 18th amendment, with property tax devolved to local government, and the income of large landholders must be made subject to the regular tax regime. Economic justice must be reflected in a fairer distribution of wealth and not merely in the growth of income.

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

February 15, 2023February 16, 2023

HRCP mission finds upsurge in rights violations against religious minorities in Gujranwala

Lahore, February 15, 2023 (PPI-OT):A fact-finding mission led by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has underscored an alarming uptick in the persecution of members of the Ahmadiyya community in Gujranwala and surrounding areas-specifically, the desecration of their graves, the destruction of minarets at Ahmadi sites of worship and first information reports (FIRs) filed against community members for carrying out ritual animal sacrifice on Eid.

The mission’s report, released earlier today, finds evidence to suggest that the civil administration in Gujranwala and Wazirabad were directly involved in destroying the minarets on Ahmadi sites of worship in December 2022 and January 2023, following objections raised by members of a local political-religious outfit. While the administration claims to have done so to circumvent the threat of mob violence, the way it has handled the matter has only fostered growing hostility towards the Ahmadiyya community and increased the vulnerability of Ahmadi residents in the area.

Of particular concern is the district administration’s perception that some legal and constitutional provisions provide room for persecution of this kind, although the report notes that, under Article 20(b) of the Constitution, this is not the case. ‘While the mission understands that the local bureaucracy, police and judiciary were successfully intimidated by a religious group, their response displays a pitiful inability to manage law and order while respecting the fundamental rights of the Ahmadiyya community,’ the report adds.

The mission recommends that the judgments of Supreme Court Justices Tasadduq Hussain Jilani and Syed Mansoor Ali Shah from 2014 and 2022 be implemented in letter and spirit, including the establishment of a special police force to guard religious minorities’ places of worship. Additionally, the police’s capacity to deal with the threat of mob violence in such situations must be augmented through proper infrastructure and training.

February 7, 2023February 8, 2023

HRCP calls attention to continued marginalisation of religious minorities

Lahore, February 07, 2023 (PPI-OT):In its report titled A Breach of Faith: Freedom of Religion or Belief in 2021-22, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has observed with considerable alarm developments during 2021/22 that belie the state’s commitment to freedom of religion or belief.

The incidence of forced conversions in Sindh has remained worryingly consistent. Reports of religious minorities’ sites of worship being desecrated have continued, but with no response from the state when such incidents involve sites associated with the Ahmadiyya community.

In Punjab, the mandatory declaration of faith for marriage certificates has further marginalised the Ahmadiyya community, while attempts to enforce a standardised national curriculum have created an exclusionary narrative that sidelines Pakistan’s religious minorities.

HRCP has reiterated the need for a representative and autonomous statutory national commission for minorities in the spirit of the 2014 Supreme Court Jillani judgement. It has also called for urgent legislation to criminalise forced conversions.

Among other recommendations, HRCP has demanded that the state make a concerted effort to counter sectarian violence, not only by implementing the National Action Plan but also by developing a national narrative that unambiguously eschews religious extremism and majoritarianism. The low threshold of evidence for blasphemy must be raised to ensure that the laws in question are not weaponised by people to settle personal vendettas, as is so often the case.

HRCP has also called for re-evaluating the quotas for religious minorities in education and employment and accountability mechanisms to ensure that these quotas are implemented, adding that, in no circumstances should job advertisements call for ‘non-Muslims only’ when recruiting sanitation workers.

Unless these measures are implemented urgently, Pakistan will continue to foster a climate of impunity for perpetrators of faith-based discrimination and violence, allowing the already-narrow space for religious freedom to shrink even further.

February 4, 2023February 6, 2023

Sedition laws must be abolished

Lahore, February 04, 2023 (PPI-OT):The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expresses its deep concern over the spate of recent arrests and cases filed against opposition leaders and journalists on charges of sedition, treason, and making statements conducing to ‘public mischief’ and incitement to violence. The sheer impunity with which such arrests have been made, often without warning in the early hours of the morning, with some of those arrested alleging that their families were harassed and their property damaged, is cause for alarm.

Successive governments have brazenly weaponised archaic, colonial-era laws to stifle dissent. Never has this served any democratic purpose. While we do not condone abusive or threatening language or slander, in light of the recent arrests of leaders such as Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed and Fawad Chaudhry under Sections 153-A, 505 and 124-A, HRCP urges the government to abolish the sedition law, as it is currently worded, from the Pakistan Penal Code, given its long history as a tool of political victimisation. A political process to do so, which was initiated in the Senate in early 2020 but could not come to fruition, must be revived immediately.

Section 124-A constitutes a constraint on the legitimate exercise of constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and expression. Dissent and criticism of the government are essential ingredients of robust public debate in a vibrant democracy and should never be construed as sedition.

January 20, 2023January 22, 2023

Amendments to blasphemy laws create further room for persecution

Lahore, January 20, 2023 (PPI-OT):The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expresses its deep concern over the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act 2023, which was passed unanimously in the National Assembly on 17 January. While the stated aim of this bill is to curb sectarianism, HRCP believes it is likely to exacerbate the persecution of Pakistan’s beleaguered religious minorities and minority sects.

The proposed legislation increases the punishment for using derogatory remarks against holy persons-including the Prophet (PBUH)’s family, wives and companions, and the four caliphs-from three years with a fine to imprisonment for life ‘which will not be less than ten years’. The bill also makes the offence non-bailable, thereby directly violating the constitutionally guaranteed right to personal liberty under Article 9.

Given Pakistan’s troubled record of the misuse of such laws, these amendments are likely to be weaponized disproportionately against religious minorities and sects, resulting in false FIRs, harassment and persecution. Moreover, increasing the penalty for alleged blasphemy will aggravate misuse of the law to settle personal vendettas, as is often the case with blasphemy allegations. At a time when civil society has been calling for amendments to these laws to prevent their abuse, strengthening this punishment will do the exact opposite.