HRCP – Page 5 – Newswire Pakistan

October 16, 2021October 18, 2021

Border should not be closed to those who flee in fear for their lives

Islamabad, October 16, 2021 (PPI-OT):At a roundtable organized by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and South Asian Partnership – Pakistan (SAP-PK) today, panellists called on the government to formulate, as a matter of priority, a coherent policy for assisting Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban-led dispensation in Afghanistan, where reports of human rights violations have escalated steadily since the far right militant group seized power in mid-August.

SAP-PK executive director Muhammad Tahseen said that the absence of such a policy meant that poorer, more vulnerable Afghans were being side-lined arbitrarily in favour of better-connected Afghans when attempting to cross the border into Pakistan to seek asylum or visas to third countries. HRCP chairperson Hina Jilani pointed out that developments in Afghanistan had serious implications for civil society in Pakistan and that ‘secret briefings’ on the issue were unacceptable. While respecting Afghan sovereignty was indeed important, she said, this should not keep civil society in Pakistan from speaking up against human rights violations in Afghanistan.

Former senator and HRCP Council member Farhatullah Babar emphasized the need to develop a human rights-centric policy with respect to Afghan refugees. Not only should this be taken forward by the Parliamentary Committee of the Whole, but Pakistani civil society should also be involved in developing such a policy. The Cabinet’s 2017 decision to adopt a national policy on the management of Afghan refugees and nationals in Pakistan, he added, should be revived.

Former senator and former HRCP chairperson Afrasiab Khattak said it was critical to hear from Afghan refugees themselves. Cumbersome documentation requirements and reports that the authorities were extorting refugees for money at the border were cause for grave concern. It was essential, he added, that Pakistan accede to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol and pass national legislation in light of these obligations.

Other participants, including development practitioner Saba Khattak, HRCP member Fatima Atif, UNHCR spokesperson Qaiser Khan Afridi among others, recommended that Pakistan honour its precedent of accepting Afghan refugees, while calling on the Ministry of the Interior and foreign embassies to hasten the paperwork needed to secure safe transit and onward visas for asylum seekers. The government must take immediate steps to ensure that refugees had unhindered access to healthcare and employment. In addition, they said, civil society should be entitled to assist Afghan refugees to whatever extent possible without fear of harassment by the Pakistani authorities.

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

October 10, 2021October 11, 2021

Moratorium on death penalty should be reinstated

Lahore, October 10, 2021 (PPI-OT): While marking World Day Against the Death Penalty, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) strongly urges the state to impose an immediate moratorium on the death penalty and focus instead on improving the efficacy of criminal investigations while introducing broader prison reforms that protect the fundamental rights of the incarcerated population – to whom the state owes a duty of care.

HRCP takes this opportunity to reiterate its stance on the death penalty: that the state’s duty is to preserve life, not extinguish it, and that, at a practical level, there is no scientific evidence to show that the death penalty reduces the incidence of crime. Importantly, the death penalty in an unsatisfactory judicial system should not be permitted. Not only are the poor and resource less overwhelmingly at risk of being executed when convicted, but also special cases, such as minors and the mentally challenged, remain under threat in pro-death penalty regimes.

It is worth noting that, according to HRCP’s records, the state did not execute any prisoners in 2020 and that there was a significant fall in the number of cases in which the death penalty was awarded – from at least 578 persons in 2019 to 177 in 2020. In addition, the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling in February – that prisoners with serious mental health problems cannot be executed for their crimes – was a welcome development. HRCP urges the state to see this as a starting point for reviewing the number of crimes punishable by death (currently 33), most of which do not meet the threshold of ‘most serious’ under international law, and for acknowledging that its international human rights obligations clearly preclude the use of the death penalty in all circumstances.

On behalf of Hina Jilani (Chairperson)

August 31, 2021September 1, 2021

Even one enforced disappearance is one too many

Lahore, August 31, 2021 (PPI-OT):On International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expresses serious concern over the woeful track record of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, including the credibility of its chairperson and its continued inability or unwillingness – to hold the perpetrators of this heinous practice accountable.

HRCP notes with alarm that, in the last 10 years, the geographical spread of disappearances has grown, now extending across all provinces and territories, while the profile of victims has expanded to include not only political activists, but also journalists and human rights defenders.

While the recently proposed bill against enforced disappearances is a good law on paper and at least acknowledges the severity of the situation, HRCP is concerned that the bill lacks a concrete and practicable mechanism for identifying and holding perpetrators responsible and does not provide for reparations to victims and their families. In addition, until and unless all state agencies can be held collectively responsible under the law – rather than assigning responsibility to individuals alone – the mere existence of the law itself will not curb enforced disappearances. HRCP also calls on the judiciary to fulfil its responsibility to enforce citizens’ fundamental rights and show greater resolve in demanding accountability for enforced disappearances.

Speaking at a seminar organised by HRCP earlier today, chairperson Hina Jilani said that ‘even one enforced disappearance’ was ‘one too many’, adding that she was especially concerned that the fallout of the crisis in Afghanistan could lead to an uptick in disappearances among progressive voices speaking out against the Taliban regime and Pakistan’s tacit support for it. In conjunction with other civil society organisations, HRCP held demonstrations against enforced disappearances in Islamabad, Karachi, Hyderabad and Multan.

August 27, 2021August 29, 2021

Government continues to neglect coal miners’ security

Lahore, August 27, 2021 (PPI-OT):The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) notes with grave concern that the government continues to neglect coal miners’ right to life and security of person in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The murder of three coalminers in Marwar, Balochistan, on 24 August is at least the second such incident in 2021, after 11 coal miners were kidnapped by armed militants and shot dead in Mach in January this year.

In addition, the discovery in April of the remains of 16 coal miners in Shangla, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who were abducted and murdered almost a decade ago, is a grim reminder that miners’ lives have long been considered expendable. Not only must they contend with hazardous working conditions, but they are also at great risk as a result of poor law and order in remote mining areas, where militant groups commonly extort protection money from colliery owners.

It is deeply ironic that security agencies reportedly impose an unofficial security charge on production – termed extortion by coalmine owners and remain unable to provide the very security that is their job as public servants. HRCP demands that the inquiry into the Marwar killings be conducted swiftly and the perpetrators brought to justice. Given the circumstances, the state must provide miners in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa secure sites to work and compensate the families of those who have lost their lives as a result of sectarian or militant violence.

August 14, 2021August 16, 2021

HRCP council gravely concerned at human rights crisis, calls for urgent measures

Lahore, August 14, 2021 (PPI-OT):On concluding its biannual meeting, the governing council of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed grave concern over the state’s abject failure to protect its most vulnerable citizens.

HRCP demands that child protection units be revitalised and law enforcement agencies compound their efforts to trace and charge perpetrators of crimes against children. Violence against women and girls most recently the murder of Noor Mukaddam in Islamabad, a rape victim in Rawalpindi and at least three minors in Quetta – amounts to a femicide emergency and must be dealt with as such. The much-needed domestic violence bill was also shunted unnecessarily towards the all-male Council of Islamic Ideology.

Religious minorities and sects remain under enormous pressure, their sites of worship arbitrarily attacked or desecrated. The state must take prompt and concrete steps to implement the 2014 Supreme Court judgment, which provides for special police forces to protect sites of worship. The government must also recognise that the Shia Hazara community remains particularly vulnerable to sectarian violence.

HRCP remains concerned at the impact of the anti-encroachment drives in Karachi’s Gujjar Nullah and Orangi areas. The provincial government must ensure that people who have lost their homes are fairly compensated and resettled. HRCP also calls for an immediate end to the forced displacement of families by Bahria Town development schemes.

The government must pay special attention to protecting the rights of workers and peasants, in particular, addressing the concerns of the fisherfolk community in Gwadar regarding threats to their livelihood, small farmers in the military-owned Okara farms, and coal miners working in abject conditions in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

HRCP is seriously concerned at the continuing lack of accountability of perpetrators in cases of enforced disappearance. All state agencies must be brought within the ambit of the law and the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances must provide answers, not merely numbers.

HRCP is greatly alarmed at the extent to which freedom of expression and opinion has receded sharply, with reports of the abduction and torture of journalists becoming more common and repressive state policies making it difficult for journalists to even remain employed. We also see the recently released government report on ‘anti-state trends’ as a deliberate attempt to malign numerous human rights defenders and journalists.

The political engineering evident in the newly merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and stringent curbs on political dissent must cease. Similarly, the state must take immediate measures to remove all landmines in this area. It is also imperative that the government investigate the ‘kill list’ recently issued by the Taliban and ensure that all those concerned are provided security.

Should the volatile situation in Afghanistan translate into an influx of refugees, the government has a moral duty to ensure that all persons within the borders of the country are guaranteed the right to liberty and security of person. Pakistan must sign the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and enact national legislation that protects the rights of all asylum seekers and immigrants. The government must also apprise citizens of the state of implementation of the National Action Plan, given the prospect of increasing militancy.

The government’s increasingly authoritarian tendencies provide no room for consensus building between the state and civil society. HRCP is especially concerned by the extent to which federalism has come under strain. In the interest of giving students the right to a secular education, no province should be pressured to adopt the heavily criticised Single National Curriculum.

Parliamentary proceedings should not be conducted in camera. The public has the right to know what is debated and decided on the floor of the house. Equally, HRCP is concerned by the deteriorating independence of the judiciary, continued application of the jirga system in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the fact that the National Commission for Human Rights remains dysfunctional.

HRCP calls on the government to accelerate its vaccination efforts and to ensure that social safety nets do not exclude individuals who lack citizenship identity documents and extend to the millions of un-regularised contract workers who depend on their freedom of movement to make a living.

July 26, 2021July 27, 2021

HRCP concerned by AJK election violence

Lahore, July 26, 2021 (PPI-OT):The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) notes with grave concern the deaths of two PTI workers during the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections held on 25 July. A third PPP worker is also reported to have been killed when PTI workers allegedly fired on a PPP candidate’s vehicle in Kotli. Initial findings indicate that independent observers have reported at least eight other incidents in which rival political groups engaged in violence, leaving both political workers and police injured. In one case, five police constables were injured after Jamaat-e-Islami activists attacked them with batons at the Dhal Chakhya polling station in LA-32 in the Jhelum Valley district.

In at least one instance in Bagh, individuals associated with PTI candidate Tanvir Ilyas were reported to have been distributing money among voters, urging them to vote for their candidate. The Election Commission must also investigate allegations by the PPP concerning the use of force to influence the voting process, including the arrest of the chief polling agent for LA-30 immediately after the start of polling and reports that PTI workers ‘captured’ the Mandol Bazaar polling station in LA-18 and stamped ballot papers.

HRCP demands that all cases of election-related violence and poll rigging are investigated and addressed promptly and transparently. It is also a matter of serious concern that polling camps set up by the proscribed Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan were seen by independent observers. We also urge the government to ensure that women’s participation as voters is strengthened by increasing efforts to provide all women in AJK with CNICs so that they appear on the electoral rolls.